Resolutions opposing religious questions in the 1960 Federal census, compulsory Sunday closing laws and the placement of religious symbols on publicly owned property were adopted today at the closing session of the United Synagogue of America’s five-day biennial convention here.
The resolution on Sunday observance laws noted that America owed its survival and unity to the uniquely American concept that the relationship between man and God is not and may not be subject to government control or regulation. The Sabbath laws “violate this mandate since they compel persons to adhere to a law, the motivation and operation of which is basically religious. There solution opposed enactment or extension of such laws and, where they already exist, amendment to exempt persons who observe a day other than Sunday as their Sabbath.
As for the religious questions in the 1960 census, the United Synagogue resolved that they would be a violation of the constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. It said much of the pressure for inclusion of the questions came from ‘religious organizations which consider the information useful for purposes of church planning and recruitment.”
“This would make of the Federal Government an agent of religious groups and would employ governmental instrumentalities for church purposes, the resolution pointed out. But beyond this, it would be “an unwarranted infringement of the privacy of Americans” since the “religion of the people is not a proper concern for government inquiry,” it added.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
