Suit an affront to village, atheists

Robert Sherman’s latest lawsuit is ill conceived at best. As a fellow atheist, I’d remind him that reason, intellect, honesty, and respect for human dignity are at the core of what should inspire our actions. His lawsuit demonstrates none of these.

James Madison’s admonishment that “religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together” was the driving principle behind the establishment clause which Thomas Jefferson correctly asserted represents a “wall of separation between church and state.”

On this basis, the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that taxpayer-funded displays of religious symbols, mandatory prayer sessions, etc., represent government endorsements of religion, and are therefore unconstitutional.

What Mr. Sherman fails to acknowledge is the Constitution’s recognition of religious institutions and their patrons as fellow citizens whose freedom of speech and equality under the law are equally guaranteed.

The applicable Constitutional test is the Coercion Test, created by Justice Kennedy, which posits that an act is constitutional even if it recognizes or accommodates a religion, as long as its demonstration of support does not appear in any way to coerce individuals to support or participate in the religion.

The simple announcement of an event hosted by a community church in a taxpayer-funded newsletter is in no way coercive, and any intellectually honest person knows it. It is obviously a benign statement of fact. And as attendance of the event does not require adherence to the tenants of the religious institution hosting it, there is no constitutional violation.

Mr. Sherman’s baseless lawsuit does the public perception of my worldview no favors. He should drop his baseless lawsuit and publicly apologize to both the Village of Buffalo Grove for wasting their resources and to us members of the atheist community who understand and respect the Constitution for our embarrassment.

John Kauck

Grayslake