Court Opinion

ID: 9493302
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:04:05.098827+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:55:46.028791
License: Public Domain

ALAN E. NORRIS, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
Although I concur in the result reached by the majority, I write separately to express my view that plaintiff has failed to establish that the Oak Ridge bell is, in fact, a Buddhist religious symbol. The conflicting evidence in the record also supports a conclusion that the bell is a Japanese cultural object, or that any resemblance to a Buddhist bell is not substantial enough to give the Oak Ridge bell itself religious significance. I therefore doubt whether a Lemon analysis is even necessary in this situation. In any case, as the majority opinion notes, the Oak Ridge bell passes the Lemon test, and therefore does not violate the Establishment Clause even . if it were shown to be a religious symbol.