Word: secularism
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...high bench to revisit one of its most controversial and opaque rulings. In a 1984 case from Pawtucket, R.I., the Justices upheld the constitutionality of a town-supported creche in a display that included reindeer, Santa's house and candy-striped poles, saying the overall tableau had a "secular purpose" and "effect." Ever since, lower courts have struggled to apply what has come to be ridiculed as the "reindeer rule." At issue: how much secular camouflage is required to sneak a publicly sponsored Nativity scene past the First Amendment bar on an "establishment of religion...
...lower courts have been schizophrenic on the issue," says Colleen O'Connor of the A.C.L.U. So far, three federal appellate panels have held that creches not "subsumed by a larger display" of secular items are not permissible at city hall. But another federal court ruled that a creche can stand alone on land deemed to be a "public forum." In Chicago last month, a judge decided that no more than three religious symbols at a time may be exhibited at the Daley Center Plaza, and for no longer than 14 days. Complains Allegheny County attorney George Janocsko: "The cases...
Yitzhak Shamir is virtually besieged. Infuriated American Jewish leaders have descended on Jerusalem to berate the Prime Minister for promising to meddle with Israel's definition of who is a Jew. Thousands of angry calls and letters flooded his office, and secular Israelis took to the streets to denounce religious coercion. Acknowledged one Shamir aide: "I'd say he's got a bit of a problem on his hands. Blood pressures are soaring...
...chief legal precedent governing religious displays on public property comes from a 1984 Supreme Court case, Lynch v. Donnelly, which ruled that the city of Pawtucket, R.I. could retain a holiday display containing Christmas symbols because it included sufficient room for secular expression...
...from electing a strong, united government. As Gad Ya'acobi, a Laborite and Minister of Economics and Planning, noted, "We have institutionalized the tyranny of the minority." To put together a slim majority, Shamir will have to accommodate not only the four religious parties but also three extreme-right secular factions whose platforms all advocate annexing the occupied territories...