4) Court Cases
a) United States v.
Kauten - 1943[i]
Mathias claimed he
was a conscientious objector and could not serve in the services. The court granted the conscientious objector
status to him because of his “religious conscience." The court concluded: "a conscientious objection to participation
in any war under any circumstances... we think, may justly be regarded as a
response of the individual to an inward mentor, call it conscience or God, that
is for many persons at the present time the equivalent of what has always been
thought a religious impulse.
b) Washington
Ethical Society v. District of Columbia - 1957[ii]
Ethical Societies
are the humanists "churches."
They were denied tax-exempt status because they did not believe in a
higher deity. They went to court and
won. The court said that they qualify “as 'a religious corporation or society'."
c) Fellowship of
Humanity v. County of Alameda - 1957[iii]
A case where a
humanist church sought to recover back property taxes because of their
religious status. They won and were
awarded the back taxes.
d) TORCASO v.
WATKINS, 367 U.S. 488 (1961)[iv]
Torcaso was
appointed to the Maryland office of Notary Public. Maryland had a
"religious oath," (he had to affirm that he believed in God), which
he could not affirm. He took it to court and lost at both the Circuit Court and
the Court of Appeals. It reached the
S.C. where he won.
Justice Black in his
decision made this statement: "neither a State nor the Federal Government
can constitutionally force a person ‘to profess a belief or disbelief in any
religion.’ Neither can constitutionally pass laws or impose requirements which
aid all religions as against nonbelievers, and neither can aid those religions
based on a belief in the existence of God as against those religions founded on
different beliefs. " He listed
those beliefs in a footnote as: "Among
religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered
a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular
Humanism and others."
e) Reed v. The Great
Lakes Company, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. 2003[v]
Melvin Reed was
hired by the Holiday Inn in Milwaukee.
When the Gideons came to place Bibles in the rooms, less than a month
after his hiring, the Gideons started to read the Bible and pray, in front of
the manager and Reed. Reed stormed out
the meeting. After a confrontation with
his manager over this incident, which was a heated argument, Reed responded, “Oh, hell no, you won't, not when it comes to
my spirituality,” whereupon the manager fired him for insubordination.”
Reed sued claiming “religious discrimination.” The court sided with the employer because
nothing was stated between Reed and the manager about his religious views. The court did reiterate; “If we think of religion as taking a position
on divinity, then atheism is indeed a form of religion.”
f) KAUFMAN v. McCAUGHTRY,
United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. 2005[vi]
James Kaufman, an
inmate at the Jackson Correctional Institution, Black River Falls, WI, claimed
“that the defendants infringed on his
right to practice his religion when they refused to allow him to create an
inmate group to study and discuss atheism.”
According to the
court, in reviewing the district court’s ruling against Kaufman state; “The problem with the district court's
analysis is that the court failed to recognize that Kaufman was trying to start
a ‘religious’ group, in the sense we discussed earlier. Atheism is Kaufman's
religion, and the group that he wanted to start was religious in nature even
though it expressly rejects a belief in a supreme being.” Therefore this court vacated the earlier
court’s ruling in “favor on Kaufman's
claim under the Establishment Clause and remand for further proceedings.”
[i] Justia, United States v. Kauten, 133 F.2d 703
(2d.Cir. 1943), http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/133/703/1544519/
[ii] Open
Jurist, Washington Ethical Society v.
District of Columbia, http://openjurist.org/249/f2d/127/washington-ethical-society-v-district-of-columbia
[iii]
Justia, Fellowship of humanity v. Co.
Alameda, http://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2d/153/673.html
[iv] Justia,
Torcaso v. Watkins, 1961, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/367/488/case.html
[v] Case
Law, Reed v. The Great Lakes Company, Inc.,
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1158623.html
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