The intersection between government and religious and/or political beliefs is in the news with growing frequency, including debates over government-mandated birth control coverage in insurance policies, and the question before the Supreme Court of whether a baker must make a wedding cake for a gay couple when that violates the baker’s religious beliefs. Dickinson, Texas was in the news recently because of a Jewish-related controversy over laws or policies. What was the issue there?
Dickinson Texas City Hall by N. Saum is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
A. In reaction to the national controversy over kneeling during the National Anthem, the Dickinson School Board passed a policy requiring all students to stand during the anthem at school events including ball games, concerts, and other school assemblies. However, the wording of the policy refers more broadly to standing during invocations and prayers as well. The Jewish community is objecting because Jewish football players were told that they must stand when the team gathers for the “voluntary” pre-game prayer which is offered by a player, and which typically includes references to Jesus Christ.
B. Dickinson, which received more than 50 inches of rain during Hurricane Harvey, has posted an online application for residents to request grants to cover the expense of hurricane-related damage repairs. The application requires residents to ensure that their contractors do not boycott Israel. Some residents object, saying that this will make it more difficult to get repairs done, and the ACLU says that this clause unconstitutionally violates First Amendment protections.
C. The Dickinson City Council passed a law requiring that all schools allow teachers to carry concealed handguns. B’nai Emunah, an Orthodox synagogue, is suing because they say that it is a violation of their religious protections under the first amendment. The synagogue board does not object to this provision; however, they argue that for the synagogue’s monthly “Shabbat School” (when children come for Shabbat services and a family luncheon), the teachers should be restricted from bringing a gun to shul because this action violates the Jewish prohibition against carrying on the Sabbath.
D. When a Jewish family received the 2017-18 school calendar, they noticed that graduation was scheduled to fall on Shavuot, and they contacted the school superintendent to request that the date be changed, as they and their graduating son would be in synagogue that evening for the holiday. According to the family, the superintendent told them that while he would like to accommodate the family, if he did so he would have no choice but to provide accommodations to the growing number of Muslim students in the district, and that “before you know it, our school would be governed by Shariah law.”
E. On the Shabbat before Purim, a Jewish student came to school wearing a t-shirt that included pictures of Purim revelers in costume, dancing and drinking, along with wording which read “Remember the Amalek.” Jews are traditionally commanded on Purim to remember Amalek, an ancestor of Haman, who tried to destroy the Jewish people in the desert during the Exodus. The student was sent home by the principal who cited the school’s Code of Conduct which states “Students may not exhibit any clothing with slogans, quotes, or messages which disparage the people and the state of Texas.” Said the principal, “In Texas we remember the Alamo, where our heroes died defending our freedom, not the Amalek, whatever that is.”