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Date: December 16,
2004
TAMPA, FL - The Hindu American
Foundation (HAF) spearheaded the filing of an amicus curiae
(friend of the court) brief with the United States Supreme
Court in a case involving the placement of a permanent monument
of the Ten Commandments on government property. The brief,
filed December 13, 2004 in one of the most widely anticipated
cases being heard by the Supreme Court this year, supports
the position that the Monument violates the separation of
church and state guaranteed by the First Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution. HAF garnered the support of nine co-signatories
to file the brief on behalf of the millions of Hindus, Buddhists
and Jains in the United States. The HAF brief is perhaps the
first to provide a non-Judeo-Christian perspective to this
issue.
The case originally brought by Thomas Van Orden against Rick
Perry, the Governor of Texas, in 2003, asks for the removal
of a Ten Commandments monument from Texas State Capitol grounds.
The Supreme Court decided to hear the case after the Fifth
Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruled that the monument could
remain in place.
The 34 page brief was signed
by HAF, Arsha Vidya Pitham, Arya Samaj of Michigan, Hindu
International Council Against Defamation, Hindu University
of America, Navya Shastra, Saiva Siddhanta Church, Federation
of Jain Associations in North America, Interfaith Freedom
Foundation and prominent Buddhist scholar and Director of
Tibet House, Professor Robert Thurman.
“The brief makes it clear that the co-signatories regard
the Ten Commandments with utmost respect,” said Suhag
Shukla, Esq., Legal Counsel for HAF. “But the
overtly religious Monument is a blow to pluralism, and its
prominent presence on Texas Capitol grounds implies political
and social exclusion of Hindus, Jains and Buddhists alike.
The district and appellate courts failed to consider the effect
of the Monument on those adhering to non-Judeo-Christian faiths.”
A team of attorneys from Goodwin | Procter LLP prepared the
amicus brief on a pro-bono basis working hand in hand with
HAF and the other organizations who participated. HAF’s
contact at Goodwin Procter was Aseem Mehta, Esq.
Mr. Mehta has worked with HAF in the past on matters related
to intellectual property.
“The Supreme Court’s
decision in the Van Orden case will directly impact Hindus
and others,” said Nikhil Joshi, Esq.,
a member of the HAF Board of Directors. “A permanent
display of the Ten Commandments on the State Capitol grounds
implies an unconstitutional preference for those precepts
etched on the Monument.”
The Ten Commandments are
a cornerstone of Judeo-Christian theology, the brief argues.
“The courts below [Federal Court of Appeals] completely
ignored the effect of the Ten Commandments Monument on non-Judeo-Christians,
whose beliefs regarding the nature of God and the relationship
between man and God differ greatly from those enshrined in
the Monument and for whom the Monument is clearly and unavoidably
‘sectarian’.”
In separate sections, the
brief elaborates how the Hindu concepts of panentheistic monotheism,
the omnipotence and omnipresence of God and the use of consecrated
images in worship directly conflict with specific Commandments.
Similarly the Jain and Buddhist concept that there is no creator/controller
God is shown to be irreconcilable with the premise of the
Commandments, “...that a separate divine entity has
handed down Commandments as a king might set rules for his
subjects.”
The full amicus curiae
(friend of the court brief) may be viewed at http://www.hinduamericanfoundation.org/campaigns_10_commandments-amicus_brief.pdf
HAF is a non-profit, non-partisan
organization promoting the Hindu and American ideals of understanding,
tolerance and pluralism
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