News Release

November 30, 1998 - Bountiful, Utah - Contact: Paul W. Mortensen, 801 298-7200

The Jefferson 21st Century Institute today released a report which concludes that recent activities of Tibetan Buddhist monks in Utah's public schools violated the separation of religion and government.

The troupe of monks, sponsored by actor Richard Gere, visited schools in Grand County in September and Salt Lake City's West High School in October. At each location the monks engaged in devotional activities in violation of Utah and federal law according to the report.

In Moab entire student bodies from all four public schools were taken to assemblies at Grand High School where the monks performed a program called, "The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Sacred Music and Sacred Dance for World Healing." In the program Tantric Buddhist monks engaged in ritual prayers, chants, dances and offerings in front of an altar, a picture of the Dalai Lama, and a mural of their monastery. "This is the equivalent of a Catholic priest conducting a Latin mass in a public school auditorium in front of a picture of Pope John Paul II and a mural of St. Peter's Basilica," said Paul W. Mortensen, executive director of the Institute and a practicing attorney. "No school district would dare cancel all of its classes to sponsor a Catholic devotional for students," he continued.

However, both the Grand County School District and the Salt Lake City School District did dare to host the Buddhist monks' devotional activities despite specific Utah law forbidding prayer and devotional activities in public schools. At West High School in Salt Lake City, the monks conducted a four day ceremony dedicated to the "female deity" which involved the offering of sacred chants and music before an altar and the construction of a sacred sand painting called a mandala. The ceremonies were open to the public during school hours when West High students were required by law to attend school. The monks displayed and offered for sale CD's and tapes of sacred music as well as beads, incense and writings of the Dalai Lama during their stay at the school.

The Institute's report documents the monks' promotional literature as well as their conduct in Utah. The report notes that the monks' literature disingenuously avoids any use of the word "religion" although words such as "Buddhist," "monk," "spiritual," "incarnations," "sacred," "mystical," "purification," "incense offering," higher powers," "Celestial Travelers," and "altar" are used to describe the troupe and their devotional activities presented in the public schools. The report finds that school administrators erred in uncritically accepting the monks' religion-free label and in inviting them into the schools while erroneously advising parents and others that the monks' activities were "strictly cultural." The report concludes, "This disconnection of words from reality demands that school administrators re-evaluate their systems for detecting and avoiding Establishment Clause issues."

The report also documents other violations of religious neutrality, including Moab City's refund of a park rental fee paid by the monks' sponsor for a Prayer for Peace Day where such refunds are not routinely granted to all groups renting the park.

Copies of the report are available free on the Institute's web page, www.j21c.org, or may be purchased in print from the Institute for $9.00 including shipping and handling. The printed versions contain appendices not available on the Internet.

The Jefferson 21st Century Institute is a non-partisan non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the separation of religion and government.

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