Notes on Church-State Affairs

Abstract

A number of churches and nongovernmental organizations criticized a new law that allows the government to suspend organizations that it deems to be interfering with national affairs. Amnesty International issued a statement saying that the law could cause “irreparable damage” to Algerian civil society. Jewish members of the Federal Parliament opposed a Green Party effort to end the opening of sessions with the reciting of the Lord's Prayer. They took the position that there could be more inclusive ways of opening but that the Green Party position showed a lack of understanding of Australia's religious heritage. Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hindus, said that both public and private universities should provide Hindu students with rooms of prayer. They should include popular Hindu gods, a bell, and a Shiva linga. He said it was important that the government see a connection between education and spirituality. Australia's High Court...