Court Opinion

ID: 9486369
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 11:46:19.866143+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:51:41.326419
License: Public Domain

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I join the judgment of the court in the comprehensive and thoughtful opinion of Judge Bauer. I write separately to emphasize that our decision today does not in any way dilute the protections of either of the religion clauses for those individuals — and there are many in our society — who adhere to a creed that some might characterize as nontraditional.
When the religion clauses were drafted, we were, in terms of our religious practices, a nation of little white churches. Although religious bigotry and discrimination were considerable, the range of religious beliefs and practices found among the population certainly can be described as “traditional.” Today, we are a far more diverse people in terms of our religious beliefs and practices, and it is important for us to keep in mind that the constitutional protections of the religion clauses protect with equal vigor those who adhere to beliefs and practices that do not fit comfortably into the traditional “little white church.” Indeed, it is usually adherents of these “non-mainstream” religions who are in most need of the Amendment’s protection.
*691As Judge Bauer cogently demonstrates, these considerations are not in jeopardy in this case. On the record before us,1 it is clear that we are not dealing with a religion, even when that term is defined broadly to encompass nontraditional beliefs and practices. The parents here may have good cause to question the professional judgments of the educators who decided to use the literature at issue as an instructional tool, but it is not reasonable to characterize the material, at least as it is presented on this record, as religious in nature.

. As Judge Bauer points out, we do not have before us an effort on the part of the educators to require the students to participate in ritual exercises of a religious nature. Cf. Malnak v. Yogi, 592 F.2d 197 (3d Cir.1979) (holding unconstitutional the teaching of transcendental meditation in a course that included a ceremony in which the students made offerings to a deity).