OUR WORLD: UNDERSTANDING CURRENT ISSUES

Recently, two important court rulings have re-ignited the controversial debate in the United States about the role of God in our society and in our classrooms in particular. First, on June 26, 2002,  the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeal declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because it included the words "under God." Then a few days later, the US Supreme Court ruled that parents can take government money and send their children to private and parochial  schools. 

In the first case, the Court said that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance violated the constitutional ban on "separation of church and state." However, in the second case the Supreme Court declared that sending children to religious schools with government money did not violate the ban on separation of church and state.

At the heart of the controversy is the First Amendment as it relates to religion. To understand this debate, we have to go back to the Constitution that was written over 200 years ago. The First Amendment guarantees us freedom of religion. It says, among other things,

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . . "

Sound simple, right? Not exactly, as you shall see.

Based on the quotation above, the First Amendment  is made up of two clauses relating to religion.

1. The Establishment Clause
2. The Free Exercise Clause

Let's talk about the establishment clause since this has created more controversies than the Free exercise clause.

THE ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE

There is no broad agreement on what the Establishment clause means. In 1947, Justice Hugo Black, a Baptist, wrote that neither federal nor state governments  "can pass laws which aid one religion and all religions, or prefer one religion over another."

Generally, the Establishment Clause  means that the government

1. cannot establish a religion i.e. it cannot support, promote or identify itself with any religion.
2. cannot establish  a church
3. cannot pass laws that support or favor one religion over another
4. cannot force a person to profess a belief.

In other words, the government must be neutral toward religion  and should not take side with any religion.

Wall of Separation

According to the courts, the establishment clause also sets up an important principle known as the "wall of separation" between the church and state.

What do we mean by the "wall of separation?" There is an  accepted theory of government that the state (i.e. the government) and the church should be kept apart. A state should not be based on religion. This can lead to terrible things. What happens e.g., if you do not support the religion of the state?

Our Founding Fathers were well aware of this. They were well aware of the bloody wars that were fought in Europe, and the thousands of lives lost,  all in the name of God. They were afraid that these events would repeat themselves in America. They saw what was happening in the early American colonies. 

In Virginia e.g. , the early settlers  set up an official church -the Anglican Church. All the colonists had to pay taxes to support the church. Laws required that everyone attended church and followed church teachings. Those who disagreed were severely punished. Many were banned from the colony or chased out.

The Puritans in New England harassed and persecuted Catholics, Baptists and Quakers. People were sent to jail for denying the authority of the Bible.

Besides, not all the founders believed in the same God, or in any God at all. John Adams described Christianity as "the most bloody religion that ever existed." Jefferson was a renowned doubter urging his nephew to "question with boldness even the existence of God." Abe Lincoln refused to join any Church. (Time Magazine, Sept. 7, 1992).

Thus, the founders set up the wall of separation not because they were against religion or they did not believe in God. They did so for practical and historical reasons. They believed  the best way to prevent religious strife in the new nation was to keep religion out of the government. In short, the separation of church and state means that government must avoid any involvement with religion.

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