Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Religion & Law Blogs -> Religion Clause

Religion & Law

: Religion Clause

Do Government Economic Incentives Trigger Church-State Limits For Grocery?

By Howard M. Friedman

In St. Louis (MO), some are arguing that a new downtown grocery store, Culinaria (owned by the Schunck's grocery chain), should be subject to church-state separation requirements because more than half of its funding came from government sources. Funding sources included tax credits and a leasing arrangement which results in the Missouri Development Finance Board owning the building in which the store is located. Yesterday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the issue arose because of a decision by Culinaria's Catholic manager to display a crucifix on a wall behind the customer service counter, opposite the store's checkout registers. Manager Tom Collora says the crucifix "is not meant to promote one faith over another. It's just an opportunity to share a part of myself and my life with people I work hard to serve every day."

Full post as published by Religion Clause on September 17, 2009 (boomark / email).