Joint Statement on Religion and Public Life Released Today.

After all the noise over the holidays about religion and the public square, Wake Forest University Divinity School convened a panel of religion and public affairs experts to create a document that addresses separation of church and state, religious tolerance, and other pertaining issues.

The result, "Religious Expression in American Public Life: A Joint Statement of Current Law", was released yesterday in DC. Spokesmen say that while many on the panel disagree about what the laws should be, they were able to agree on what the laws are currently.

It's a project that makes great sense to me. I'm looking forward to reading the entire document though anything remotely related to the Brookings Institute is likely to get laughed at by the Right.

From the Religion Press Release Service:

As the role of religion in public life continues to spark intense political debate and high-profile court cases, a group of diverse leaders from religious and secular organizations has issued the most comprehensive joint statement of current law to date on legal issues dividing church and state. Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and Christian leaders from the evangelical, mainline and Catholic traditions joined with civil liberties leaders to draftReligious Expression in American Public Life: A Joint Statement of Current Law, released Tuesday at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.

Are persons elected or nominated to serve as government officials required to place their hands on the Bible when making oaths or affirmations? May elected officials reference religious ideas and discuss their personal religious beliefs while operating in their official capacities? Are individuals and groups permitted to use government property for religious activities and events? Must secular nongovernmental employers accommodate employees' religious practices? These are just a few of the questions that the diverse group of leaders sought to answer in the 32-page document.

"The role of religion in public life has long been a source of controversy and litigation," said Melissa Rogers, director of Wake Forest University Divinity School's Center for Religion and Public Affairs, which produced the document. "We have brought together a diverse group of experts on law and religion to clarify what current law has to say about some of these matters."

Members of the drafting committee include those associated with faith-based groups as diverse as the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the Islamic Networks Group, theBaptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, the Queens Federation of Churches, the American Jewish Committee, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Former staff members of the ACLU and People for the American Way also served on the drafting committee. On Tuesday, representatives of the American Center for Law and Justice, the American Jewish Congress, theFreedom Forum First Amendment Center and other members of the drafting committee will join Rogers for a two-hour discussion moderated by Brookings Institution Senior Fellow and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne.

"Some of these groups are often on opposite sides of church-state litigation," Rogers said. "But while the drafters of this document may disagree about how the legal line should draw be drawn between church and state, we have been able to come together and agree in many cases on what the law is today."

The document is drafted in a question and answer format for easy reference. Previous joint statements have addressed the role of religion in public schools. This is the first document of its kind to address a wide spectrum of issues related to the role of religion in public life, Rogers said.

The 35 questions and answers that comprise the joint statement address religion and politics; religious gatherings on governmental property; religious expression in the workplace; and chaplains in legislative bodies, prisons and the military; and other issues.

In addition to printed copies of the joint statement, the Center has published an interactive Web version of the statement at its website: http://divinity.wfu.edu/rpa/. A full list of the members of the drafting committee as well as their photos and brief bios, are also posted there.