"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...."
Within the past several decades there has been an increased effort on the part of civil libertarians to broadly interpret the establishment clause of the First Amendment to mean that any public funding or support of any religious activity is constitutionally forbidden. Popularly known as "the separation of church and state," this doctrine has been broadly applied to such issues as public school prayer, the proselytizing of students by public school teachers, the leading of religious practices in public university classrooms, the placing of nativity scenes and stars of David in public places, and other activities and symbols associated with Western religions (i.e., Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).
Recently, however, Americanized Eastern religious thought, known as the New Age Movement, has made significant inroads on all educational levels. But the problem in terms of public policy is that civil libertarians, who are trained to recognize Constitutional infringement by practitioners of Western religions, are not adept in recognizing their Eastern counterparts. For this reason, New Age thought, by disguising itself in most cases in the language of science and the jargon of the educational establishment, has gone virtually unopposed in promoting activities in public education from which adherents of Western religions are constitutionally prohibited.
In May 1991 the Michigan State Senate approved SR 107 which resulted in a bipartisan select committee to investigate parent and teacher complaints that the state's school health education curriculum advocated and inculcated, among other things, New Age religion and practices. In a October 1992 preliminary report this committee concluded that New Age thought was being taught in state public schools and that such teaching violated the separation of church and state. [1]
However, in contrast, educator Edward Jenkinson argues that the New Age movement is an imaginary movement and that it is impossible to prove that it is a religion. [2] For this reason, this paper will address the following concerns: (1) what the courts and legal scholars define as "a religion"; (2) the U.S. Supreme Court's view of the separation of church and state and how it applies to the issue of teaching religious doctrine in public educational institutions; (3) the New Age Movement, its fundamental beliefs, and whether or not it is a religion; and (4) New Age thinking in public education and how similar infiltration by Western religions would never be tolerated.
The fundamental task of this paper is quite simple: if the teaching of Jewish or Christian religious doctrine and/or practice in public education violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, then the teaching of New Age religious doctrine and/or practice does so as well, and should therefore be forbidden for precisely the same reason the government forbids the teaching of Judeo- Christian religious traditions.
Expert on alternative religious movements, Professor Douglas Groothius, begins one of his books with the following story:
Picture twenty- five normal first- graders peacefully lying in silence on their classroom floor. It's not a fire drill or an air raid, but part of the new curriculum. The children are being guided through a meditation in which they are instructed to imagine the sun radiantly shining toward them. They are then told to gaze into its brightness without being hurt by the light. Next the children are asked to try to bring the sun down into their bodies and feel its warmth, power, and illumination.
"Imagine that you are doing something perfect," the teacher commands, "and that you are perfect."
The children are told to see themselves as resplendent with light; they should feel peace, for they are perfect. They "are reminded that they are intelligent, magnificent, and that they contain all of the wisdom of the universe within themselves.[3]
This "exercise" occurred in a public school in Los Angeles, California. Known as "confluent education," it was federally funded and employed for the express purpose of helping students who need an "expanded view of learning."4 Designed by the late Beverly Galyean, this meditation is certainly not prayer of Christian or Jewish devotion, for such teacher- led activities under public school auspices are constitutionally forbidden. And yet this activity does not appear to be passing on the fundamentals of reading, writing, or arithmetic. What then was the purpose of this exercise? According to Galyean:
Once we begin to see that we are all God, that we all have the attributes of God, then I think the whole purpose of human life is to reown the Godlikeness within us; the perfect love, the perfect wisdom, the perfect understanding, the perfect intelligence, and when we do that we create back to that old, that essential oneness which is consciousness. So my whole view is very much based on that idea. [5]
If this is the purpose of such a curriculum, why is it allowed in public education? In order to answer this question, we must first answer four questions fundamental to the issue of religion in public education: (A) What is religion?; (B) Is religion defined differently in the free exercise clause than in the establishment clause of the Constitution?; (C) What is the separation of church and state?; and (D) What government- sponsored religious practices in public education have been deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court?
Throughout American history the Courts have proposed different definitions of religion, broadening their definitions as the country increased in religious diversity. Religion was defined in early decisions "as an organized body of believers employing religious ceremony and having a faith in and commitment to a supernatural Supreme Being. [6] In Davis v. Beason (1890), the U.S. Supreme Court first attempted to give content to the constitutional meaning of religion. Using a theistic definition of religion, the court said that "[t]he term `religion' has reference to one's view of his relations to his Creator, and to the obligations they impose of reverence for his being and character, and of obedience to his will. [7]
The modern trend in the courts toward a broader and more global view of religion began in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals case, United States v. Kauten 133 F.2d 703 (2d Cir. 1943). The court denied an atheist status as a conscientious objector because his refusal to serve in the military was based exclusively on political grounds. However, in writing for the court, Judge Augustus Hand, in dictum, "dismissed the notion that belief in a Supreme Being is a necessary element of `religious training and belief' under the statue. [8] That is to say, conscientious objection prodded by conscience could be just as religious as that prodded by theological commitment. [9]
The courts continued to define religion in a broader context, accepting as religious many belief- systems and practices. For instance, in Torcaso v. Watkins (1961) the Supreme Court unanimously held that it was unconstitutional for the commonwealth of Maryland to make belief in God a requirement for becoming a notary public. The justices were quite clear in affirming that a belief- system can be religious without being theistic: "Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others. [10] In United States v. Seeger (1965), the Supreme Court ruled that a belief is religious if it is "sincere and meaningful [and] occupies a place in the life of its possessor parallel to that filled by the orthodox belief in God. [11]
In the Seeger decision, the Court consulted theologian Paul Tillich who has claimed in his writings that most if not all human beings, including atheists, have an ultimate commitment of one sort or another, something that serves as a unifying center for their personality and consciousness: a transcendent object. [12] Similarly, philosopher John Dewey, who considered his own espousal of humanism as "religious," defined religion in the following way: "Any activity pursued in behalf of an ideal end against obstacles and in spite of threats of personal loss because of convictions of its general and enduring value is religious in quality." [13] It is evident, therefore, why the Court defined religion as a belief "based upon a power or being or upon a faith, to which all else is subordinate or upon which all else is ultimately dependent." [14]
In October 1977, in the case of Malnak v. Maharashi Mahesh Yogi, a New Jersey Federal Court barred the teaching of Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) and Transcendental Meditation (TM) in the state's public schools. According to U.S. District Judge H. Curtis Meanor, the teaching of SCI/TM, a Westernized version of Eastern religious mysticism, is "religious in nature; no other inference is `permissible' or reasonable.... Although defendants have submitted well over 1500 pages of briefs, affidavits and deposition testimony in opposing plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, defendants have failed to raise the slightest doubt as to the facts or as to the religious nature of the teaching of the Science of Creative Intelligence and the puja [A Sanskrit prayer used during the initiation ceremony. English translations clearly show its religious nature]. The teaching of the SCI/TM course in New Jersey public high schools violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment, and its teaching must be enjoined." [15] There are several other court cases which clearly establish that a belief- system which excludes a belief in the theistic God of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam may nevertheless be "religious." [16]
In order to better understand how the courts came to their conclusions, let us engage in a brief thought experiment by trying to answer the philosophical question, "What is a religion?" This question has been given many answers. For example, some have said that a religion is a belief system that involves a belief in a god and life after death. But, as the courts have realized, one problem with this definition is that it excludes systems of belief that are usually considered to be religions but which nevertheless do not have a belief in God or gods, such as Jainism and some forms of Buddhism. Other religions do not have a full fledged belief in life after death, as in the case of early Greek religion, though no one doubts that they are religious.
For these reasons, it is better to define a religion as a world- view or comprehensive system of belief which has a goal or ideal, as well as an assumed metaphysical perspective, which "transcends" (goes beyond) the empirical world and to which a believer places ultimate commitment. This definition seems to better capture a notion of religion consistent with both the history of the courts as well as our global and historical observations. For it does not exclude some religions which have religious ideals and do not have a concept of God or the afterlife (e.g., early Buddhism), but yet it does include other religions which have a very rich and complex theology (e.g, Judaism, Christianity, Islam).
It is important to understand that the modern legal cases we have gone over actually deal with two different aspects of defining religion. For example, Torcaso v. Watkins, concerns the free exercise of religion. The court ruled that since Secular Humanism served the same function as traditional religion for the prospective notary republic, the state could not inhibit his free exercise of religion by demanding he believe in God. For the sake of free exercise, religion is in the eye of the beholder. Whatever functions as a religion in the subjective life of an individual is a religion when it comes to free exercise.
On the other hand, the Malnak case concerns the establishment of religion. The court ruled that the state could not prefer one religion over another, including a religion that has its origin in Eastern religious thought and denies the existence of the Judeo- Christian view of God.
But unlike the free exercise clause, when it comes to a court deciding whether the establishment clause has been violated it cannot rely exclusively on the free exercise criterion that defines religion so broadly as to include that which serves as an ultimate value for the person committed to it (as a traditional religious belief does for the people who believe in it). For this would make nearly every belief propounded in the public arena religious, since in- principle nearly every belief can be held religiously, in the sense of being held as an ultimate value. But, as Joel Incorvaia points out, this "would run counter to the realities of public education in America." That is to say, "[i]f the broad functional definition were to be used in the educational sphere, classroom inculcation of democratic values, such as free speech, equality, justice, and majority rule, and moral values, such as honesty, personal integrity, and self- discipline, could be barred as unconstitutional." This would result in "a sterile educational environment marked by moral relativism." [17]
On the other hand, if for establishment purposes one defines religion too narrowly so as to include only traditional Western religions, excluding from the religious some belief- systems that are clearly intended to function in the same way as do traditional Western religions, then practitioners of these traditional religions would be unfairly excluded from influencing the public square while their non- traditional counterparts would be provided with carte blanche permission. This is why "religion should also be given a meaning flexible enough to prevent government aid to modern religious or quasi- religious movements that do not fit into traditional religious categories." [18] Consequently, the courts must provide more objective criteria in order to differentiate "between ultimate values that society deems necessary to impart through the educational process and values that if inculcated through the curriculum would offend establishment norms." [19]
Incorvaia proposes such criteria, based on a careful reading of the history of court rulings on the establishment clause:
(1) Potentially functionally religious values necessary for democracy should be permitted to be inculcated.
(2) The establishment clause is violated when
{A} The challenged practice and/or inculcated belief serves a potentially functionally religious purpose, and either one or both of the following is true:
{B} The state aids a group or organization primarily espousing a belief or beliefs in ultimate values; and
{C} State action results in inculcation of ultimate values not shared by the vast majority of society's members.
Let us cover each one of these points in great.
Incorvaia writes that "a solution would be to permit the inculcation of potentially functionally religious values that are consensually shared by society in general and that are essential to effective participation in a democracy." [20] That is to say, it would be permissible for schools to teach that cheating, lying, and stealing are morally wrong as well as to officially encourage students to adopt the precepts of democracy, since it is clear that these values are highly uncontroversial to the public at large.
In other words, the values necessary for the very existence of our society, though potentially functionally religious, cannot be banned from state- supported inculcation on the basis of the First Amendment, since the First Amendment itself would be imperiled by their absence.
{A} THE CHALLENGED PRACTICE AND/OR INCULCATED BELIEF SERVES A POTENTIALLY FUNCTIONALLY RELIGIOUS PURPOSE. In order to be consistent with the recent history of the courts as well to be considered religious for First Amendment purposes, a practice and/or inculcated belief, Incorvaia argues, thought to violate the establishment clause, must at least serve a functionally religious purpose. But this criterion alone is certainly not sufficient to prove that the practice violates the establishment clause, since, as we saw above, some beliefs which are potentially functionally religious are uncontroversial and are necessary conditions for the existence of government itself. For this reason, Incorvaia argues that one of either two other conditions must be present in order for a belief to be considered "religious," and hence, in violation of the establishment clause.
These two conditions, which we will look at below, must be understood in light of the constitutional purpose of the establishment clause. Incorvaia points out that "[c]ourts and commentators have stated that the non- establishment guaranty furthers two goals: the precluding of civil strife among organized religious factions competing for government benefits, and the safeguarding of individual religious liberty." That is to say, "[t]he establishment clause advances freedom of religion by forestalling the religious discrimination, persecution, and coercian that inevitably occur whenever the state throws its support behind favored religious groups or tries to inculcate an official religious orthodoxy." Therefore, in contrast to the free exercise clause, "when assessing establishment claims, the courts need not accept every assertion that a government activity is religiously based but should further examine whether the activity contravenes the underlying values of the establishment clause." [21]
Based on these underlying values, which the courts have appealed to on numerous occasions in establishment cases, [22] Incorvaia offers the following two conditions either of which must be present, along with the first condition above, in order for a belief to violate the establishment clause.
{B} THE STATE AIDS A GROUP OR ORGANIZATION PRIMARILY ESPOUSING A BELIEF OR BELIEFS IN ULTIMATE VALUES. If the state aids a group or organization primarily espousing a belief or beliefs in ultimate values, the establishment clause is violated. That is to say, "the establishment clause would be violated if the government extended aid in any form to" a group or organization whose principal tenets "attempt to supply answers to ultimate questions about Man's purpose and being, thereby forming the supreme life commitment of its adherents...." Moreover, "whether a group addressed itself to obedience to God's will, pursuit of universal human brotherhood, or a devotion to the inherent goodness of all men would have no bearing under the proposed test." As long as the group's adherents believed these tenets to be of supreme importance, "[g]overnment support of each group would be unconstitutional. [23]
This prong of the test helps solve the problem that arises when one uniformly applies the free- exercise functional definition in the context of the establishment clause. As I noted above, if the free exercise definition is applied too broadly, then some ultimate values, necessary for the existence of government itself, would have be stricken from the public square. Under this prong, "[g]overnment programs and policies that actualize such ultimate values are safe from constitutional challenge," since only when their primary purpose and effect would be to confer benefit on a functionally religious organization would the establishment clause come into play." Consequently, under this test, "government could legislate broadly in the area of public welfare without establishment limitation. [24]
{C} STATE ACTION RESULTS IN INCULCATION OF ULTIMATE VALUES NOT SHARED BY THE VAST MAJORITY OF SOCIETY'S MEMBERS. This part of the test is intended to cultivate the free exercise rights of individuals by shielding them from inculcation through government agencies in a manner antagonistic to their own personal religious convictions. This test "comes into play primarily with the extremely troublesome and complex constitutional issues posed by religious teaching, ceremony, and value inculcation in the realm of public elementary and secondary education." Incorvaia points out that "a great deal of the case law on establishment has cropped up in the educational field, largely because school- age children, emotionally immature and with unsettled internal value structures, are uniquely susceptible to religious indoctrination by their peers and by adult authority figures." [25] Since public education is compulsory in most jurisdictions, consuming most of a child's day, and since the school can no doubt have a weighty influence on the formation of a child's personality and values, susceptibility to religious indoctrination is augmented.
Would this third test also apply to higher education as well? Although it is correctly assumed that a college student is old enough to critically examine differing religious positions, it seems clear that if a public university or college instructor is proselytizing in the classroom and/or leading students in religious activities or ceremonies, that instructor has at least violated the second prong of the criteria (and the third prong if these activities are required for a good grade). For by permitting the teacher's religious actions while excluding the religious activities of others the state would be in fact aiding a religious group or organization.
C. What is the Separation of Church and State?
Granted that a belief is religious, when does its presence in public education violate the separation of church and state? As many scholars have come to realize, the history in the United States of the relationship between church and state, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution on this matter, is riddled with inconsistencies, the reconciling of which goes far beyond the scope of this paper. [26] However, we can come to some important conclusions which can help us answer the question of whether the teaching of New Age thought in public education violates the separation of church and state.
In a 1971 case, Lemon v. Kurtzman, the Supreme Court provided a three-part criterion which is used by many courts to determine whether a given public policy or law is constitutional. The Court believed that this three- part criterion is based on the history of the Court's decisions on the matter of church and state. If it passes the "Lemon test," then the law or policy in question is constitutional:
Every analysis in this area [church and state cases] must begin with consideration of the cumulative criteria developed by the Court over many years. Three such tests may be gleaned from our cases. First, the statute must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its principle or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion, Board of Education v. Allen, 392 U.S. 236, 243 (1968); finally, the statute must not foster "an excessive government entanglement with religion." Walz, 397 U.S. 664, 668 (1970). [27]
The operative terms in this test are "principle and primary effect" and "excessive entanglement," since the court has ruled that the government may accommodate religion, as Justice Harry Blackmun has pointed out:
Everson and Allen put to rest any argument that the State may never act in such a way that has the incidental effect of facilitating religious activity.... If this were impermissible... a church could not be protected by the police and fire department, or have its public sidewalk kept in repair. The Court has never held that religious activities must be discriminated against in this way. [28]
Blackmun's observation is often ignored by many school administrators who do not realize that the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution allows for many types of religious expression on the public school campus as long as it is not government or school endorsed. According to the courts, to forbid such religious expression, simply because it is religious, is to violate the free speech rights of students and sometimes others. As the Supreme Court stated in the Mergens decision, "[T]here is a crucial difference between government speech endorsing religion, which the Establishment Clause forbids, and private speech endorsing religion, which the Free Speech and Free Exercises Clauses protect" (Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 496 U.S. at 250 [1990])
Among the many activities allowed by the courts are the following: the right of students to distribute literature, wear religious clothing, including t- shirts, and engage in personal evangelism on school grounds; student led prayer at graduation; the right of valedictorians, salutatorians, or honorary student speakers to give speeches on religious subjects, including reading from the Bible; the right of members of the community or organizations to use school facilities for religious purposes; the right of students to start, attend, and advertise a Bible Club on school property. [29]
But let us now apply the Lemon Test to the Malnak case. First, did the teaching of TM have a secular purpose? Yes, for it was intended to help students relax and concentrate on their studies. Second, did the teaching of TM have the principle or primary effect of neither advancing nor inhibiting religion? No, for it advanced the cause of a sect of the Hindu religion by making school children engage in a teacher- led religious activity (TM) while at the same time a teacher- led Judeo- Christian religious activity (e.g., prayer, Bible- reading) was constitutionally prohibited. And third, did the teaching of TM not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion? No, for the religious practice in question (TM) is part of a publicly funded school curriculum. Imagine if public schools were only teaching Christian systematic theology from a Calvinist perspective to the exclusion of other Christian theologies and world religions. Would not this foster an excessive government entanglement with religion? No doubt it would. But this is exactly what certain New Jersey public schools were doing when they put TM in public school curriculum to the exclusion of all other theological and religious perspectives. Consequently, the New Jersey schools failed at least two parts of the three- part Lemon Test. It should be noted that scholars [30] as well as recent Supreme Court opinions [31] have criticized and questioned certain aspects of the Lemon Test. In fact, recent Supreme Court rulings have attempted to supplement (though some would claim "substitute") the Lemon Test. [32] For example, in Lynch v. Donnelly (1984) Justice Sandra Day O'Connor proposed what is commonly called the "endorsement" test. According to this test, if a government action creates a perception that it is either endorsing or disfavoring a religion, the action is unconstitutional. The concern of this test is whether the disputed activity suggests "a message to nonadherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community." [33] It seems, however, as Louis Fischer and Gail Paulus Sorenson point out, that "as we await guidance from the Court in future cases, the three- prong test established in Lemon is our most reliable guide. [34]
D. Religious Practices the Supreme Court has Declared Unconstitutional.
Even though there is disagreement about the Constitution and its application to religious teachings and practices in the public square, the U.S. Supreme Court has come to some apparently definitive conclusions about the unconstitutionally of some religious practices in public education. In each one of the following six cases the government was actively involved in, as well as sponsored, the religious practices under scrutiny:
(1) state- directed and required on- premises religious training, in McCollum v. Board of Education; (2) state- directed and required prayer, in Engel v. Vitale; (3) state- directed and required Bible reading, in Abington School District v. Schempp; (4) state- directed and required posting of the Ten Commandments, in Stone v. Graham; (5) state- directed and authorized "periods of silence" for meditation and voluntary prayer, in Wallace v. Jaffre; (6) state- directed and required teaching of scientific creationism, in Edwards v. Aguillard. [35]
One should not erroneously conclude from these cases that any study of religion is forbidden as part of public school curriculum. In fact, "[a]ccording to case law, references to religious matters are permissible if (1) they are presented objectively; (2) no disruption occurs; and, (3) they are relevant to the subject matter," [36] such as the study of religion by way of "comparative religion; the history of religion; art, music, and religion; or other approaches." However, "[r]eligious exercises, rituals, and celebrations... are against the law, whether compulsory or voluntary." [37]
Consequently, if the New Age teachings and practices found in the classrooms of America's public educational institutions parallel any of the above unconstitutional practices, and/or if these New Age ideas do not pass the muster of what is permissible, then they should be declared unconstitutional on the same basis as other religious teachings and practices that have gone before them. Of course, even if publicly inculcated New Age ideas and practices do not exactly parallel these unconstitutional activities, they may certainly be unconstitutional on their own merits.
II. WHAT IS THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT?
Influenced by Eastern religious thought, there is no doubt that the New Age Movement (NAM) is unified by certain fundamental assumptions and beliefs which distinguish it from other theistic and non- theistic belief- systems.
A. Beliefs and Practices Central to New Age Thinking.
Consider first the following list of beliefs and practices which most New Agers affirm. Certainly there are other beliefs and practices held by New Agers, but these are the most central.
BELIEFS
(1) Denial of Logic. By claiming that logic and rational deliberation, are inadequate for, and oftentimes a roadblock to, achieving New Age enlightenment, some New Agers are making a metaphysical claim about the nature of knowing reality itself, namely, that achieving this knowledge is fundamentally non- logical or non- rational. For example, Shirley MacLaine writes,
If people insist upon remaining within their "logical" belief systems they are safe within their own perceived reality, and thus are safe within the position of power they hold, whatever that power might be. They will not change themselves or grow into an expanded awareness of themselves. [38]
(2) All is One. New Agers believe that all reality is one. They do not mean this in the modern atheistic sense of "all reality is ultimately reducible to matter." Rather, by claiming that "all reality is one," New Agers are claiming that there is one metaphysical and spiritual reality of which all individual things are a part. Most New Agers base this on the belief that there exists a basic energy in which we all participate. It is believed that meditation and certain physical therapies can release this energy resulting in psychic and physical healing. This energy is called by many names, such as "healing force, orgone energy, odic force, mana, prana, and even holy spirit." [39] J. Gordon Melton, Director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion, points out that "members of the New Age Movement assume the existence of a basic energy that is different from the more recognized forms of energy (heat, light, electromagnetism, gravity, etc.) which supports and permeates all of existence. [40]
In affirming that we and the rest of existence are One, New Age believers deny the claim of Western theistic systems that God is a necessary reality on whom all contingent reality depends and who exists independently and separately from his creation. The New Age view is known philosophically as monism (all is one) and theologically as pantheism (God is all and all is God)
(3) Reincarnation. In saying that we now suffer or are rewarded because of what we have done in previous lives (karma), and that some rudimentary element of each person moves on from life to life until each eventually achieves unity with the One, some New Age adherents are saying that reincarnation is true.
(4) Epistemological and Moral Relativism. In claiming that we each have our own realities, and hence denying that there is any objective truth, some New Age adherents are claiming that relativism is the correct theory concerning knowledge and morality. This is why MacLaine claims, "[E]veryone has his own truth, and truth, as an objective reality, doesn't exist. [41]
(5) Self- Realization. Most New Age adherents emphasize self- realization "or the realization that one's true Self is God." New Agers believe one can "consciously (mystically) experience his (or her) supposed oneness with God" and/or manipulate reality by employing "specific techniques for altering the consciousness....," such as meditation, chanting, ecstatic dancing, guided imagery, creative visualization, astral projection, yoga and sensory deprivation. [42]
(6) Divination Practices. Some New Age adherents believe that secret knowledge can be gained through certain divination practices, such as Tarot Card reading, [43] astrology, [44] channeling, [45] and the use of crystals. [46]
Although the above beliefs and practices, in differing degrees, are fundamentally important to most New Age adherents, undergirding the propagation of NAM's two most central aspects ("All is One" and "self- realization") is a conviction that Western Culture must undergo a fundamental change in the way it looks at the world. This shift, according to New Agers, will have a positive and progressive affect upon our views of such things as human nature, science, education, medicine, politics, and religion. This is why New Age believers seek to philosophically and politically influence, and infiltrate, areas of great cultural power, such as schools, businesses, government, and churches.
Concurring with these observations, UNLV sociologist Dr. Maralee Mayberry sees NAM's central focus in its "seeking a paradigmatic shift in contemporary culture's embodiment of technocratic, bureaucratic, and reductionist values to cultural values that elevate ecological, aesthetic, and spiritual understandings of the human soul and human life." Mayberry goes on to say that "no monolithic path to achieving this goal defines New Age thought, rather what exists is an eclectic collection of orientations to cultural change, ranging from a belief in living a life of peace, harmony, and serenity to a fascination with crystal healing, channeling, and mind/body healing seminars at weekend New Age retreats.[47] Mayberry's observation is echoed by Melton:
"While members share a repudiation of the orthodoxies they have left behind, the movement is, however loosely, held together by its very transformative vision of a new world and of new people who will transcend the limitations of narrowly chauvinistic cultures, religions, and political systems, and will surpass the outmoded thought- forms of "old age" theologies and beliefs. That transformative vision of a New Age both unifies the more visible diversity and gives the movement its name." [48]
In essence, New Agers believe they possess distinct new ways of thinking about, as well as solving, old problems. The oneness of all, self- realization (actualization), and the resulting mystical enlightenment, if experienced and accepted, will result in "seeing" things through the New Age paradigm. New Age advocate Marilyn Ferguson sees the history of scientific discovery as a series of paradigm shifts, changing the way one looks at things and resulting in fabulous new insights: "New perspectives give birth to new historic ages. Humankind has had many dramatic revolutions of understanding__great leaps, sudden liberation from old limits. We discovered uses of fire and the wheel, language and writing. We found that the Earth only seems flat, the sun only seems to circle the Earth, matter only seems solid. We learned to communicate, fly, explore.[49]
The central beliefs and practices of NAM are undoubtedly religious. First, New Agers have concepts of ultimate reality (monism), God (pantheism), and the afterlife (reincarnation), which are similar if not identical to concepts espoused by Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. These beliefs and practices serve the same purpose in the lives of believers as do the beliefs and practices of adherents to Western religions. Thus, from a constitutional perspective, New Age thought is a religious.
Second, New Age practices intended to result in an altered state of consciousness, such as yoga, meditation, guided imagery, and creative visualization, are saturated in most cases with religious assumptions, since their primary purpose is to help the adherent experience his (or her) presumed oneness with God (or "Higher Self," "the One," "the Self," or any other synonym for the New Age God) by manipulating the universal metaphysical energy which supports and permeates all of existence. Some of these techniques are often practiced under the assumption that the New Age worldview is correct. In other words, even if taught in a context in which the New Age worldview is not readily apparent, the techniques themselves often presuppose the ultimate unity of all reality (monism) and/or the mental ability to manipulate reality since all reality is One (monism).
Third, these beliefs and practices parallel Western religious activities which the Supreme Court has deemed as violations of the Establishment Clause if inculcated in public education. Recall the six practices deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court:
(1) state- directed and required on- premises religious training, in McCollum v. Board of Education; (2) state- directed and required prayer, in Engel v. Vitale; (3) state- directed and required Bible reading, in Abington School District v. Schempp; (4) state- directed and required posting of the Ten Commandments, in Stone v. Graham; (5) state- directed and authorized "periods of silence" for meditation and voluntary prayer, in Wallace v. Jaffre; (6) state- directed and required teaching of scientific creationism, in Edwards v. Aguillard. [50]
Three experts in school law add, "[r]eligious exercises, rituals, and celebrations... are against the law, whether compulsory or voluntary." [51]
Consider the following chart, paralleling a forbidden Western religious practice with its New Age counterpart: [52]
|
Unconstitutional Practice |
Religious Purpose |
New Age Practice or Belief |
Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
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|
|
|
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There is little doubt that if such New Age practices and beliefs are inculcated in public education, then the establishment clause has been violated. We will now look at specific instances of New Age teaching and practices in public education.
Prior to answering the question of whether public institutions teach New Age thought, it is important to define what I mean by inculcate and teach in this context. For one thing, I do not mean the presentation and/or critique of ideas in a position of non- indoctrination. Obviously, it is essential to education for students, especially in a university or college setting, to explore the arguments for and against particular religious and philosophical viewpoints. An example of this would be a philosophy or religion instructor at a public school or college presenting her own or another's religious viewpoint to her students in the context of a critical discussion. In this context the instructor is not asking for converts, leading students in a religious practice, or proselytizing.
In contrast, when I speak of an instructor teaching or inculcating New Age thought I mean that the instructor advocates the views in question and leads his students in religious practices clearly without the hint of critical discussion. In other words, the lesson presupposes the "truth" of the New Age worldview and its purpose is to teach the students how to either engage in New Age practices or accept New Age ideas. Such teaching is simply indoctrination and proselytizing and does not allow the students to explore the arguments for and against the New Age viewpoint in a critical manner. This type of New Age religious inculcation, if it occurs, is equivalent to inculcating students in Western religious practices such as attending a prayer meeting, going to synagogue, celebrating a Catholic Mass, or reciting the rosary.
The above is consistent with and is supported by legal precedent: "According to case law, references to religious matters are permissible [in a public education setting] if (1) they are presented objectively; (2) no disruption occurs; and, (3) they are relevant to the subject matter," [53] such as the study of religion by way of "comparative religion; the history of religion; art, music, and religion; or other approaches." However, "[r]eligious exercises, rituals, and celebrations... are againt the law, whether compulsory or voluntary." [54]
I believe that it is clear that some public institutions offer courses that inculcate students in New Age thought. We will go over several examples from two public universities, a community college, and several public elementary and secondary schools
The Division of Continuing Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas offers at least one course which clearly teaches religious doctrine. "Kundalini Yoga and Meditation." The Winter 1992 catalogue describes the course in the following way:
Each class starts with dynamic breathing and stretching warm ups which lead into a vigorous series of exercises. After winding down you will tune your mind as well as your body.
Systematically energize and build each system of your body. Learn and apply techniques which maintain health, youthfullness, and flow of life, mentally, physically, and spiritually. The teachings of this ancient technology give the ability to tap into your unknown potential and experience the unity of being within yourself. Kundalini Yoga stretches the nerves and muscles and makes the blood circulate. [55] (emphasis mine)
According to religious historian, Dr. Ruth Tucker, "Yoga is a Hindu system of mental and physical exercises, the goal of which is to separate the soul from the body and mind in order to release the soul from the endless cycle or reincarnation. It is the avenue that unites the soul with God." [56] Russell Chandler writes that the goal of the Indian religious tradition of yoga "is a state of well- being, the loss of self- identity, and absorption into union with the Absolute, or Ultimate Being." [57] The UNLV course description, however, uses euphemisms to describe this unity when it promises the student that he or she will "learn and apply techniques which maintain... flow of life... spiritually" and "experience the unity of being within yourself" (emphasis mine). And this makes perfect sense, since, according to New Age thought, all is One (God).
Although many Westerners may practice Yoga as a means to relaxation, Dr. Irving Hexham, a religious studies professor at the University of Calgary, states "that despite claims to the contrary... yoga cannot be practiced in isolation from other Indian beliefs. The whole concept of yoga is based upon a carefully worked out theory of beliefs about the human condition. The terminology used to explain the practice itself involves acceptance of presuppositions with religious origins.[58]
The particular type of Yoga taught in this UNLV course, Kundalini, is fundamentally religious: the "kundalini" refers to the "psycho- spiritual power thought by Yogi(s) to lie dormant at the base of the spine. Believed to be a goddess, kundalini is referred to as `serpent power.'" [59] This is based on the New Age and Hindu belief that there are seven energy points on the human body called chakras. "`Raising' the kundalini up through the chakras is the aim of Yoga meditation. Enlightenment (Samadhi) is achieved when kundalini reaches the `crown chakra' at the top of the head. [60]
Can you imagine if analogous practices of Western religion were taught in a public university setting. No one would doubt that the wall of church/state separation had been breached:
Systematically energize and build each part of your life. Learn and apply praying techniques which maintain love, peace, and joy, mentally, physically, and spiritually. The teachings of this ancient practice give you the ability to tap into your unknown potential and experience the unity of yourself with the divine. Certain praying postures stretch the nerves and muscles and makes the blood circulate.
In light of this, I asked the following questions in a letter of inquiry to the Director of the Division of Continuing Education at UNLV, Dr. Paul Aizley (January 15, 1992):
Question #1: Can a person teach a continuing education course in which students are instructed to participate in a religious ceremony, such as prayer, Catholic mass, rosary, etc. Why or why not?
Question #2: Can a person teach a continuing education course where religious doctrine is taught as factual in which students are encouraged to believe. Why or why not?
Question #3: Can a person teach a continuing education course where religious doctrine is applied to individuals? For example, can a teacher tell her students, as a factual matter, that certain "sinful" activities will be detrimental to both their current and post- mortem existences? Or that meditative and prayer techniques lead to a unity of being or causing things to come into being? Why or why not?
Attaching a copy of the Bill of Rights to his reply letter (with a check- mark next to the First Amendment), Dr. Aizley responded in the following way:
In my opinion the answer to each of your questions is NO. The reason is contained in the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court so as to apply to the States.
UNLV, including Continuing Education, is supported by the State of Nevada and Nevada may not present a religion or the tenets of a religion as being factual. I will not approve any course that requires students to participate in a religious activity or that teaches religious doctrine as factual....
There are many interesting and difficult questions to be asked but I think your three are quite straight forward and my answers are correct. I'd be happy to discuss them further with you. [emphasis mine]
But it is evident that religion, of the New Age and Eastern variety, is being taught at UNLV. But since it is not Western religion, good civil libertarians such as Dr. Aizley make the mistake of not recognizing it as a religion.
The description of "Metaphysical Training," a course offered in the Spring 1993, Spring 1992, Fall 1991, and Summer 1991 Community Education schedules at the Community College of Southern Nevada (CCSN), is thoroughly New Age:
Discover your inner strengths and become all you can be in this powerful 10- week course. Simple techniques for learning meditation, yoga, and the power behind mantra and prayer will be emphasized. A look into reincarnation and ESP as additional tools to maximize your potential will be explored.... [61] (emphasis mine)
This course uncritically promotes religious doctrine as well as guiding students in religious practice. Although we have seen that yoga and reincarnation are religious, and we all know the place of prayer in religion, the concept of mantra is religious as well. Chandler points out that mantra is "a `holy' word, phrase, or verse in Hindu and Buddhist meditation techniques. A mantra is usually provided to an initiate by a Guru who is supposed to hold specific insights regarding the needs of his pupils. The vibrations of the mantra are said to lead the meditator into union with the divine source within. [62]
I sent a letter of inquiry to the Executive Director of Community Education at CCSN, Michael Metty. Asking him the same questions I asked Dr. Aizley of UNLV, Mr. Metty responded in the following way in a January 21, 1992 letter:
Question 1. Can a person teach a C.E. course in which students are instructed in a religious ceremony or activity? This depends on the sponsoring institution and what is defined as the community. It would be more appropriate to call this religious education of course but labels in this arena are loose. In general C.E. sponsored by public institutions (which is the majority) would not provide instruction in specific religious practice.
Question 2 could be answered in the same fashion of course.
Question 3 really raises the same issue. [emphasis mine]
Although he admits that my "questions raise far deeper issues than can be addressed in this format," it is evident that Mr. Metty does not believe it is the place of a public institution to "provide instruction in specific religious practice." Yet his program, which is part of a public institution, offers "Metaphysical Training," a course which "provides instruction in specific religious practice."
In the Spring 1993 Community Education catalogue, twelve other courses are offered which teach particular New Age religious doctrines and divination practices: "Menu Metaphysics__An Overview," "Mastering the Tarot," "Past Life Regression," "The Urantia Book__Planet Earth and the Cosmos," "Astrological Calendar Reading," "Zodiac of Love," "Improving Your Bottom Line with Astrology," "A Course in Miracles," "Hatha Yoga__Iyengar Method," "Introduction to Kundalini Yoga and Meditation," "Kundalini Yoga and Meditation Sadhana," and "Yoga with Olga.[63]
The Division of Continuing Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst offers the course, "Past Life Regression," in its Spring 1992 schedule. The course description reads:
Reincarnation is an area that has started to come out of the dark corners of mysticism and into the light of the twentieth century. Through this workshop, participants learn about past lives and their relevance to their lives today. Many will find that through knowing and understanding their past lives, they will have greater insights into and better understanding of this life. This workshop consists of two group regressions and one individual regression. Bring a pillow and a blanket or mat. [64]
As I noted earlier, reincarnation is a religious view, linked to both New Age thought and Eastern religion. It is a proposed solution to the problem of evil and the way in which humans eventually reach "salvation" or Oneness with God. It is evident that a contrasting Western concept, such as the concept of resurrection found in Christianity, if taught in a publicly- funded institution in the same way that reincarnation is taught at the University of Massachusetts, would be seen as a clear violation of separation of church and state. Imagine if the course description had read:
Resurrection is a doctrine that has started to come out of the dark corners of the Bible and into the light of the twentiety century. Through this workshop, participants learn about the doctrine of resurrection and its relevance to their lives today. Many will find that through knowing and understanding the doctrine of resurrection, they will have greater insights into and better understanding of their life. This workshop consists of two group altar calls and one individual testimony to the truth of the resurrection doctrine. Bring a kneeling pad, some paper, and a pen.
During the 1991- 92 school year, some teachers at a Las Vegas, Nevada, elementary school were using a curriculum aid based on the work of Harvard education professor, Dr. Howard Gardner. Gardner's work is used in many other public schools throughout the country. In fact, the teacher's guide, Seven Ways of Knowing, is in its second edition. Gardner believes that there is not just one way of knowing things. In order to capture this notion, Gardner has developed the theory of seven intelligences"__seven distinct ways that we learn and know about reality__and he believes there may be more." For example, "verbal/linguistic intelligence is responsible for the production of language and all the complex possibilities that follow, including poetry, humor, storytelling, grammar, metaphors, similes, abstract reasoning.... Verbal/linguistic intelligence is awakened by the spoken word; by reading someone's ideas or poetry; and by writing one's own ideas, thoughts, or poetry." [65] Although there appears to be nothing inherently religious about Gardner's theory, the teacher's guide provides the instructor with methods, exercises, and information about how to awaken these intelligences in both the teacher and his or her students, which apparently suggest certain New Age religious doctrine as well as practices. Consider just the following.
1. MONISM AND PANTHEISM (ALL IS ONE, ALL IS GOD, AND I AM GOD). David Lazear, author of Seven Ways of Knowing, provides a summary of five distinct stages of consciousness on which, according to Lazear, "most contemporary researches agree__both Western and non- Western. [66] Comments on the fourth and fifth stages (Transpersonal Awareness, i.e., "I am a citizen of the universe," and Spiritual Awareness, i.e., "I am one with all that is.") clearly imply the particular New Age doctrines of monism and pantheism:
At this stage [transpersonal awareness], the psyche reflects the whole universe. It knows no boundaries other than those that are self- imposed.... This stage [spiritual awareness] involves the development of complex belief systems, including religious symbols, ritual processes, solitary spiritual practices, political ideals, aesthetic values, and philosophical presuppositions. These things tend to integrate and give meaning to the many diverse experiences of our lives. This unity is often felt as a profound and immediate sense of "the eternal" in the midst of the temporal__what theologians call "god- consciousness".... It is the rising depth of the spirit which energizes, motivates, heals, and empowers all other levels of our lives. [67]
This view states that the individual "psyche reflects the whole universe" and that "it knows no boundaries other than those that are self- imposed." It follows from this that all knowledge is within each individual and is not accessed in most cases due to self- imposed ignorance. This is essentially the New Age view that we are all God (monism and pantheism) but can only become aware of this fact through enlightenment, brought about by an altered state of consciousness.
2. NEW AGE CONSCIOUSNESS- ALTERING TECHNIQUES. Lazear provides methods to achieve this enlightenment by presenting several exercises which are nearly identical to Eastern religious meditative techniques, creative visualization, and guided imagery. [68] In using these techniques, Lazear presupposes a New Age religious metaphysic: "Within our mind we have hundreds of potential states of being or levels of awareness. These include such things as an awareness of the wholeness of the universe, the mystery, depth and greatness of our individual lives, and a sense of oneness or a deep interdependence with the natural world."(emphasis mine) [69]
These techniques clearly presuppose the New Age doctrine that All is One ("sense of oneness") and that each person has access to universal knowledge ("awareness of the wholeness of the universe,"), thus implying the New Age doctrine of pantheism: All, including each individual, is God.
In 1977- 78 Dr. Beverly Galyean received two federal grants in order to train teachers in the Los Angeles Public School System to use transpersonal "confluent education" techniques. According to the editor of the newsletter of the Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP), one of the program's sponsors, "The core of the curriculum is the cadre of guided imagery- meditation types of events experienced by the teachers for their own growth, and subsequently by the students. [70] Although in certain contexts Galyean seems to carefully avoid the use of overtly religious terminology, [71] her following comments about her public school program can leave no doubt as to its religious content:
Another aspect of meditation is the increased capacity to contact and learn from the source of wisdom, love and intelligence within us__often called the "higher self"; God; universal wisdom or spirit, conscience. This is done through the symbolic use of light, such as the sun, the sky, mountain tops, wise persons, golden liquid energy, and the colors white, gold, purple, and violet. Teachers who are deeply spiritual and who feel comfortable working with their own spiritual development may choose to offer spiritually- oriented meditations to their students. This is done when there is an explicit sense of appropriateness establised between the teacher and the students, parents, school personnel and community. [72]
As mentioned in the first part of this paper, Galyean admits that the basis of her entire public school program rests on particular theological assumptions:
Once we begin to see that we are all God, that we all have the attributes of God, then I think the whole purpose of human life is to reown the Godlikeness within us; the perfect love, the perfect wisdom, the perfect understanding, the perfect intelligence, and when we do that we create back to that old, that essential oneness which is consciousness. So my whole view is very much based on that idea. [73] (emphasis mine)
In March 1984, testifying during the U.S. Department of Education Hearings on proposed regulations for the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, teacher Robert Griggs testified that "in the fall semester of the school year 1980- 81, in Hocker Grove Junior high in the Shawnee Mission public schools, there was a P.E. class..." in which "they used a mandatory or compulsory course in yoga to teach kids to meditate." According to Griggs, "it was compulsory that the pupils get into positions of meditation, and go through several things including vocal repitition of words and language that really were not identified. [74] These unidentified words and language the students had to recite were probably a Hindu mantra, which is part of many versions of Eastern religious meditative technique.
Mr. Griggs comments on an experience he had while teaching at Roeland Park Elementary School in Shawnee Mission during the 1982- 83 school year. "[S]tudent counselors and social workers from the Norris District made an unannounced visit.... [T]hey announced they would like to have a 45- minuete rap session with the class students." Although invited to take a 45- minute coffee break, Griggs declined and decided to observe. During the session, the counselors told the students, "Christianity once served our country in a positive way, but now students today should seek other forms of religion to study and learn from." Then, according to Griggs, "the counselor suggested yoga and meditation, and some of the eastern mystic religions. [75]
However, when it came to any allusion to the influence of the Western religious tradition upon American culture, administrators and teachers became downright reactionary, some might even say intolerant. Mr. Griggs and his fellow teachers "were informed by the superintendent of schools of the Shawnee Mission school district at the time that, even though the policy was that we could celebrate Christmas as an American tradition, it was strongly emphasized that we should use `holiday winter' instead of using the word Christmas or anything to do with Christ." To go along with this urging Griggs "made a large bulletin board that was just stars in the sky, and the kids used their geometric tools to make a typical Christmas village, with stained glass windows, churches, and houses with wreaths." Griggs did not put the words "Merry Christmas" or anything else on the bulletin board that could be taken as offensive, except the star of Bethlahem at the top. He presented his bulletin board to the principal who said that he did not "see where anybody could be offended...." Yet, Griggs had three colleagues approach him and tell him that "they were very personally offended that [he] would make a religious issue of Christmas.[76]
In the same hearings at which Mr. Griggs testified, Joan Lauterbach of Missouri relates a response to a question she raised concerning the curriculum for the Gifted and Talented Program for grades 3 through 6. She asked a question concerning the relaxation techniques used in the curriculum. The teacher answered:
We teach them yoga to attain peace, harmony, and self- awareness. I turn off the lights in the room and turn on moonlight, and then we just lie on the floor and talk and fantasize. We also play fantasy scenes, breathing exercises, and do the body scrunch, which is a yoga exercise. A set of cassette tapes, with giant- size postcard pictures are available, called Peace, Harmony, and Awareness. Children are to meditate while looking at the pictures and imagine that they are there, on the mountain top, by the lake, and so on. They are told to remember how peaceful and restful they feel and that the next time they become angry or upset, they should remember how they feel. [77]
Ms. Lauterbach also told the committee that "on September 2, 1982, I met with a 6th grade teacher regarding... a seance that was held in her classroom." She told the committee about a book list from which children participating in a program for gifted children called Project Challenge could choose five books. "All these books were stories that include something in the realm of the supernatural. Even the students knew this, as they wrote an article describing the seance in the Project Challenge newspaper called, `The Challenger'." In addition, "the children also had to role- play the main character in each book, such as a warlock, a spiritess, an exorcist, and a poltergeist." Ms. Lauterbach also relates the fact that "astrology books for youth were also available at the time. Children were to write their own horoscopes and make their own astrological sign. [78]
There are numerous other contemporary examples of New Age and Eastern religion being inculcated in public education, which other authors of documented in greater detail. [79] My purpose here, however, is merely to cite a few examples from different levels of public education.
I believe that it is clearly evident that certain New Age and Eastern religious practices and teachings are allowed in public education which would not be tolerated by civil libertarians if their Western counterparts were taught in their stead. Of course, some educators, such as Edward Jenkinson, believe that such an observation is the product of the overactive imaginations of right- wing parents.80 Although I do not believe that Jenkinson is correct, I do believe he raises a point which should be taken seriously: every accusation of state/church conflict should be examined and analyzed carefully and honestly with a more global view of religion and religious practice. Since I began doing work in this area nearly two years ago, I have run across many claims by parents that they had found "New Age teaching" in their children's schools, which turned out in most cases to be either misinterpretations of professional jargon or reading into curricula things that were simply not there. However, there were some cases where the parents were correct.
I must admit that I am a reluctant participant in this severely neglected area of state/church conflict. When I first was approached by concerned parents in my community, I did not believe their concerns were valid. I labled them as right- wing reactionaries. However, the fact that they approached me because of my faculty status at the University of Nevada (I teach religion and philosophy), I felt obliged to listen to their concerns. Although I found some of their concerns to be hyperbolic and reactionary, I had to reluctantly admit that they were right about a great deal more than I had supposed.
My advice to civil libertarians who want to
fortify the wall of separation of church and state in public
education is that they should fight just as vigorously against
infiltration of New Age and Eastern religion as they do against
infiltration of Western religion. This, I believe, would garner a
great deal of respect from conservative and orthodox religious
believers who presently perceive civil libertarians as the enemy.
1. Senate Select Committee to Study the Michigan Model of Comprehensive School Health Education, Michigan Model for Comprehensive School Health Education: It's Not Kid- Friendly (Preliminary Report) (October 1992): 32, 41- 43, 47- 50. In order to understand the broad scope of this study, it should be noted that the committee's criticism of New Age teaching was one of many critical comments on a variety of subjects.
2. Edward Jenkinson, "How an Imaginary Movement is Being Used to Attack Courses and Books," Educational Leadership (October 1988): 74- 77.
3. Doug Groothius, Unmasking the New Age (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), p. 13. The final quote in Groothius' story is taken from Frances Adeney, "Educators Look East," Spiritual Counterfeits Project Journal 5 (Winter 1981): 28.
4. Adeney, "Educators Look East," p. 29.
5. Ibid.
6. Joel Incorvaia, "Teaching Transcendental Meditation in Public Schools: Defining Religion for Establishment Purposes," San Diego Law Review 6 (1978- 79): 336- 337.
7. Davis v. Beason 133 U.S. (1890) at 342. Incorvaia points out that the "Davis involved the criminal prosecution of a member of the Mormon church under an Idaho statute disenfranchising persons from voting or holding elected office if they belonged to any organization practicing or advocating bigamy or polygamy. The Court upheld the statute's constitutionality against a free exercise challenge. It refused to recognize that belief in bigamy or polygamy could be a tenet of a bona fide religious faith, saying, `To call their advocacy a tenet of religion is to offend the common sense of mankind.' Id. at 341- 42." (Incorvaia, "Transcendental Meditation," p. 337). 8. Incorvaia, "Transcendental Meditation," p. 337.
9. United States v. Kauten 133 F.2d 703 (2d Cir. 1943) at 708.
10. John Whitehead, "The Establishment of the Religion of Secular Humanism and Its First Amendment Implications," Texas Tech Law Review 10 (1978): 13.
11. Whitehead, "The Establishment of the Religion of Secular Humanism," p. 14.
12. Paul Tillich, Ultimate Concern, ed. D. Mackenzie Brown (London: SCM, 1963), p. 106.
13. John Dewey, A Common Faith (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1934), p. 27.
14. Whitehead, "The Establishment of the Religion of Secular Humanism," p. 14.
15. United States District Court, District of New Jersey, Civil Action No. 76- 341 (October 1977), as quoted in Elliot Miller, "Hinduism: Hare Krishna and Transcendental Meditation (TM)," in The New Cults, ed. Walter R. Martin (Santa Ana, CA: Vision House, 1980), pp. 93- 94.
An English translation of the puja is found in Ruth Tucker, Another Gospel (Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books, 1989), pp. 383- 384.
16. For an overview of these cases, see Whitehead, "The Establishment of Religion of Secular Humanism," and Norman L. Geisler, Is Man the Measure? (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1983), pp. 162- 165.
17. Incorvaia, "Transcendental Meditation," p. 349.
18. Ibid., p. 344.
19. Ibid., pp. 349- 350
20. Ibid., p. 349.
21. Ibid., pp. 345- 346.
22. For instance, the Supreme Court asserts in Abington School District v. Schempp 274 U.S. 203, 222 (1963): "The wholesome `neutrality' of which this Court's cases speak thus stems from a recognition of the teachings of history that powerful sects or groups might bring about a fusion of governmental and religious functions or a concert of dependency of one upon the other to the end that official support of the State or Federal Government would be placed behind the tenets of one or all orthodoxies." In addition, the majority in Engel v. Vitale 370 U.S. 421, 429- 432 point out that the first amendment Frames sought to avoid "the anguish, hardship and bitter strife that could come when zealous religious groups struggled with one another to obtain the Government's stamp of approval....Another purpose of the Establishment Clause rested upon the awareness of the historical fact that governmentally established religions and religious persecutions go hand in hand."
23. Incorvaia, "Transcendental Meditation," p. 347. "Determining whether such believes touch ultimate values would be the most difficult problem encountered by the courts under the proposed definition. However, it should not be too difficult to distinguish, for example, between the NAACP, whose programs are based on ultimate values concerning the inherent equality of the races, and TM/SCI, which claims to hold the panacea to all of society's problems. All groups engaged in social and political action may be expressing some types of ultimate values. Ideals concerning the equality of all men, the moral injustice of war, or the immorality of abortion, for example, are based to some extent on ultimate values about Man's nature and purpose. The distinction, however, between political and social groups and religious organizations is one of degree. One must look to whether the questioned group attempts to provide all- inclusive answers to utlimate questions and to whether such beliefs command an exclusive loyalty or faith from the group's adherents. See Ladd, Public Education and Religion, 13 J. PUB. L. 310, 324 (1964)." (Ibid)
24. Ibid., p. 348.
25. Ibid. Incorvaia cites the following example from case law: "[S]peaking of the inherent coercion involved in released- time programs, Justice Frankfurter perceptively stated that in such programs `[t]he law of imitation operates, and nonconformity is not an outstanding characteristic of children. The result is an obvious pressure upon children to attend.' Illinois ex rel. McCollum v. Board of Educ., 333 U.S. 203, 227 (1948) (Frankfurter, J., concurring)." (Ibid.)
See also, LaRocca v. Board of Education of Rye City School District, 406 N.Y.S.2d 348 (App. Div. 1978), appeal dismissed, 386 N.E.2d 266 (N.Y. 1978); and Dale v. Board of Education, Lemon Independent School District 322- 2, 316 N.W.2d 108 (S.D. 1982). John Whitehead points out that in the LaRocca case a teacher was dismissed "for recruiting students to join her religious organization and using [the] classroom to promote tenets of religious faith." In the Dale case "a biology teacher [was] denied contract renewal for devoting excessive instructional time to biblical theory of creation in violation of [the] school board's guidelines." (John W. Whitehead, The Rights of Religious Persons in Public Education [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991], p. 259).
26. See Robert L. Cord, Separation of Church and State: Historical Fact and Current Fiction (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1982); Whitehead, Rights of Religious Persons.
27. Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) 403 U.S. 602, at 612- 13, as quoted in Cord, Separation of Church and State, pp. 198- 199. However, "prior to 1970, the Supreme Court sought to determine state neutrality [concerning religion] with a two- part test which required that: (1) the action of the state not be intended to aid one religion or all religions and (2) the priniciple of primary effect of the program be one that `neither advances nor inhibits religion.' In 1970 the Supreme Court added a third prong to the test, that the state must not foster `an excessive government entanglement with religion.' Walz v. Tax Commission, 397 U.S. 664, 90 S.Ct. 1409 (1970)." (Kern Alexander and M. David Alexander, The Law of Schools, Students, and Teachers in a Nutshell [St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1984], pp. 100- 101). The Court simply added this third prong in the Lemon case.
28. Roemer v. Board of Public Works 426 U.S. 736, 747 (1976). (emphasis added)
29. For an overview of the court decisions which address these activities, see Students' Rights and the Public Schools (Virginia Beach, VA: American Center for Law & Justice, n.d.)
30. See, for example, Whitehead, Rights of Religious Persons; Cord, Separation of Church and State, pp. 169- 211; Michael W. McConnell, "Accomodation of Religion," 1985 Supreme Court Review 1 (1985); and Michael W. McConnell, "The Origins and Historical Understanding of Free Exercise of Religion," Harvard Law Review 103 (1990); Michael W. McConnell, "Should Congress Pas Legislation Restoring the Broader Interpretation of the Free Exercise of Religion?," Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 15 (Winter 1992).
31. See Marsh v. Chambers, 436 U.S. 783 (1983); Lynch v. Donnelly 465 U.S. 668 (1984); and Mueller v. Allen, 463 U.S. 388, 394 passim (1983).
32. In his dissenting opinion in Meek v. Pittinger (421 U.S. 349, at 374 [1975]) Justice William Brennan claimed to have found a fourth prong: "...four years ago, the Court, albeit without express recognition of the fact, added a significant fourth factor to the test: `A broader base of entanglement of yet a different character is presented by the divisive political potential of these state programs.' Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 622 (1971)."
33. Lynch v. Donnelly at 688 (O'Connor, J., concurring). O'Connor's endorsement test
has been criticized as well. See Smith, "Symbols, Perceptions, and Doctrinal Illusions: Establishment Neutrality and the `No Endorsement' Test," Michigan Law Review 86 (1987).
34. Louis Fischer and Gail Paulus Sorenson, School Law for Counselors, Psychologists, and Social Workers, 2nd ed. (New York: Longman, 1991), p. 203.
35. Whitehead, Rights of Religious Persons, p. 59.
36. Ibid., p. 100. Whitehead extracted these principles from the following cases: Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963); Florey v. Souix Falls School District 49- 5, 464 F. Supp. 911 (D. S.D. 1979), aff'd, 619 F.2d 1311 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 987 (1980); Parducci v. Rutland, 316 F. Supp. 352 (M.D. Ala. 1970); and Zykan v. Warsaw Community School Corporation, 631 F.2d 1300 (7th Cir. 1980).
See especially the state of California's policy for the teaching of religion, Moral and Civic Education and Teaching about Religion, rev. ed. (Sacramento: California Department of Education, 1991) 37. Louis Fischer, David Schimmel, and Cynthia Kelly, Teachers and the Law, 2nd ed. (New York: Longman, 1987), p. 159.
38. Shirley MacLaine, quoted in the New Age Catalogue (New York: Doubleday, 1988), p. 40, as quoted in Ronald H. Nash, World- Views in Conflict: Choosing Christianity in a World of Ideas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan 1992), p. 142.
39. Nash, World- Views in Conflict, p. 137.
40. J. Gordon Melton, New Age Encyclopedia (Detroit: Gale Research, 1990), p. xvi.
41. Shirley MacLaine, Out on a Limb (New York: Bantam, 1983), p. 207.
42. Elliot Miller, A Crash Course on the New Age Movement (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989), p. 17.
43. This involves the use of a Tarot Deck of 78 cards illustrated with magical arcane symbolism. Representing the sum total of all occult knowledge, the cards are used fortunetelling, to divine both present and future events. According to Russell Chandler, the Tarot, "[d]eveloped in its present form in the last century," it now includes twenty- two characters, among them the magician, death, the pope, the popess, the devil and the fool, who represents any human on the path of life__which is seen as all foolishness." (Russell Chandler, Understanding the New Age [Dallas: Word Publishing, 1991], p. 33)
44. Astrology is the belief that the position of the stars and planets especially on one's day of birth directly influences one's personality and future events. Astrologers attempt to divine an individual's personal characteristics as well as future activities and events by studying an individual's astrological chart, which is determined by the position of certain stars and planets.
45. Channeling is the "[p]rocess of receiving information from some level of reality other than the ordinary physical one and from beyond the `self' as it is generally understood. A `channeler,' or medium, usually goes into a trance to establish contact with a spirit, ascended master, higher consciousness, or some other entity, and then receives and repeats messages from `the other side' of the physical world." (Chandler, Understanding the New Age, p. 330)
46. New Agers claim that crystals possess incredible spiritual properties, and when used properly, can do wonderful things. Among these wonderful things are the following. "[C]rystals when correctly synchronized, or `programmed,' to the body vibrations of their owners can enable them to tap into past lives and future events...." as well as "cure toothaches, allergies, face wrinkles, and toenail fungi." (Chandler, Understanding the New Age, pp. 92, 88).
47. Maralee Mayberry, "New Age Thought and Cultural Production," paper presented at the 1991 annual meeting of the Western Social al Science Association (April), Reno, Nevada, p. 1. Dr. Mayberry is a colleague of mine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in its Sociology Department. I would like to thank her for providing me with this informative paper as well as a published article (Maralee Mayberry, "Teaching For the New Age: A Study of New Age Families Who Educate Their Children at Home," The Home School Researcher 5 [1989]: 12- 17), although this does not mean that Dr. Mayberry necessarily accepts any or all of my criticisms of the New Age Movement.
48. J. Gordon Melton, "A History of the New Age Movement," in Not Necessarily the New Age: Critical Essays, ed. Robert Basil (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1988), p. 36.
49. Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980's (Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher, 1980), p. 26. The view of paradigm shifts used by New Age apologists, such as Ferguson, is taken from the highly influential work of contemporary philosopher of science, Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970). Among the many works that have been critical of Kuhn's views are the following: Imre Lakatos and Alan Mugrave, eds. Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970); Larry Laudan, Progress and Its Problems: Towards a Theory of Scientific Growth (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977); W.H. Newton- Smith, The Rationality of Science (Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981); and J.P. Moreland, Christianity and the Nature of Science (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989), pp. 170- 212.
50. Whitehead, Rights of Religious Persons, p. 59.
51. Fischer, Schimmel, and Kelly, Teachers and the Law, p. 159.
52. Although moral relativism is certainly part of much New Age thinking, and in many classrooms moral relativism is taught, I chose not to place it in this chart for a very important reason: if inculcated in public education apart from the New Age world view, it would be difficult to classify such teaching as "religious." That is to say, moral relativism is not necessarily pantheistic just as moral objectivism is not necessarily theistic. That is, someone can be a moral relativist without being a New Ager or pantheist just as one can be a moral objectivist without being a theist or religious believer. However, if either view is inculcated in the context of its religious worldview in a public education setting, such inculcation would appear to violate the establishment clause.
Confusion over this subtle distinction is quite common. Consider the American Civil Liberties Union's opposition to a 1988 California State Assembly bill, which mandated that absistence be taught in sex education classes in public schools. In a letter written to the Assembly Education Committee (May 26, 1988), ACLU attorneys Majorie C. Swartz and Francisco Lobaco argue that it is the ACLU's position "that teaching that monogamous heterosexual intercourse within marriage is a traditional American value is an unconstitutional establishment of a religious doctrine in public schools. There are various religions which hold contrary beliefs with respect to marriage and monogamy." (reproduced in James Dobson and Gary L. Bauer, Children at Risk [Dallas: Word Publishing, 1990], p. 26). Since one can be an atheist and agree with the assembly bill, it seems ludicurous for the ACLU to assert that the bill advances a religious doctrine. If the ACLU's position were to become law, a teacher would be legally forbidden from telling Johnny that it is morally wrong to steal from Suzie, since such a moral condemnation is found in the Ten Comandments.
53. Whitehead Rights of Religious Persons, p. 100. See note 36 for a list of case from which Whitehead extracted these principles.
54. Fischer, Schimmel, and Kelly, Teachers and the Law, p. 159.
55. Division of Continuing Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, The Catalogue: Adult Classes, Workshops and Seminars (Winter 1992): 32.
56. Tucker, Another Gospel, p. 385.
57. Russell Chandler, Understanding the New Age (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1991), p. 330.
58. Irving Hexham, "Yoga, UFO's, and Cult Membership," Update: A Quarterly Journal of New Religious Movements 10 (September 1986): 6.
59. Chandler, Understanding the New Age, p. 333.
60. Ibid., p. 330. See also, Swami Rama, Rudolph Ballentine, and Swaimi Ajaya, Yoga ga and Psychotheraphy: The Evolution of Consciousness (Honesdale, PA: The Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, 1976), pp. 138, 216- 280.
61. Non- Credit Classes, Community College of Southern Nevada (Spring 1992): 27.
62. Chandler, Understanding the New Age, p. 333.
63. Non- Credit Classes, Community College of Southern Nevada (Spring 1993): 21,34, and 36.
64. Division of of of Continuing Education, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Schedule of Courses, Workshops, and Seminars (Spring 1992): 16.
65. David Lazear, Seven Ways of Knowing: Teaching for Multiple Intelligences, 2nd ed., forward by Howard Gardner (Palatine, IL: Skylight Publishing, 1991), p. xi.
66. Ibid., p. 149. 67. Ibid., p. 150.
68. Ibid., chapter 7.
69. Ibid., p. 142.
70. Introduction to Beverly Galyean, "Meditating with Children: Some Things we Learned," AHP Newsletter (August/September, 1980): 16.
71. For example, in one article Galyean is careful to avoid blatant theological elements, but still admits, "Spiritual themes such as `higher wisdom,' `cosmic or universal consciousness,' `oneness of being,' and `universal love' may also be treated in transpersonal imagery." ("Imagery in the Schools: Some Things We've Learned," Imagery, Volume 4: Recent Practice and Theory, eds. Milton Wolpin, Joseph E. Shorr, and Lisa Krueger [New York: Plenum Press, 1986], 158)
72. Galyean, "Meditating," p. 18.
73. As quoted in Adeny, "Educators Look East," p. 29.
74. Excerpts of Proceeedings Before the U.S Department of Education, 3rd ed. (Alton, IL: Pere Marquette Press, 1985), 209.
75. Ibid., p. 214.
76. Ibid., pp. 216- 217.
77. Ibid., p. 202.
78. Ibid., p. 204, 202
79. See, for example, John Ankerberg and Craig Branch (with John Weldon), Thieves of Innocence: Protecting Our Children from New Age Teachings and Occult Practices (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1993); Eric Buehrer, The New Age Masquerade (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, 1990); Excerpts of Proceeedings Before the U.S Department of Education; and Berit Kjos, Your Child and the New Age (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1990). Though there is some hyperbole and fallacious guilt by association in these books, there is much valuable and accurate information and analysis of New Age and Eastern religious thinking in public education.
80. Jenkinson, "Imaginary Movement," 74-77.
Dr. Francis Beckwith is Associate Professor of Philosophy, Culture, and Law, and W. Howard Hoffman Scholar, Trinity Graduate School and Trinity Law School, Trinity International University (Deerfield, IL), California campus. His Ph. D. is from Fordham and he is the author of numerous books and essays.