Is Atheism a Religion - Recent Judicial Perspective on the Constitutional Meaning of Religion
![handle is hein.journals/jchs47 and id is 709 raw text is: EDITORIAL
Is Atheism a Religion? Recent Judicial
Perspectives on the Constitutional
Meaning of Religion
DEREK H. DAVIS
A recent case handed down by the Seventh Circuit Court of
Appeals holds that atheism is entitled to the same treatment that
traditional religions receive under the Constitution. The case,
Kaufman v. M-cCaughtry (2005), has many religious groups upset
because the decision seemingly bolsters atheism. Yet some atheist
groups are also concerned because the case arguably requires atheist
groups to pose as religious organizations to receive equal treatment.
The case adds to an already confused state of constitutional law on
what qualifies as religion.
James Kaufman was an inmate incarcerated at the Waupan
Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. He submitted to prison officials
a written request to form an inmate group to stimulate and promote
Freedom of Thought and inquiry concerning religious beliefs, creeds,
dogmas, tenets, rituals and practices, and to educate and provide
inormation concerning religious beliefs, creeds, dogmas, tenets,
rituals, and practices. Prison officials denied Kaufmian's request,
concluding that it was not motivated by religious beliefs as required
under the Wisconsin penal code. Kaufman sued the State of
Wisconsin, claiming that his rights under the Free Exercise Clause
were violated.
The problem here, noted the Seventh Circuit, was that the
prison officials did not treat atheism as a 'religion, perhaps in keeping
with Kaufman's own insistence that it is the antithesis ofireligion. But
whether atheism is a 'religion' for First Amendment purposes is a
somewhat different question than whether its adherents believe in a
supreme being, or attend regular devotional services, or have a sacred
Scripture. The court held, therefore, that atheism is [the inmate's]
religion, and the group that he leads is religious in nature even though
it expressly rejects a belief in a supreme being. The court was relying,
of course, on a number of U.S. Supreme Court precedents that treat a
range of nonreligious beliefs as the equivalent of religion. The court
continued: The Supreme Court has said that a religion, for purposes
of the First Amendment, is distinct from a 'way of life,' even if that way](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jchs47&div=49&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Is Atheism a Religion - Recent Judicial Perspective on the Constitutional Meaning of Religion
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