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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 18692
[Pagan]
Date Posted:
10/19/2007
4:56:42 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 6,195
RSS: 14,488
Comments: 10
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University Adds Pagan Holidays To Absence List
Author: Katherine Reasons Source: Marshall Parthenon (Marshall Univ., WV)
Title: UNIVERSITY ADDS PAGAN HOLIDAYS TO ABSENCE LIST
After several controversial requests, the university's policy regarding absences excused for religious reasons is under review, and the decision has been made to add Pagan holidays to the list of excusable holidays.
"Based on the research I've done, Paganism is practiced by a group of people large enough for it to be considered a major religion," Steve Hensley, dean of student affairs, said.
Hensley said the current policy excuses absences that are "traditionally celebrated by the world's major religions." The controversy lies in whether a religion is "major," and if so, which of its holidays are "traditionally celebrated."
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Community Thoughts: There are 10 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Less Than Adequate | Oct 22nd. at 5:47:06 pm EDT
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Terry (Irvington, Virginia) - Email Me
Marshall's Web site lists itself as a multi-campus _PUBLIC_ university associated with a state agency. As such, while likely an improvement over past practices and less hostile to minority religions than how many schools or government agencies operate, this policy of recognizing "major religions" only, and having government agents decide what those are, fails miserably by legal standards.
The 3rd Circuit developed tests for distinguishing legal protections of religious practices for inmates from other non-protected requests, and the EEOC definition for legally protected practices (not religions, and not beliefs, as those are esoteric and usually irrelevant to real world conflicts) found in 29 CFR 1605, plus SCOTUS cited precedents therein, clearly hold that any _individual's_ sincere religious practices are the legal standard for what is protected, and that in cases where those vary or deviate from how a religious organization or leader interprets the same nominal religion, it's the individual's interpretation of his religion which must under US law trump anyone else's, clergy, church corporation, or otherwise.
Such legal standards may be inconvenient for bureaucrats, whether academic, Veterans Administration, or otherwise. Tough sh!t. Get over it, and deal with your obligations to act like responsible adults in government employment, or find some other job where that's not an issue.
The issue of what is or isn't a "major religion" is exactly as relevant here as whether a corporate organization backs a religion or just one or more living citizens under labor law, which is not at all. While those 3rd Circuit tests could consume a year of legal fact finding and ultimately cost the university $100,000 per student if it wanted to get pissy challenging student rights by legal process, the ACLU & WADL backed Crystal Seifferly case about a decade ago developed a more efficient standard for whether a religious practice was sincere, or possible restricted activity, eg gang related. "Because I said so", when asked no more than one time, ultimately is the most practical test of what is a sincere religious practice, versus more casual and less legally protected activities.
In essence, some people take few if any activities with the life context to qualify as religious rights, whereas nearly everything some people do fits those legal standards. For the latter persons, merely making the request for Free Exercise accommodation is about the only real standard for what practices qualify under law as demanding that legal treatment. For others who make fraudulent requests, it may be a nuisance to document disqualification, but law is obligated to default to respecting civil rights absent evidence otherwise, not the reverse.
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| Amazing! | Oct 21st. at 1:35:48 pm EDT
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Mysteries Child (Garfield, Arkansas) - Email Me
Something somewhere in West Virginia actually setting a positive example for the rest of the country to follow???
Makes me wish I hadn't gone to WVU instead!
Yeah, this is definitely news. This is the best thing to come out of West Virginia since me, still in possession of whatever passes for most of my sanity!
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| Great News! | Oct 21st. at 9:37:13 am EDT
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Winddragon (anderson, South Carolina) - Email Me
Academia thus provides the needed catalyst for mainstream recognition and hopefully respect. Like us or not we're here to stay.
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| Yay!! | Oct 20th. at 11:17:09 am EDT
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Sy (Atlanta, Georgia) - Email Me
As a student aiming for a ph.d. in religious studies, I have to say that this is a major step forward, and I am so excited! As soon as one university adopts it, though, it'll cause a domino effect: other universities will start adopting it as well.
This is excellent, I'm so glad it was West Virginia, too. Too bad it wasn't in Georgia, Alabama, or Texas. Or Mississippi. I guarantee, they'll be the last ones to accept it. Perhaps other schools have accepted it as well, we just haven't heard of it.
It's good that universities are accepting it, because it suggests a movement in the educational system, which, with time, will ease into the social and political systems. Soon, public schools will be allowing Pagan students to miss class for Halloween and Beltane.
I can't wait to tell everyone I know.
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| Where's The Admissions Office? | Oct 20th. at 12:16:00 am EDT
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Huginn's Eye (Port Orchard, Washington) - Email Me
This came from West Virginia? Really? I hereby retract my last five hillbilly jokes. Kidding aside, this is great news and a major (as in religion) step forward. But with a school paper name the Parthenon, maybe it should not be that much of a surprise.
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| Hooray! | Oct 19th. at 8:56:48 pm EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
It should be interesting to see how this works out.
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| Excellent!! | Oct 19th. at 6:58:21 pm EDT
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Klarynn (Apache Junction, Arizona) - Email Me
I have been trying to get Arizona State University to do the same thing. Here is hoping this will help start a trend in all higher educational institutions.
BB
Klarynn
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| Good Decision | Oct 19th. at 6:10:46 pm EDT
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Wenmagus (Los Angeles, California) - Email Me
This is fantastic news, definitely an important step in the right direction.
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