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Fri 18 Apr, 2003 02:25 am
Framingham sued over polling place at church
By Associated Press, 4/17/2003 12:23
(Boston Globe online, 4/18/03)
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (AP) A Jewish attorney who voted in a Methodist church is suing the town, claiming its decision to locate a polling place in a religious building forces him to compromise his faith.
Robert Meltzer wants officials to move his polling place out of Wesley United Methodist Church, saying he feels uncomfortable casting his ballot in a place of worship. On Wednesday, Meltzer filed a federal lawsuit naming the town, two selectman and the town clerk as defendants.
Meltzer cites the First Amendment's religious protections in his lawsuit.
Meltzer, 37, a freelance columnist for The MetroWest Daily News, declined to comment after filing the lawsuit.
In an interview last month with the newspaper, he said that when he voted in the church last year, he stood in a voting booth directly below a large cross. Afterward, he vowed never to return, and has not voted since.
''In order to vote, you basically had to bow before the cross,'' Meltzer told the newspaper. ''I was sick for a week.''
Town Counsel Chris Petrini said town selectmen have the authority to pick polling locations.
''It's our view the town's actions are Constitutional and defensible,'' Petrini said.
Three Framingham precincts vote at the church. Nearly 60 cities and towns in Massachusetts have polling places at churches or temples, according to the secretary of state's office.
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How about "absentee voting" for Attorney Meltzer?
I can understand a religious Jew being put out by having to vote in a church. Funny thing, I have been voting in the Baptist Church in town ever since I moved here, and never thought a thing about it. I live in a 55+ community, and there ARE no schools in the area!
interesting issue, one that i had never thought about. would a Baptist vote in a Hindu Temple?
dys- To add to your q. Would the Board of Elections use a Hindu Temple as a polling place?
Phoenix i am guessing not.
This Christian has voted many times in a synagogue. What's the difference? I've also voted in Unitarian and Catholic churches, although I am a member of neither. I've voted in school auditoriums and meeting rooms in libraries, too. I never had a problem with it. They are all simply public buildings which are not being used on polling days. Tempest in a teapot, I think.
IMO places of worship should be used for voting only as a last resort. As long as there are schools, Chambers of Commerce, Community Halls, etc. these locations should be given forst preference as polling places.
Although I am personally indifferent to going into a house of worship to vote, I know that there are people who would take umbrage, as in the person in the story which led to this thread. If the community does not have enough public areas in which to hold elections, I would suppose that they would be obliged to use a house of worship!
Why bother with such a silly lawsuit?
New Haven wrote:Why bother with such a silly lawsuit?
I almost passed over this comment by thinking to myself, "Why bother with such a silly question?"
I decided to "bother" with it just enough to call it what it is -- a silly question.
Quote:A Jewish attorney who voted in a Methodist church is suing the town, claiming its decision to locate a polling place in a religious building forces him to compromise his faith.
IMO, the main purpose of this attorney is to attract attention to his miserable person. If he was supposed to take part in a Methodist religious service prior to voting, this could be compromising his faith. But the only people that might have protested against usage of the church building for the secular purposes like elections, IMO, are the parishers of the church mentioned. But they were quite OK with this...
The attorney claims that he had to bow his head, before the Cross, while he was voting. This is probably, what he's referring to.
I have known people of one faith, who would never even walk into a house of worship of another, no matter what the reason.
For an observant Jew a cross has no religious significance at all, it is just a geometric figure (since Judaism does not consider the Savior being a Messiah, and gives no significance to the way He was executed by the ancient Roman pagans). I am sorry, but the attorney sounds a moron, if he means what he says. If not, I repeat, he merely craves for popularity.
stessid:
The Cross does have symbolic meaning to both Jews and Christians.For Christians, it means that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to save humanity. For many Jews, the sign of the Cross brings to mind , years and years of Chrisitian persecution against other religions. It also brings to mind, that many Chrisitians blame Jews for the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
steissd, since symbols/images are not relevant i don't suppose you would take offence if you voted in a building that also housed a witches coven with images of the devil, pentagrams on the wall and an alter to satan in the corner, after all there only symbolic.
I would not take offence, but I would utter the Lord's Prayer prior to entering such a place for making a vote. And of course, I would pray to God and ask Him to save the people that were misled by the demons into serving the Devil (to save, I mean, to make them repent and return to Christianity).
I am sure that if I have no intentions to cooperate with Satan, and I am firm in my belief in God and in my loyalty to the Savior, Satan cannot possess my soul and mind, regardless of the external entourage of the building I enter for some purposes not pertaining to any religious rites.
steissd- But would you feel COMFORTABLE being there?
New Haven wrote:For many Jews, the sign of the Cross brings to mind , years and years of Chrisitian persecution against other religions.
But this period has ended long ago, and modern Christian churches are tolerant toward Jews. The main danger source to the Jews refers to neo-paganry (Nazi ideology was based on rejection of Judo-Christianity in favor of ancient German paganry) and Islam.
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