Separating Church And State
Dateline: 7/11/99
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
...The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States
In parts of America, regular school prayer was practiced until 1962 when the Supreme Court, in the case of Engel v. Vitale, ruled it unconstitutional. In writing the Court's opinion, Justice Hugo Black cited the "Establishment Clause" of the First Amendment:
"...It is a matter of history that this very practice of establishing governmentally composed prayers for religious services was one of the reasons which caused many of our early colonists to leave England and seek religious freedom in America. ...Neither the fact that the prayer may be denominationally neutral nor the fact that its observance on the part of the students is voluntary can serve to free it from the limitations of the Establishment Clause... Its first and most immediate purpose rested on the belief that a union of government and religion tends to destroy government and to degrade religion...The Establishment Clause thus stands as an expression of principle on the part of the Founders of our Constitution that religion is too personal, too sacred, too holy, to permit its 'unhallowed perversion' by a civil magistrate..."
The Court had, in essence, re-drawn the line separating church and state.
Now, many Americans find that Section 1201 -- An Amendment to -- H.R. 1501, The Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1999 which says, in part,...
"(a) DISPLAY OF TEN COMMANDMENTS - The power to display the Ten Commandments on or within property owned or administered by the several States or political subdivisions thereof is hereby declared to be among the powers reserved to the States respectively."
...crosses the line between church and state, is unconstitutional, and should not be approved by Congress.
The amendment was offered by Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama, who argued that posting the Ten Commandments in public schools (as "political subdivisions thereof") would help prevent violent acts like the Columbine High School shooting.
This call is pretty clear. As tax-supported institutions, public schools are "state." The Ten Commandments, as the Ten Commandments are "church" and the two are not at all separated in the amendment. Under Engel v. Vitale, posting the Ten Commandments would almost certainly be considered an "establishment of religion." Chances are good that if H.R. 1501 is ever approved in the Senate and signed by the President, Section 1201 and any mention of the Ten Commandments will have been removed from it.
H.R. 1501 Is Not Alone
How often does Congress push the envelope of keeping church and state separate? Here are a
few examples from the current (106th) Congress.
Senate Joint Resolution 1 -- proposes an amendment to the U.S. Constitution declaring that
"(1) nothing in the Constitution shall be construed to prohibit individual or group prayer in public schools or other public institutions; (2) no person shall be required by the United States or any State to participate in prayer; and (3) neither the United States nor any State shall compose the words of any prayer to be said in public schools."
House Concurrent Resolution 94 -- "A concurrent resolution recognizing the public need for reconciliation and healing, urging the United States to unite in seeking God, and recommending that the Nation's leaders call for days of prayer." On June 29, 1999 the House voted in favor of this bill 275-140, but under House rules, a 2/3 majority was needed for passage.
Senate Bill 289 -- the "Faith-Based Drug Treatment Enhancement Act" -- proposes "...to permit faith-based substance abuse treatment centers to receive Federal assistance, to permit individuals receiving Federal drug treatment assistance to select private and religiously oriented treatment, and to protect the rights of individuals from being required to receive religiously oriented treatment."
Religious organizations participating under S. 289 would receive Federal assistance in the form of grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, or vouchers. And while the Act provides Federal money participants can use to pay their employees, it also includes the following exception to its Nondiscrimination in Employment section:
"(2) EXCEPTION- A religious organization that is a program participant may require that an employee rendering program services adhere to--
(A) the religious beliefs and practices of such organization; and
(B) any rules of the organization regarding the use of drugs or alcohol."
Senate Bill 43 -- The Voluntary School Prayer Protection Act would, "...prohibit the provision of Federal funds to any State or local educational agency that denies or prevents participation in constitutional prayer in schools."
America and Religion
, in some form, has always been a part of our government. Our money reminds us that,
"In God we Trust." And, in 1954, the words "under God" were added to
the Pledge of Allegiance. President Eisenhower, said that in doing so we were, "...reaffirming
the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we
shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's
most powerful resource in peace and war."
It is probably safe to say that for a very long time in the future, the line between church and sate will be drawn with a wide brush and gray paint.
Engel v. Vitale
In this landmark case, the Board of Education of Union Free School District No. 9
in New Hyde Park, New York directed that the following prayer to be said aloud by each
class in the presence of a teacher at the beginning of each school day:
"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country."
The parents of 10 school children brought the action against the Board of Education challenging its constitutionality. In their decision, the Supreme Court did, indeed find the requirement of the prayer to be unconstitutional.
You can read the entire Court decision in Engel v. Vitale via Cornell University.
Annotations
and Interpretations of the First Amendment
FindLaw presents links to court cases, interpretations, and scholarly opinions on
the 1st Amendment and the "Establishment Clause."
Write Your
Representatives About This Issue
Utilize the services of the "Contacting Congress" web site to find and
send email to your elected representatives.
The Free
Exercise Clause: A License for Anarchy?
"In America, every citizen may believe about religion whatever he
or she chooses, but no one has a right to actions in the name of religion
which violate the law." - Gene Garman, Author of America's
Real Religion.
