Daily Archives: August 20, 2010

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Churches: “Thank God we’re not as far gone as North Korea, but we’re definitely headed that direction. Christianity Today reports that government officials raided a Christian church service and either executed or jailed all 23 in attendance . . . We’re still a long way off, but make no mistake, recent attacks on religious freedom here in the U.S. open the door for unlimited government, and eventual persecution of the Church. North Korea is a great example of what we’re fighting to avoid.”

The News & Observer: “Students for Life of America has asked Gov. Perdue to investigate a number of issues surrounding the UNC system’s new health insurance program for students. The university wants all students to have health insurance and mandates that they buy into a new insurance plan it is offering unless they can prove they have coverage from another source.”

ChristianNewsWire: “Today, Thomas More Society attorney Tom Brejcha, along with representatives from several pro-life organizations, testified at the Iowa Medical Board hearing to argue against the performance of ‘telemed’ abortions in the state. The Thomas More Society submitted a letter from special counsel Paul Benjamin Linton that outlined the case against this type of abortion, in which a patient is administered an abortion-inducing drug, RU-486, after meeting with a physician remotely via video conference.”

WorldNetDaily: “The superintendent of the Arizona Department of Public Education says his agency will consider a refusal by the school district in Tucson to videotape its ‘Raza studies’ classes as evidence the district is ‘deliberately’ concealing its agenda . . . So the state, which starting Jan. 1 can withhold 10 percent of the district’s state funding, confirmed it would cite that refusal when the dispute comes up for judicial review.”

USA Today / On Deadline: “A Florida church says it will go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, despite the city refusing to issue a burn permit, Orlando’s Fox35 TV reports.”

Interfax: “The prosecutor’s office in Saint Petersburg has issued a warning to Jamaliddin Makhmutov, head of the Al Fatah religious organization, for establishing a Shariah court in the city.”

Yahoo News / The Upshot: “Many national Republicans are apparently already practicing this tactic [staying quiet on same-sex "marriage"], as a federal judge’s decision to strike down California’s gay marriage ban was met with relative silence from GOP leaders this month. Meanwhile the abortion debate is still raging on the state level. As of June this year, 11 states had passed laws to restrict abortion.”

MyFoxNY.com: “Some union construction workers say they will refuse to help build an Islamic mosque and cultural center planned for Lower Manhattan.”

AFP: “Gay marriage has popped up as the surprise question in the Australian election campaign, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her right-leaning opponent Tony Abbott repeatedly challenged on the issue.”

Reuters: “New Jersey’s Atlantic City should be brought back to life by refocusing on its sandy beaches and historic boardwalk rather than increasing state control of its casinos, a poll showed on Friday.”

Forbes: “There is one surprising area where young people differ from their elders about homosexuality. Since the pollsters started asking about it in the late 1977, the number saying homosexuality is something one is born with has been growing. But today, more young people than older ones believe it is a lifestyle choice. In May 50% of 18-29 year olds told CBS News pollsters that being homosexual is something people choose to be; 47% said it was something a person couldn’t change. Among those 65 and over, however, 25% said it was a choice, 55% said it was something that couldn’t be changed.”

CBS News: “According to American Civil Liberties Union complaint on behalf of four Woonsocket, R.I., parents, uniforms would be an added financial burden for families. Additionally, the ACLU says the uniforms won’t do anything to improve the quality of education at kids’ schools.”

The Becket Fund: “In a letter on Thursday, August 19, 2010, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty threatened to sue the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) if it tried to force religiously affiliated hospitals to perform abortions against the conscientious objections of their doctors and nurses. The Becket Fund wrote to HHS in response to an ACLU letter which pressures HHS into forcing religiously affiliated hospitals across this country to perform abortions. After sending the letter, the ACLU called on its multi-thousand membership to mount a letter campaign to demand abortion services at Catholic hospitals.” Via Rick Garnett.

Leonard Link: “One question that immediately began buzzing around the blogosphere was whether the Obama Administration’s Justice Department will appeal these rulings. Others are when will the rulings take effect, and do they have any application outside of Massachusetts? Within the past few days, some answers have begun emerging.”

Richard Epstein writing at Ricochet: “The general laws that deal with the separation of church and state take Jefferson’s metaphor and apply it with a ruthless insensitivity to all sorts of places where it does not belong. One would never say that the use of crosses in Arlington cemetery creates an establishment of religion because there are relatively few Jewish stars. There would be a legitimate beef in this case if Utah took it upon itself to allow only crosses and to prohibit all other religious insignias for Jewish or Moslem leaders . . . This decision in my mind falls abjectly short of the modicum of common sense that we have a right to respect from our judges.”

Valley News: “The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California recently asked the FBI to release records related to the agency’s collection of race and ethnic data in the Southland. The request is one of 30 coordinated Freedom of Information Act filings by ACLU affiliates in states and the District of Columbia seeking records from FBI field offices related to the ‘mapping’ of ethnic communities.”

The Consumerist: “1. College rankings are often based on opinion and not actual data . . . 2. Rankings can be based on factors that have no demonstrated impact on academic results . . . 3. The benefits of attending a more selective college might very well be canceled out by the benefits of attending a less selective college . . . 4. Rankings that look at career earnings fail to consider the aptitudes of students . . . 5. Real experts — as opposed to people trying to sell magazines full of car ads — who look into this stuff have realized you can’t compare colleges in any meaningful way.”

Bauer v. Shephard, No. 09-2963 (7th Cir. Aug. 20, 2010)

Election Law Blog: Judge Easterbrook Writes Important Judicial Speech Code Decision About Indiana’s Rules

Catholic News Agency: “Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda of Morelia, Mexico explained this week that the adoption of children by gay couples is not an issue of tolerance but rather a concern over legitimizing something that ‘goes against nature itself.’”

Boston.com (AP): “A leader of the proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks from ground zero says dropping the plan in the face of protest is not an option.”

Law.com: “The New York City Bar issued a strongly worded statement Wednesday defending the right of Muslims to build an Islamic center and mosque, two blocks from ground zero, saying ‘our nation is the stronger, both internally and in its standing in the world, for preserving religious freedom.’”

Lanae Erickson and Jon Cowan writing at Politico: “First, advocates must reframe the conversation . . . Marriage is about lifetime commitment, responsibilities and obligations. If we can persuade people in the middle that gay couples want to get married for those reasons — not simply to gain a list of legal rights and benefits — we’ll connect with them in a far deeper way . . . In their ads, opponents of same-sex marriage tapped into fears about children, triggering concerns about what allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry would mean for kids. If we’re going to move the middle, we need to figure out how to quell these fears, rather than ignoring or dismissing them . . . Third, we need to continue to make progress along the spectrum of relationship recognition, from domestic partnerships to civil unions to marriage.”

Advocate.com: “Organizing for America, the post-election outgrowth of Obama for America ’08, is sending out an e-mail Thursday afternoon that targets Sen. John McCain for his threat to filibuster a Senate floor vote on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ repeal that’s expected to happen in September.”

The Alliance Defense Fund’s reaction to the 10th Circuit’s reversal of a district court ruling in American Atheists v. Davenport upholding roadside memorials to fallen Utah state troopers was featured on the Fox News Channel. See three different videos below. ADF News Release: ADF will appeal decision to strike down roadside memorials to fallen Utah troopers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8JsPfMoA1c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDvBsm7PItY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTTkgGkI0Vc

LaCrosse Tribune: “A social conservative group filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging Wisconsin’s domestic partner registry, arguing it is a violation of the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The lawsuit filed in Dane County Circuit Court by members of Wisconsin Family Action contends the registry creates a legal status substantially similar to that of marriage.”

Des Moines Register: “A Republican Party official on Tuesday criticized anti-gay comments made by a Republican who is running for the Iowa House. Candidate Jeremy Walters of Des Moines wrote on his Facebook page that the Bible says . . . ”

“[S]ome researchers compare the evolution in thinking about gender to the struggle that began a generation ago for gay and lesbian rights.”

Catholic News Agency: “During a debate on Wednesday, Dilma Roussef, the presidential candidate of the Workers’ Party, said she is ‘personally’ against abortion but that it should be available to women in desperate situations.”

Washington Blade: “Primary elections set for Tuesday could yield two milestones if Florida voters elect a gay candidate to Congress and another man to become the first openly gay member of the state’s legislature.”

Fairfield Weekly: “[L]ast week, Connecticut got its first openly gay candidate for statewide office when Kevin Lembo won a smashing victory in the Democratic primary for state comptroller . . . Lembo crushed Jarjura by taking 70 percent of the primary vote. Some Connecticut politicians believe part of the reason for Jarjura’s humiliating defeat was Democratic voter anger over what was viewed as the anti-gay attitudes of Jarjura and his supporters.”

The Hill: “The Pentagon plans to survey approximately 150,000 military spouses about the military’s ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. In a statement, Department of Defense spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said the surveys ‘will help the military leadership assess the impacts, if any, a change in the law … might have on family readiness and military community life.’”

Los Angeles Times: “After weeks of public protest over its financial support of an organization that backed a GOP gubernatorial candidate opposed to gay rights, Target Corp. now faces a new form of pressure: demands from institutional shareholders that it revamp its donation process to avoid the chance of additional backfires.” | NPR: Some Target Investors Hit Retailer For Political Donation

Politico: “It’s a classic case of be careful what you wish for. President Barack Obama wanted to end the baby boomer-era culture wars — and he’s done it. But along the way, Obama has sparked an even more visceral values debate about whether he’s moving the country toward socialism and over the very definition of what it means to be American . . . ‘He grew up more as a globalist than an American,’ Huckabee said. ‘To deny American exceptionalism is in essence to deny the heart and soul of this nation.’”

Rasmussen: “An overwhelming majority of Likely Voters in the United States think all voters in the country should be required to present photo identification in order to vote in U.S. elections.”

Des Moines Register: “National abortion-rights opponents plan to ask the Iowa Board of Medicine today to halt Planned Parenthood’s use of a remote-controlled system to dispense abortion pills in rural Iowa clinics. Officials with Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion group headquartered in Kansas, also said Thursday they have filed complaints with county attorneys in 10 Iowa counties, including Polk County, seeking criminal prosecution of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, which has its headquarters in Des Moines.”

LifeSiteNews: “Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma of Cagyan de Oro City has strongly criticized a proposed bill that would legalize divorce in the Philippines and said that the move would destroy the moral fiber of Philippine society.”

GLT News: “The California Assembly today passed legislation that clarifies the religious freedom of clergy members in California. The Civil Marriage Religious Freedom Act, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), reaffirms the separation of church and state and clarifies under state law that no member of clergy will be required to perform a civil marriage that is contrary to his or her faith. The Assembly approved Senate Bill 906 with a 46-25 vote. The bill will return to the Senator for a routine concurrence vote before going to the governor’s desk.”

BBC: “News bulletins must wait until a minute past the hour to allow for the devotional Catholic prayer, recited in memory of the Incarnation of Jesus. The bells have been a regular feature of state broadcaster RTE’s schedule since August 1950 – when they were introduced to mark the Catholic Holy Year . . . Another criticism of the Angelus broadcast is that it is by its very nature Catholic, and therefore excludes other faiths, a criticism that Ali Selim doesn’t take on board . . . The debate about the Angelus in Ireland then, is not necessarily a debate between religions as to whether or not broadcasting the Angelus bells is appropriate. It’s part of a wider debate on what kind of society Ireland should be – a secular or a religious one.”

The Christian Institute: “Hundreds of illegal pornographic magazines and DVDs have been discovered for sale in corner shops across Tyneside. Trading Standards Officers have seized scores of items which had been packaged to include what are believed to be illegal hardcore pornographic DVDs.”

“The number of civil partnerships being registered annually has fallen and dissolutions have almost doubled, according to official figures. Newly released figures from the Office for National Statistics show that during 2009 6,281 civil partnerships were formed in the UK, a 12 per cent reduction from 2008 when there were 7,169.”

The Christian Institute: “An organisation which is heavily funded by British taxpayers is sponsoring a controversial conference promoting the legalisation of same-sex adoption in Ireland. The British Council, which is responsible for promoting British ideas and achievements throughout the world, is backing the Voices for Children conference next month.”

The Christian Institute: “West Sussex Council has become the first English authority outside London to host a Stonewall employee in its offices, according to local press reports.”

“[Walker's] decision is by no means neutral between competing moral viewpoints. It effectively writes a rejection of natural law theory into the constitution.”

LifeSiteNews: “Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director for Nebraska Right to Life, defended Bruning as having made a tactical decision as AG, and said that he was not compromising his pro-life principles by making the decision . . . Like NRTL, the Nebraska Catholic Conference agreed with Bruning that the abortion screening law’s chances looked slim, but added they would work to pass better legislation that would survive a constitutional challenge next session.”

LifeSiteNews: “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is withholding the full results of a government study that makes a strong case for promoting abstinence before marriage over sexual education promoting ‘safe sex.’ While the executive summary and final results are available, behavioral scientists are not being allowed a look at all the data behind the study’s major findings.”

Victoria Hughes writing at A.C. Fitzgerald & Associates: “. . . Follow Religious Convictions – ‘Faithful to the values and principles that guide us’ (Barron Hilton); ‘puts faith into action’ (Elaine and Ken Langone); ‘spread the faith’ (Tom Monaghan); ‘morally duty bound to help those left behind’ (George Kaiser)”

AP Advisory: “We should continue to avoid the phrase ‘ground zero mosque’ or ‘mosque at ground zero’ on all platforms. (We’ve very rarely used this wording, except in slugs, though we sometimes see other news sources using the term.) The site of the proposed Islamic center and mosque is not at ground zero, but two blocks away in a busy commercial area. We should continue to say it’s ‘near’ ground zero, or two blocks away.”

Associated Press: “A federal agency is suing a North Carolina educational testing company after a worker said she was fired after saying she couldn’t work on Saturdays because of religious beliefs.”

New York Daily News: “A dispute over condoms and Catholic values has left Greenwich Village without an urgent care clinic six months after St. Vincent’s Hospital closed its doors in bankruptcy.”

NPR: “A new Islamic center is going up near Nashville, Tenn., and as in New York, the proposal has fractured the community along a divide over religious freedom . . . [M]ost of the people rallying against the mosque, like Ben Fletcher, have a different argument. ‘We’re Christians and this religion represents people that are against Christians. That’s something we need to look at, you know, because you’re going to have a lot of trouble down the line,’ Fletcher says.”

Excellent Education for Everyone (E3) / The Blitz: “The Hatikvah brief cites repeated efforts by the school district to deny parents transfer cards, delay or refuse to send transfer cards to Hatikvah school officials, harass parents who expressed interest in enrolling their students in the new dual language Hebrew charter school, and making false statements to the press.”

New York Post: “Opposition to the Ground Zero mosque has crept up to 63 percent among state voters, as more New Yorkers choose sides in the debate, according to a Siena Research Institute poll released yesterday.”

R.J. Snell writing at Public Discourse: “[T]he utilitarian education of the new university views the cosmos (and its citizens) as brute, factical, as merely given—what Charles Taylor calls the ‘great disembedding.’ The cosmos is mere stuff—indifferent and valueless until it is found useful and assigned a task. Lacking a sense of the gratuity of being, such education lacks also commitment to the worth of being; lacking a sense of the worth of being, such education lacks also commitment to acting only in conformity with the dignity of things; lacking a sense of the dignity of things, such education lacks also commitment to civility and the teaching thereof.”

The Hill: “Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) called out The Associated Press on Twitter Thursday for its decision to avoid the term ‘Ground Zero mosque’ in its coverage.”

Religion Clause: “In McGlone v. Bell, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84578 (MD TN, Aug. 16, 2010), a Tennessee federal district court refused to grant a preliminary injunction in a suit brought by a Christian evangelist challenging Tennessee Technological University’s policy on outside speakers’ use of campus facilities.” | Memorandum Opinion of the Court

WLS-AM 890: “A family’s steadfast refusal to pay a $635.02 special assessment tax for an alley paving project because it violated their religious beliefs has run up an estimated $40,000 in outside legal bills for north suburban Evanston, with no apparent end in sight . . . Rao and her mother fought removal of a tree in the project, saying the action ran counter to the basic precepts of their Hindu religion. Hinduism forbids the needless killing of any living thing and also requires practitioners from not participating or acquiescing in such acts, Rao said.” | Via Religion Clause

Associated Press: “Islamist fighters in Somalia said Friday that they seized food from the World Food Program from markets in Mogadishu and burned more than 500 bags of maize and wheat.”

Press Gaggle by Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton: “. . . the President is obviously a — is Christian. He prays every day. He communicates with his religious advisor every single day. There’s a group of pastors that he takes counsel from on a regular basis. And his faith is very important to him, but it’s not something that is a topic of conversation every single day.

Associated Press: “Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said Thursday that most terrorism cases should be tried in civilian courts. Kennedy addressed participants in the 9th Circuit Judicial Conference on Maui, where a panel discussion earlier this week reached a consensus in favor of using civilian courts instead of military commissions in most terrorism cases.”

The Hill: “Opposition to the war in Afghanistan, once a mainstay of liberals, is no longer a partisan campaign issue. A majority of voters want the conflict to end quickly – no matter their party affiliation, according to recent polls.”

OneNewsNow: “‘I think one of the important things to really understand here is that an atheist group’s agenda should not diminish the sacrifice made by Utah Highway Patrol officers and their families,’ contends Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney [Byron Babione].”

On Top Mag: “In filing its challenge to Wisconsin’s domestic partnership law, a group opposed to gay rights claims it’s too similar to marriage . . . WFA had also supported passage of the anti-gay marriage amendment as the Family Research Institute. It is being represented by the Christian-based Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). ADF lawyers are also defending California’s gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, in federal court.”

Reuters: “Catholic and other church-owned systems are significantly more likely to provide higher quality performance and efficiency to the communities served than investor-owned systems, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis of the quality performance of 255 health systems in the United States.”

ADF Attorney Byron Babione appeared on Fox News to discuss the 10th Circuit’s decision to strike down roadside memorials to fallen Utah troopers in American Atheists v. Davenport. | MP4 4:19 mins | YouTube | ADF News Release

Peter LaBarbera writes at Spero News: “1) . . . federalized homosexual ‘marriage’ would override the documented will of the people in the 31 states . . . 2) Legalized homosexual ‘marriage’ will force businessmen and -women to subsidize homosexual relationships even if they rightly believe that those relationships are immoral and deviant . . . 3) Legalized homosexual ‘marriage’ paves the way for even greater pro-homosexuality indoctrination in the nation’s schools . . . 4) . . . public school parents would be barred from preventing proudly partnered homosexuals from teaching their kids . . . 5) . . . school textbooks will be re-written to validate homosexual ‘marriages’ . . . 6) . . . it becomes a very effective and practical tool in the further demonization and denigration of traditional religion in the USA . . . 7) . . . adoption agencies that adhere to that time-test natural model of family will be forced by state bureaucracies to place childen in homes that are motherless or fatherless by design . . .”

The Raw Story: “‘Shariah law mandates jihad,’ Dick Morris asserted. ‘And it mandates terrorism and suicide bombing. So this is really a juridical center that is being established to study and promote and train and recruit Shariah law advocates which will become terrorists. … We’re establishing literally a command center for terrorism right at the 9/11 site.’”

John Esposito, Professor of religion, international affairs and Islamic studies, writing at The Washington Post / On Faith: “. . . So what about the role of Shariah today for Muslims living in non-Muslim societies like the U.S or European countries? . . . A common ground for reformers is to recognize the difference between the binding nature of two broad divisions Islamic law: personal and public, rules governing strictly ‘religious’ observances (such as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage) and civil/criminal transactions (some regulations re marriage, divorce, inheritance, crimes and punishments, and issues of war and peace). The former is believed to be binding on all Muslims and unchanging; much of the latter, many of whose regulations are based upon human reasoning and deductions in specific early historical contexts, is capable of readjustment in light of new historical and social contexts and circumstances.”

The New American: “With the timing of the ABA action thus closely coinciding with the action of Judge Walker, conservative attorneys, as well as other constitutionalists, are left with few alternatives but to continue the Proposition 8 fight all the way to the Supreme Court . . . ‘The fact that ADF and other lawyers disagree with ABA on a number of controversial issues demonstrates the gross inaccuracy of ABA’s claim that it speaks for the U.S. legal profession,’ remarked ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Doug Napier].”

Baptist Press: “‘One atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by Utah highway patrol officers and their families. The families of the fallen should be allowed to honor their loved ones as they wish,’ said [Byron Babione], an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which was allowed to intervene in the case.”

Fox News / LiveShots: “But the Alliance Defense Fund, says this is about honoring those who gave their lives in the line of duty. In a statement released shortly after the ruling, the ADF said, ‘One atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by Utah highway patrol officers and their families. The families of the fallen should be allowed to honor their loved ones as they wish.’”

In Re: D.L.H., No. 98 MAP 2009 (PA Aug 17, 2010)

“We hold that where, as here, life-preserving treatment is at issue for an incompetent person who is not suffering from an end-stage condition or permanent unconsciousness, and that person has no health care agent, the Act mandates that the care must be provided.”

Jill Priluck writes at Slate: “As the Big Law model—in which the nation’s largest law firms turn the top law students into billable-hour-crazed associates and, sometimes, partners—evolves to accommodate global entities, companies below the $100 million-revenue level that can’t or don’t want to pay Big Law rates are being squeezed. And this presents a window for partners, fed up with the Big Law model, to strike out on their own.  The field is rife with upheaval.”

“This Article seeks to provide that clarity by comprehensively analyzing whether and to what extent the Establishment Clause applies abroad. Part I examines the practical significance of applying the Establishment Clause abroad. Part I.A discusses the relationship between religion and national security, and explores in particular how conflict-prone Islamic states threaten American security, either through terrorism or internal war. Part I.B then summarizes various United States policies that use Islam to democratize and demilitarize these conflict-prone Islamic states. Part II examines various proposed approaches to applying the Establishment Clause abroad, and points out some of the deficiencies in these approaches – most importantly their variation from the U.S. Supreme Court’s cases on how other constitutional provisions apply abroad. After Part III.A discusses the over 100 years of jurisprudence on the Constitution’s transnational applicability, Part III.B derives from this jurisprudence a formal framework for applying constitutional rights abroad. Finally, Part IV.A extends this framework to the Establishment Clause, and Part IV.B uses this analysis to speculate how courts might adjudicate current United States programs promoting religion abroad.”

Men Come and Go, but Roe Abides: Why Roe v. Wade Will Not Be Overruled
Anthony Dutra, 90 B.U. L. Rev. 1261 (2010)

“Legally, the abortion issue implicates the precarious tightrope walk between constitutionally guaranteed rights and the rights of states in our federalist governmental structure. Since the day the Court handed it down, Roe has engendered scathing criticism and much academic debate. In the wake of major Supreme Court decisions on abortion rights and restrictions, scholars on both sides of the debate analyze the decision and articulate strategies for the future. Others write from an eschatological perspective and attempt to map out what the legal landscape for abortion would be if Roe were overruled. Even if Roe were to be overruled, state constitutional and statutory law, if unchanged, would provide most women with a general right to choose to terminate their pregnancies.”

Edward L. Rubin, Assisted Suicide, Morality and Law: Why Prohibiting Assisted Suicide Violates the Establishment Clause (February 2, 2010). Vanderbilt Law Review, 2010; Vanderbilt Public Law Research Paper No. 10-02. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1546648

“Laws that criminalize assisted suicide should be struck down under the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. These laws fail the secular purpose strand of the Lemon test and the anti-coercion strand that Lee v. Wiseman established under the accommodation test. While it is true that laws against assisted suicide don’t involve performance of a religious ritual, they codify a highly specific interpretation of Christian doctrine. This article uses an historical analysis to demonstrate that prohibitions against suicide and assisted suicide emerged from a conception of Christianity that defined actions as moral only if they served a higher purpose. In the modern world, this conception has been replaced by a rival morality centered on individual self-fulfillment, which accepts rather than condemns an individual’s decision to end his or her life under certain circumstances. The advent of the new morality clarifies the specificity of the prior morality and highlights its religious origin. Based on this analysis, it seems clear that according to an historically and contextually established definition of religion in our contemporary society (the only defensible type of definition) laws against assisted suicide are efforts to compel obedience to a particular religious ideology, and should be struck down on that basis.”