For some years now, a number of religious congregations in New York City that were short of worship space have taken advantage of unoccupied public school buildings, and paid a fee to use such space for their services. Other community groups and organizations do similar things. A win-win, you would think. However, the City of New York has long been suing to prevent churches—and only the churches, mind you—from utilizing public school space in this way. Something to do, I guess, with the terrible danger to innocent kids of merely knowing that the space they’re sitting in might have been occupied the evening before by a person who professes belief in God. The case was fought all the way to the Supreme Court, which the other day declined to hear an appeal against a lower court ruling which supported the city’s position. So, the city wins, and the children are saved from some kind of weird osmotic absorption of Judeo-Christian notions.

However, this ruling has had no impact, thankfully, on the Hindu/Buddhist behavior modification programs which are still thriving in the New York City public school system.