A proposed constitutional amendment paving the way for more governmental involvement in religion here appears to be dead in the wake of a Utah Supreme Court ruling last week.
Instead, lawmakers may support a more modest amendment to state constitution's articles of education that would allow the state to support limited religious instruction in a secular setting, such as comparative religion classes at state universities.Previous supporters of the amendment told the Judicial Interim Committee Wednesday that a court ruling allowing prayer at city council meetings makes a broader religious amendment unnecessary.
"This court ruling is proof that God answers prayers," House Minority Whip Kelly Atkinson, D-West Jordan, told the committee. Lawmakers had been holding off on a religious amendment, praying for this kind of ruling, he said.
Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, an earlier supporter of a religious amendment, said passing such an amendment now would wipe out any value the court's ruling offered and leave the new amendment open to another lawsuit.
"I honestly believe the people of Utah won with this decision. To now mess around with this technicality or that technicality will not behoove the state of Utah."
Instead, the committee voted to resurrect the defunct Religious Liberties Committee to study the proposed educational amendment.
The present version of the amendment was drafted by Brigham Young University Law Professor Cole Durham.
It reads: "The academic study of the influence of religion, the comparative study of religions, or the theistic, agnostic and aetheistic assumptions relevant to cultural heritage, political theory, moral theory, academic thought or societal values does not constitute either religious instruction or a sectarian practice forbidden by the Utah Constitution."
The Religious Liberties Committee had been created for 1993 only to study the two broader religious amendments discussed prior to the ruling.
Leaders from various religions in Utah urged the committee to scuttle those amendments.
Rev. Janet Swift, pastor of the Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church, urged the committee to stop meddling with issues of prayer and worship.
"It seems wasteful to spend time and resources for adult men and women to debate what is essentially a private activity. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
The religious amendments primarily favored The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the detriment of other religions, Swift suggested. "Utah does not want to be known to the outside world as a place where the views of the majority are forced on the minority."
Rabbi Frederick Wenger of the Congregation Kol Ami seconded that view. Utah lawmakers and educators have become more sensitive to other religions in recent years, he said.
"But even in the `90s, our Jewish kids and adults have never felt that the playing field was equal. . . . Please send out a signal that Utah is a place where faith is taken seriously. Everyone's faith is taken seriously."
Hillyard recommended the Religious Liberties Committee begin studying the proposed amendment after the regular session of the Legislature.