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Separation of Church and State The principle of separation between Religion and government was a part of America s history for many centuries. The influence of religion on humankind can be traced back to the first records of history. Religion has served as a pillar of strength to some and binding chains to others. There are vast amounts of information and anthropological studies revealing the interaction of religion and humankind. The first period is the early period, which will encompass from Christianity and the Roman Empire to the Medieval times (approx. 311 to 1100 A. D. ).
The second period will include the Renaissance, the Reformation to the Treaty of Westphalia (1101 to 1648 A. D. ). The third and increment of history will range from 1649 to 1945 A. D.
The 311 A. D. marks the issuing of the Edict of Toleration for Christians. This date is important because it symbolizes national acceptance of Christianity, and planted its roots as a political institution. Later the Roman Empire on the verge of internal collapse acknowledged the importance of Christianity and used it to hold together the remnants of it former self.
This adoption of Christianity took form and eventually became the Catholic church. The church became intermingled with politics and became a strong entity. The policies delivered from the church had more authority than the local rulers and magistrates of the developing feudal system. For example, St. Augustine wrote about war and what justified its enactment against fellow men. This policy was followed and adhered to for hundreds of years after St.
Augustine wrote it. Another example, is the use of the Bible as a guideline for establishing governing systems. Scripture portrayed God as choosing the king of the people. The pope, being God s representative was given the authority to crown the king. This crowning process gave the pope large influence in the political arena. This ritual continued for a number of centuries.
The Crusades, which occurred around 1100 A. D. , played a crucial role in challenging the church s authority. The pope identifying the spread of Islam as evil requested all of Europe embark on a Crusade to defeat the infidels. As the battles were fought, great treasures were found. During the period of the Renaissance, the Church was dealt a deadly blow from which it would never recover. This assault came via Martin Luther.
His work, 95 Thesis, marked the beginning of the Reformation. This movement split the church into Catholic and Protestant sects. With the church in disarray, freedom was given to the state to begin to develop. This transformation took form in what is called Absolutism. Princes began to tolerate less and less manipulation from the church.
The First Amendment which states, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. However, from the beginning, the First Amendment has often been expressed in terms of separation of church and state, but as you can see those are not the terms used in the Constitution; rather, the word in the Constitution is religious and the word in the First Amendment is religion. Those persons and organizations which promote the principle of separation in terms of church and state could eliminate much general and legal confusion by revising their terminology to conform to the wording of the Constitution. The first phrase Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion is called the establishment clause. It has been interpreted by the courts as requiring a separation between church and state. That is, the government may not: (1) promote one religion or faith group over any other; (2) promote a religiously based life over a secularly based life; or (3) promote a secularly based life over a religiously based life.
Thomas Jefferson, as president, wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut on January 1, 1802. It contains the first known reference to the wall of separation. The essay states in part: I contemplate with solemn reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church and State During the 1810 s, President James Madison wrote an essay titled Monopolies which also refers to the importance of church-state separation. In 1993, Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which gave special religious privileges to individuals and groups and limited the application of laws that intruded on personal or corporate religion. It was declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in June of 1997.
As former Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black said: No law (regarding the establishment of religion) means NO LAW. The wall of separation was again restored. A lawsuit was brought in 1998 by several public school students and their parents in Duval County, Florida. # They complained that the school board permitted the selection of chaplains from the senior class, and scheduled invocations, benedictions and other prayers during graduation ceremonies. Various courts have found that an individual student or group of students are free to pray at school sporting events. However, school officials may not add a prayer to the schedule of a game. The 6 th U.
S. Circuit Court of appeals decided on March 18, 1999 that the Board of Education in Cleveland, OH, cannot pray before their meetings. The court ruled that prayers are an illegal endorsement of religion. School board attorneys have not decided whether they will appeal the case to the U. S. Supreme Court. # There have been several court cases on this and related issues which include Everson vs.
the Board of Education, Lynch vs. Donnelly, the Creche case, Lee vs. Weisman, and several others. In 1947, in the Everson vs. Board of Education case, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14 th amendment prevented the States and the Federal government from setting up a church, passing laws that favor any religion, or using tax money to support any religion. Justice Hugo Black incorporated the First Amendment s establishment clause into the 14 th Amendment which states that the State shall not deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws and due process.
After this trial, people began to question whether school prayer was constitutional. # The creche case, Lynch vs. Donnelly, came from Rhode Island in 1980. In this case, the city official included a creche, or nativity scene, in their city s annual Christmas display that included all traditional Christmas symbols. Chief Justice Warren E.
Burger represented the court s opinion when he stated that, Nor does the constitution require complete separation of church and state; it affirmatively mandates accommodation, not merely tolerance, or all religions, and forbids hostility toward any. Justices Brennan, Marshall, Blackman, and Stevens dissented. They though the primary effect of including a nativity scene in the city s display is to place the government s im premature approval on the particular religion s beliefs exemplified by the creche. They argued that it clearly violated the First Amendment. # Pertaining to a 1992 decision Lee v. Weisman by the U.
S. Supreme Court prohibited prayer, benediction, or invocation at any graduation ceremonies if they were directly conducted or sponsored by a public school board. Some school boards attempted to circumvent the decision by sponsoring prayers indirectly, by authorizing students to deliver them. # On June 18 th, The Education Secretary issued a statement on this bill, saying: the U. S. Supreme in 1980 ruled that it is unconstitutional for a state to require posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools Any student in an American public school today can pray, bring a Bible to school, say grace at lunch or voluntarily participate in see you at the flagpole gatherings.
The religious rights if all students Christian, non-Christian, and non-believers as well are very well protected Religion is very much alive and well in America s public schools. # In late 1959, Madalyn Murray (Ohio) entered her son in the public schools of Baltimore, Maryland, only to discover that he would be forced to participate in reverential Bible reading and unison prayers. The only solution that the public school system offered to an Atheist child was that he could sit in the hallway while his peers prayed. She therefore began the legal proceedings which would culminate in the United States Supreme Court decision on school prayer in Murray vs. Curlett. Several years later, we find a similar case known as, Abington vs.
Schempp, where the only difference was that the plaintiffs in Murray vs. Curlett were well-known Atheists while the plaintiffs in the Abington vs. Schempp case were Unitarians. # The cases mentioned above demonstrate a pattern of Constitutional thought by high courts prohibiting the promotion of particular religious ideas, and the spending of tax dollars on events that promote particular religious views. A logical extension of this pattern can be made to the spending of tax dollars for decorating towns on religious holidays, such as Christmas. Local, state, and federal governments attempt to get around the prohibitions of the Everson and Lynch cases by decorating the streets in town with non-religious symbols such as lights, trees, wreaths and other objects that symbolize the season. Nevertheless, religious people think the season itself has more sentimental meaning.
Using society s money to decorate for a religious holiday not celebrated by everyone is unconstitutional because these symbols support one religion over another, clearly violating the First Amendment. In conclusion, one could recognize the beliefs of many religions or none. One could play music from several religions or non-religious music. Religion is a personal belief. There are so many religions to choose from, including the choice of no religion. It is impossible to decide that one belief is right and another is wrong.
So it is reasonable to say that it is unconstitutional for government to favor Christianity over other religions, including Atheism. Works Consulted 1. Mary Leonard, Religion and Politics: Christian soldiers march onward and wayward, Boston Globe, Boston Ma, 1997 -MAR- 9 2. Witt, Elder, The Supreme Court and Individual Rights, Second Edition, Congressional Quarterly Inc. , Washington D. C. , 1988, pg. 99 3. James Davidson and Os Guiness, editors, Articles of Faith, Articles of Peace: The Religious Liberty Clauses and the American Public Philosophy.
Hunter, Washington DC (1990). 4. A. A. Lipscomb &# 038; A. E. Bergh, editors, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Washington, (1907), Vol. 16, P. 281 5.
Kristen J. Amundson, Religion in the Public Schools, American Assn. School Administrators, 1986 -JUN 6. Richard McMillan, Religion in the Public Schools: An Introduction, Mercer University Press, 1984 -SEP 7. Deborah Mayo-Jefferies, Religious Freedom in the Education Process: A Research Guide to Religion in Education (1950 - 1992), William S Hein &# 038; Co. , 1994 -JUN. 8. J.
W. Whitehead, The rights of Religious Persons in Public Education, Crossway, Wheaton, IL, (1994) 9. Klinker, Philip A. , The American Heritage History of the Bill of Rights, Silver Burdett Press. , 1991 pg. 93 - 94
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