Not So Nice Item in Today's New York Times

Katherine Stewart writes in today's New York Times that she's terribly upset that the public school (with a red door, no less) she can see from her Upper East Side apartment is hosting Christian worship services on Sundays. Ms. Stewart writes that Good News Club v. Milford Central School "appeared to suggest that keeping religious groups out of schools after hours amounted to discrimination against their religious views." Indeed, Good News Club (and Rosenberger, and Lamb's Chapel) stands for the proposition that where the government maintains a "limited public forum" (such as after-hours use of public school facilities), it cannot single out religion for special disfavor and discrimination. I gather Ms. Stewart disagrees with that line of cases, or at least she agrees with the recent Second Circuit decision that "worship" (because that's an "activity") is readily distinguishable from other forms of speech, which just goes to show that the distinctions among belief-speech-conduct-activity (and "worship") are often arbitrarily drawn in such a way as to favor whomever is making them at the time.

I'm also puzzled by her grievance that the PTA spent $100,000 last year renovating the school building's restrooms, since "my P.T.A. donations should not be used to supply furniture for a religious group that thinks I am bound for hell." This is merely anecdotal, but, as the parent of children in a local public school, it never crossed my mind to wonder whether my donations to the PTA were an endorsement of the views, religious or otherwise, of whatever groups use the public school facilities after my kids come home (and, even if I were as bothered as Ms. Stewart seems to be, I'd worry that such a complaint would pose a state action or standing problem).