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August 11, 2000/10 Av 5760, Vol. 52, No.48
Bible Week may be back
BARRY COHEN
Community Editor
The Arizona Civil Liberties Union, in conjunction with local residents, is trying to block Gilbert Mayor Cynthia Dunham from proclaiming Bible Week this year.
While the civil liberties group hopes to set a precedent with its case for towns and cities beyond Gilbert, Mayor Dunham is holding strong with her resolve to make the proclamation.
"I will do it again this year unless the court prohibits me," said Dunham. "Bible Week has been proclaimed in Gilbert for years, and in the country for close to 50 years."
In the past, Dunham has proclaimed Bible Week in the end of November, to coincide with Thanksgiving.
According to ACLU Executive Director Eleanor Eisenberg, Bible Week has done more harm than good. She said the proclamation creates a "constitutional injury" to the citizens of Gilbert.
She cited as an example a recent U.S. Supreme Court case finding that group prayer before high-school football games in Texas violates the First Amendment doctrine of separation between church and state. Such prayer, said Eisenberg, makes some people "feel like lesser citizens."
The current court case, (Arizona Civil Liberties Union et al v. Dunham et al), filed in November 1998 in the United States District Court, District of Arizona, is attempting to show that Bible Week inflicts similar injury.
The proclamation, according to Eisenberg, violates citizens' right to be "free from government interference in their religious lives" and has caused a "breach in the wall separating church and state under the entitlement clause."
But Dunham views Bible Week as positive and productive and a celebration of Gilbert's diversity. "Bible Week is really about being inclusive," she said. "It acknowledges the value in the history and culture that we bring to this community."
The ACLU suit cites Dunham's proclamation designating Nov. 23-30, 1997, as Bible Week. The proclamation stated, in part: "The Bible has been a constant source of moral and spiritual guidance for Americans throughout our history. ... This annual emphasis has helped to strengthen spiritual understanding ... by encouraging personal reading and study of the Bible."
In 1998, the ACLU won a temporary restraining order and prevented the mayor from issuing a proclamation with the same message.
The mayor's 1999 Bible Week proclamation omitted references to religion and spirituality, as well as recommendations to read the Bible.
The implications of the case, pending for over 10 months in Judge Roslyn Silver's court, are substantial.
If Silver rules for the defendants - Mayor Dunham and the town of Gilbert - then "people who suffer unconstitutional behavior from the government will have no legal remedy," said Eisenberg.
But if the judge rules against the defendants, then members of any other community will have a precedent to challenge religious proclamations made by a local or state government, Eisenberg explained.
It is not known when Silver will rule on the case.
Local reaction to the Bible Week case has been mixed.
"If there is a proclamation for religious doctrine, we would like it to (be) inclusive of all religious doctrines," said Reverend Terry Kennard, a Buddhist who is director of the Center for Religious Development in Phoenix.
Dunham said proclamations must be requested by Gilbert residents and in her own determination, be of value to Gilbert.
"I have made the offer (for other proclamations), but unfortunately when the ACLU brought a lawsuit against me, a lot of other organizations got nervous and did not want to have to deal with the kind of press and interest."
Wilford Anderson, Arizona spokesman for the Mormon Church, explained, "The LDS Church is careful in taking a stand on political or quasi-political issues - It takes none."
"Government is not in a position to establish a particular Bible as one deemed worthy of priority above all others," said Rabbi Robert L. Kravitz, executive director of the American Jewish Committee area office.
Mayor Dunham sees Bible Week not as a preference or as exclusionary, but as an expression of Gilbert's diversity.
"The Jewish community is all for celebrating diversity," said Tami Schultz, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix. "But do not try to suggest to other faith communities to read a religious text that has been sponsored by local government."
Richard Kasper, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said there is a distinction between a proclamation and legislation, and that in Gilbert, only the latter has the force of law.
When the court blocked the Bible Week proclamation in 1998, the Gilbert town council voted that proclamations would be "mayoral speech" rather than law, explained Dunham.
Kasper said the ADL sees proclamations all the time, all across the country. But we are always concerned by any government act that appears to endorse religion," he said.
While the Gilbert matter remains pending, on June 10, Texas Gov. George W. Bush proclaimed "Jesus Day," calling for citizens to follow Christ's message of love and service in thought and deed."
Gilbert residents working on the Bible Week case in conjunction with the ACLU were unavailable for comment.
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