The God Machine produced so many great religion-related news items this week, it’s hard to know where to start. Let’s kick things off with a fascinating item about how, and whether, a public university can accommodate the religious practices of observant students.
When Majed Afana needs to pray while attending classes at the University of Michigan in Dearborn, the 19-year-old Muslim usually will duck into the campus library’s bathroom, strip off his shoes and awkwardly strain to wash his feet in the sink.
Water often pools at his feet, he says, making it slippery to balance on one foot.
Some of the sinks have started to pull away from the wall, in part from years of use by others like him — who, according to their faith, must clean their feet before praying five times a day.
So when the school recently approved installing two foot baths in a pair of new unisex bathrooms to accommodate the needs of male and female Muslim students, the local Islamic community started planning ways to raise the estimated $25,000 cost.
But the university told them not to bother — it would pay for the foot baths.
A reported 11% of the school’s 8,600 students are Muslim, leading university officials to believe this is a worthwhile infrastructure improvement. The school is using funds from its general fund, financed by students, not taxpayers.
Is this an example of a reasonable accommodation or state-sponsored favoritism for one religious group? Even civil libertarians seem to disagree — the ACLU of Michigan considers the footbaths a matter of “practical cleanliness and safety,” while my friends at Americans United for Separation of Church and State considers the renovations legally problematic.
Said AU’s Barry Lynn, “You start permanently changing your architecture for one religious group, you have to do it for all. After all, what’s the difference between a foot bath used as part of a ritual and a fountain that can be used for a baptism?”
Other items from this week’s God Machine:
* In Texas, public school students will now recite an edited state pledge of allegiance, which has always been secular throughout the history of Texas. Not anymore. Republicans in the Legislature added the phrase “one state under God” to the pledge, which is part of a required morning ritual in Texas public schools along with the pledge to the U.S. flag and a moment of silence.
The Houston Chronicle added, “By law, students who object to saying the pledge or making the reference to God can bring a written note from home excusing them from participating.” No, that wouldn’t be awkward for non-believers at all.
* E&P reported this week, “International Bible Society-Send the Light is planning on spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to distribute Bibles with 11 newspapers during 2007 and 2008. New Testaments would be packaged in pouches on the outside of newspapers, much like soap or other sample products.” The Fort Worth Star-Telegram announced in May it would deliver more than 200,000 New Testaments the last Sunday of the year, but after complaints from readers, offered subscribers an opt-out.
* I tend to avoid criticizing people’s religious practices, but this is just crazy: “Officers responding to a report of an exorcism on a young girl found her grandfather choking her and used stun guns to subdue the man, who later died, authorities said Sunday. The 3-year-old girl and her mother, who was also in the room during the struggle between 49-year-old Ronald Marquez and officers, were hospitalized, police said…. The relative who called police said an exorcism had also been attempted Thursday. ‘The purpose was to release demons from this very young child,’ said Sgt. Joel Tranter.”
* Remember the flap over the “Christian Embassy” video late last year? Filmed in the Pentagon, the video shows uniformed officers explaining how they use their official roles in the military to bring government leaders “into an intentional relationship with Jesus Christ.” Yesterday, the Pentagon announced the results of a probe into the incident.
The WaPo reported, “The Defense Department’s inspector general has found that four generals and three other military officers improperly participated in a fundraising video for an evangelical Christian group, inappropriately offering support for the religious organization while appearing to operate within the scope of their official government duties, according to a 47-page investigative report.”
* And finally, The Hill reported this week, “Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, who once criticized the GOP as a ‘white Christian party’ and also said ‘my religion doesn’t inform my public policy,’ is building a sophisticated infrastructure to woo so-called values voters…. His effort began early in 2005 when he met Leah Daughtry, an ordained Pentecostal minister who served as Democratic National Committee (DNC) chief of staff under former chairman Terry McAuliffe. They discussed the importance of faith voters, and Daughtry persuaded Dean to commission a poll of religious voters. The meeting impressed Dean enough to keep Daughtry in her job and to embark on an ambitious program to win faith-driven votes.”