
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 12, 1993                   TAG: 9306120123
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

ANIMAL SACRIFICE IN WORSHIP UPHELD

In a strong defense of religious freedom for even the most unpopular sects, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday that a Florida city may not suppress an African religion by banning the ritual sacrifice of animals.

No religion or religious practice may be "singled out for discriminatory treatment," the high court said, even if most people view its activities as "abhorrent."

The Constitution "commits government itself to religious tolerance," said Justice Anthony Kennedy for the court. "Legislators may not devise mechanisms, overt or disguised, designed to persecute or oppress a religion or its practices."

The First Amendment clause guaranteeing "the free exercise of religion," is rarely invoked in legal cases, because government bodies rarely seek to suppress a religion. The case of Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye vs. Hialeah proved to be the exception.

In 1987, residents of the Miami suburb reacted angrily when leaders of the Santeria faith planned to open a church there.

The religion originated with the Yoruba people of West Africa and came to this hemisphere with blacks who had been sold into slavery. During the 19th century, it became enmeshed with elements of Catholicism.

An estimated 50,000 Santerians have settled in south Florida, where they have been greeted with dismay and disdain. Their worship services regularly include the sacrifice of chickens, goats, ducks and other small animals.

by CNB