Religious interfaith work in Canada and South Africa with particular focus on the drafting of a South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms

Constitutional protections for religious freedom (and related freedoms of conscience, belief and association and equality), once interpreted by courts and tribunals, apply in a precedential manner to future cases. They have an influence well beyond the particular community to which they first applied. For this reason, religious communities have increasingly banded together and sought to intervene or even, on occasion, to initiate legal actions asserting or defending their rights. This article reviews some of the principles around the freedom of religion as understood in South Africa and Canada to show how courts have understood the freedom of religion in its social context. In addition, interfaith cooperation is discussed with particular reference to the recent process which led to the formation of a Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms pursuant to Section 234 of the South African Constitution (which is attached to the article). This section, a unique provision in any constitution, allows for the creation of additional Charters to give greater specificity to the general language of the Constitution itself. As such, it is an encouragement to civil society to determine what it thinks are the important provisions that should be spelled out to give guidance to politicians and the judiciary. A wide variety of religious groups participated in the creation of the Charter. The Charter does not claim to be, nor could it be, exhaustive of such concerns but demonstrates that religions can cooperate across a host of issues in education, health care, employment and other issues. The next stage – passage into law, is still in the future but the first important hurdle has been crossed with the signing of the Charter in October of 2010. The Charter might be a template for other countries though changes would be necessary to deal with local issues

Auroral kilometric radiation/aurora correlation

Auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) observations from the ISIS 1 topside sounder receiver were compared with visual auroral observations from the network of Alaskan all-sky camera stations. The goal was to relate AKR source region encounters to specific auroral forms on the same magnetic field line. Thirty-eight simultaneous data sets were identified and analyzed. In general, intense AKR was associated with bright auroral arcs and conditions of weak or no AKR corresponded to times when either no aurora or only a faint arc or weak diffuse aurora were observed. Five cases, when both intense AKR and bright visual aurora were present, were analyzed in detail. Complete electron density N sub e contours, from the satellite altitude down to the F region ionization peak, were obtained along N-S traversals of the AKR source region. In addition, the ISIS 1 orbital tracks were projected down the magnetic field lines to the auroral altitude and compared to auroral features on a map derived from the all sky camera images. Density cavities (regions where N sub e 100/cu cm) were encountered on each of these passes

Bose-Einstein Condensation of Excitons: Reply to Tikhodeev's Criticism

The extended version of our reply to Comment on ``Critical Velocities in Exciton Superfluidity'' by S. G. Tikhodeev (Phys. Rev. Lett., 84 (2000), 3502 or from http://prl.aps.org/) is presented here. The principal question is discussed: does the moving exciton-phonon packet contain the coherent `nucleus', or the exciton-phonon condensate?Comment: 3 pages in LaTe

What can be learned from the experiences of various societies in dealing with their principal trouble spots?

Introduction In both South Africa and Canada religions per se have not been principal trouble spots for a very long time. What has been very much at issue is the treatment of religious communities and religious believers by the State and from time to time disputes between rights claimants of one sort in relation to rights claimants of another. There are many differences between the two countries but in this paper I shall look for some common themes to evaluate a few of the more significant areas of conflict that engage religious pluralism. Most importantly, however, I shall examine a change to the proper understanding of the ‘secular’ in the law which, it is hoped, will indicate a new direction for thinking about religion in relation to the public sphere. Religions have been and continue to be recognized as important to both societies. In Canada, the question of Catholic and Protestant accommodation was central to many of the Confederation debates in the 19th century with, for example, Section 93 of the British North American Act of 1867 (providing for recognition of religious minority rights in education). This set of negotiated compromises continued (and continues in some provinces) until recently when that originating constitutional compromise was abolished in two provinces (Newfoundland and Quebec) by referenda in the late 1990s. The Canadian Constitution Act 1982 in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms contains recognition in its Preamble that Canada is founded on principles that recognize ‘the Supremacy of God and the Rule of Law’ though this has not yet been seen to have particularly foundational relevance. The right to the freedom of ‘conscience and religion’ in Section 2(a) and the reference to religion as an enumerated ground protected from non-discrimination has been the subject of many judicial decisions since the Canadian Charter was re-patriated from the United Kingdom in 1982. This paper is divided into three parts. First the framework for under-standing religion and the public sphere as developed by the important decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in the Chamberlain decision. Second, the actual Constitutional provisions that recognize religious rights in both Canada and South Africa. Third, the experience of inter-faith cooperation in litigation and the development of a South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms as examples of civil society initiatives that are outside legislation and litigation as such but which inform both politics and law in relation to religious pluralism

Seeing through the secular illusion

It is often said that we live in a ‘secular’ age and that the principles of ‘secularism’ lead to a ‘neutral’ public sphere. The central terms ‘secular’ and ‘secularism’ however, though they are often used are rarely examined. Related terms, relevant to their meaning, such as ‘faith’ and ‘belief’ are also seldom defined or compared alongside each other to evaluate how well they comply with principles of justice. In this paper, a development of others on similar themes, Professor Benson examines various definitions alongside contemporary topics and legal decisions to argue that an open public sphere requires re-thinking how many of the central terms are used. Only when it is recognized that not all ‘faiths’ are religious and that all citizens operate out of some sort of faith commitments can we be properly in a position to evaluate nonreligious faiths alongside religiously informed ones. This re-adjustment of the usual way of examining matters then should lead, Professor Benson argues, to a more accurate way of viewing current education and politics (and their areas of avoidance) as well as such things as fair access to the public square by religious believers and their communities. The long dominance of atheistic and agnostic forms of social ordering (including funding for such things as education and health care) is based, in part, on a belief that stripping religious frameworks from public sector projects is ‘neutral’ when it is not. In addition, the focus on a rights based jurisprudence has a tendency to view rights such as the freedom of religion in individualist ways that ignore the communal importance of religion. The paper will suggest that moves to put pressure on the associational dimension of religions ignore the communal nature of certain forms of belief to the detriment of a more co-operative society and far from encouraging human freedom, actually reduce it. In the long run, the importance of religions and their communities to the public sphere – which has been recognized by the constitutional court of South Africa – will be encouraged by this fresh and more accurate way of viewing belief systems and the communities that form around them. The more accurate way of understanding both the reality of and the need for more articulate public beliefs, will, Benson argues, provide a richer ground for such things as public school curriculum which often drift in the face of fears of moral imperialism and metaphobia (fear of metaphysics)

The attack on Western religions by Western law: re-framing pluralism, liberalism and diversity

This paper discusses how law is increasingly being used to attack religious associations under the guise of “equality” advancement and “non-discrimination” restrictions. I explore two important insights: first that the concept of “transformation” has been distorted, to shelter approaches to law that fail to respect properly associational diversity. When misused, “transformation” seeks to change the moral viewpoints or religious beliefs of religious associations by force of law. Second, the paper discusses the expansion of law so that it becomes a threat to associations. The “goods of religion” and the “limits of law” need to be more widely recognized and understood both by religious communities and by those involved in law, politics and the media. These insights demonstrate how “equality activists” employ a rhetoric of “equality” to produce inequality, “diversity” to produce homogeneity and “non-discrimination” to discriminate against religious communities and religious beliefs. Several solutions for identifying these errors and resisting them are outlined in brief

Hydrogen flash lamps studied

Parameters of gas pressure, type of gas, tube voltage, and electrode gap are tested on the intensity and shape of a radiation pulse from a hydrogen-filled lamp

South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms

The creation, under Section 234 of the Constitution of South Africa (1996) of a South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms, signed by every major religious group in South African as well as representatives of leading South African Constitutional Commissions and others is a development of some importance and potential world significance. It will be, once passed into law, the first Charter created under this section. The civil society initial phase of discussions, consultations, meetings and drafting and re-drafting led to the public signing ceremony at the University of Johannesburg on 21 October 2010. The next phase moves to the more formal political phase of government consultations and, presumably further discussions and, it is hoped, eventual passage into law. The governmental part of this looks to be the most challenging. This introductory article discusses some of the relevant background to the formation of the South African Charter and appends the document for wider circulation, and perhaps, emulation in other settings