Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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1. 

   Yes, if I’ve got anything remotely like a phobia, as an ex-fundy, its bibles, churches, tracts etc. I like to…

2. 

   Imagine us trying to sue for a phobia of seeing a dead bloke on stick outside a church or Bibles.

3. 

   The values that Christians say will be lost require very careful selection. The bible is strewn with statements which are…

4. 

   The human species seems en route for species suicide or, at least, causing dramatic damage to itself. And, amongst other…

5. 

   If non-religious employees of religious employers may not have employer-provided healthcare coverage that includes birth control, then religious employees of…

THE problem: the Exhibition Road entrance to South Kensington tube station forms part of Science Museum, which houses human remains.

This apparently makes it inaccessible to those Jews who believe that they may not come into contact with dead bodies in any shape or form (exceptions are made for immediate family).

The proposed solution, according to the Evening Standard: a £2-million makeover that would add a small roof at the entrance to station to separate it from the museum.

The plan would accommodate the religious beliefs of members of the 1,500 Kohanim families in London, who are currently “prohibited” from using “the whole underground line that runs past or connects to that entrance.”

The plan was put to the Chelsea and Kensington council’s planning committee by an agent on behalf of the Stamford Hill-based Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations.

The agent explained that the Kohanim—descendants of the sons of Aaron who served as priests in the temple in Jerusalem—have “special rules and guidelines on how to behave”.

Existing (left) and proposed perspective view. Photo via planningsearch.rbkc.gov.uk

Members of Kensington and Chelsea’s planning committee will are expected to consider when it is lodged next month.

It was originally intended to be discussed this week but was pulled at the last minute.

Council officials recommended the plan be approved when it was first lodged.

But the changes to the entrance, between the museum and Imperial College London, were objected to by the college and the wider Exhibition Road Cultural Group whose members include nearby museums such as the V&A, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum.

The group said the entrance was “used by millions of people visiting the museums, Royal Albert Hall, educational institutions, and by people living and working in the area” and said more information was needed about the plan.

They said:

The drawings on the application do not give details to understand the impact of the proposed installation on the visibility of the station entrance, the flow of pedestrians and the overall design of this heavily used area.

It is not clear from the drawings whether the proposal is to include a religious message on the installation. Exhibition Road is a high-profile and complex public space, with multiple users and a holistic approach is necessary to consider permanent changes there.

New York’s problems with accommodating religious beliefs

As far back as 2013 The New York Times reported that ultra-Orthodox Jews were using their increased muscle to get the authorities to bend the rules to meet their religious requirements.

One example was the insistence by Hasidic matzo bakeries that they be allowed to use water from groundwater wells rather than from reservoirs to prepare dough.

After inspectors told a Satmar bakery that it could not use well water without a permit since reservoir water was “available,” the Hasidim marshaled their lawyers.

The lawyers, “with Talmudic hairsplitting”, argued that the reservoir water was not technically “available” to the Hasidim because it had been treated with chemicals like chlorine and so violated religious requirements for matzo baking.

The Times reported that “the conflicts and predicaments” between Orthodox Jews and the authorities seem to be multiplying.

The city’s Commission on Human Rights issued complaints in 2012 against a half-dozen Hasidic merchants on Williamsburg’s Lee Avenue for posting signs stating, “No shorts, no barefoot, no sleeveless, no low-cut neckline allowed in this store.”

The signs, the city said, discriminated against women and non-Orthodox men in places patronised by the public. Hasidic advocates said the signs were no different than dress codes at places like the Four Seasons Restaurant.

And then there was the issue of library opening times. Hasidim have also been pressing public libraries in their neighborhoods to open on Sunday, just as the post office and banks now do, since they cannot patronise them on the Sabbath. But Brooklyn library officials refused, pointing out that union contracts require expensive Sunday overtime.

Hat tip: Malcolm Dodd

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