Headlines: Separation of Church and State (T23R-2)
 Indian Country Today Media Network.com | Reinforcing the church-state wall Kansas City Star More significantly, he penned the phrase many social conservatives have in recent decades denounced, advocating a steadfast "wall of separation between church and state." Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum revived the debate about ... Church, State and Santorum Separation of church and state: the American myth that may become reality My Take: Santorum's right, JFK wrong on separation of church and state |
 North Country Public Radio | Let's keep separation of church and state MiamiHerald.com The government's efforts to ensure that all women have access to contraceptives as part of the national healthcare law is creating conflict with the Catholic Church and some religiously-affiliated organizations. The government's current plan is to ... The Church against Obamacare, cont'd Religous beliefs held high Pastor sees personal choice threatened in health coverage debate |
The Prowler: Opposing Views: Separation of church and state - The government ... my.hsj.org |
 MLive.com | As We See It: Separation of church and candidates Santa Cruz Sentinel His comment last week that John F. Kennedy's speech on the separation of church and state made him "throw up" was particularly galling, not to mention unpresidential. Going after President Barack Obama for trying to make college more affordable and ... Rick Santorum talks economy, Koran burning, separation of church and state on ... Santorum rejects total separation of church and state Santorum touts wider role for faith in public life |
Charles C. Haynes: Does New York's separation of church/school go to far? Baxter Bulletin (Gannett News Service, Sam Kittner/Freedom Forum/File) / SAM KITTNER/GNS Few church/state battles in American history have had as many byzantine twists and turns as Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York. An ignoble cause: City wages pointless fight to ban church groups from schools |
Minister says 'personhood' bill violates separation of church and state Associated Baptist Press Under the influence of Greek philosophy, Prescott said, some early Christians came to believe that souls pre-existed in a disembodied state and were infused into a body at conception. Prescott said theologians of the medieval church came up with a ... |
Letter, 3/1: Church and state Lincoln Journal Star It always has been to my understanding that there was a fundamental separation of church and state. I increasingly worry when I see various candidates from either party parade their religious credentials across the platform of their choice and demand ... Letter: Church and State 'opinion' still haunts us today |
Churches Can Go Back to Schools, for Now New York Times No other major school district bans worship services in its schools, Mr. Lorence said, adding that it was time that the city “stop clinging to an obsolete policy that is based on an extreme view of the separation of church and state. |
Katherine Stewart, author of “The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Childrenâ€, is the featured speaker at a number of AU chapter events in Southern California.Â
In her book, Stewart sets out on an investigative journey to uncover the effect the Good News Clubs and similar initiatives have on our schools, children, and communities. Everywhere, she discovers religion-driven programs inserting themselves into public school systems with unprecedented force and unexpected consequences. Katherine Stewart has written for in The New York Times, Reuters, and Marie Claire. She lives with her family in New York City.
You won't want to miss her informative presentation:
Saturday, March 3, at 1:30 PM, Orange County (CA) AU hosts Stewart at 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue, Irvine, CA.
Sunday, March 4, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM, the San Diego AU Chapter event takes place at Balboa Park Club in Balboa Park, 2144 Pan American Road W, San Diego, CA 92101.
The Greater Los Angeles AU Chapter is hosting three events, beginning:
Tuesday, March 6 at 8:30 PM at the Santa Monica Unitarian-Universalist Community Church, 1260 18th Street (18th & Arizone), Santa Monica, CA 90404;
Wednesday, March 7 at 7:30 PM at Heretic House* in the Angelino Heights neighborhood overlooking downtown Los Angeles; and
Thursday, March 8 at 6:30 PM at Oxnard Public Library (in Ventura County), 251 South A St., Oxnard, CA 93030.
*Note: The Heretic House event has limited seating, so please contact the chapter at AU.LosAngeles@gmail.com or call 805-405-3929 for reservations and directions.
The events are free and open to the public!
Last week, we wrote about the letter we sent on behalf of the National Coalition for Public Education (NCPE) asking the House Education and Workforce Committee to reject provisions allowing for vouchers in the package of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bills. The Committee held a mark-up on two of the bills this week and happily, the troubling sections of H.R. 3990 have been amended. Chairman John Kline (R-MN) tightened the bill language to ensure that funds can only benefit students who remain in the public school system. As a chair of NCPE, we are very pleased with this outcome and will continue our work to make sure no new funding for voucher programs is authorized.
If Georgia lawmakers get their way, a copy of the Ten Commandments could be displayed in every single government building in the state. And that includes public schools!
The Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill 161-0 on Tuesday that would allow numerous documents that legislators consider “foundational†to the U.S. legal system to be displayed in all sorts of places. The featured items would include the Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact and the Ten Commandments.
HB 766 is an expansion of a 2006 law that authorized posting of the Commandments and other historical documents in Georgia courthouses and other judicial facilities.
The “Foundations of American Law and Government†measure was passed in response to a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Commandments display in two Kentucky courthouses. The justices found the Decalogue posting to be the equivalent of a state endorsement of religion. Â
The Supreme Court was exactly right, and the idea that the Ten Commandments are part of the foundation of government in the United States is simply untrue. The Constitution makes no mention of the Decalogue, and the laws of the United States are secular, not religious.
Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn told the Associated Press that the Georgia bill is wrong-headed.
“There's a faulty premise there,†he said, “and that is that the Ten Commandments has anything to do with the civil laws of the United States â€" it does not, of course. We don't make it illegal to dishonor our mother and father. We don't have blasphemy laws.â€Â Â
Beyond those Commandments mentioned by Lynn (who happens to be an ordained minister), the U.S. law books are absent provisions on idolatry and coveting your neighbor’s house or his spouse.
By my count, just three of the Commandments â€" murder, theft and bearing false witness in court -- are found in the laws of the United States in some shape or form. Unless you’re playing baseball, batting .300 is hardly great, and it’s far from enough evidence that the Commandments are a “foundational†document.
And, of course, murder, theft and lying in court are banned pretty much everywhere around the world. Those are not exactly unique proscriptions in American law sparked by alleged reliance on religion.
The Georgia bill says “there is a need to educate and inform the public about the history and background of American law.†There is indeed! Weâ €™re all for education, but this “Foundations of American Law and Government†business is purely misinformation.
It’s both sad and disturbing that the measure breezed through the Georgia House, and according to the AP, the bill is likely to face little resistance from the Georgia Senate. Lynn told the wire service that expanding the Georgia law could provoke a lawsuit.
“This is the kind of thing that raises a gigantic red flag, and on that flag are the words, ‘Sue us,’†he said.
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, and the Senate has enough sense to kill this misguided bill.
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Government officials can and do sponsor and promote various public events. Job fairs, educational seminars and town hall meetings are just a few examples. When these events occur, government officials often go out of their way to make sure people know about them and urge them to attend.
Can they do the same with a prayer breakfast?
Americans United says no. In Kentucky, AU has asked Gov. Steve Beshear to see to it that state officials drop their sponsorship of a March 6 prayer breakfast.
Americans United has received several complaints about the event. Yesterday, AU Associate Legal Director Alex J. Luchenitser and Madison Fellow Brooke R. Hardy sent a letter to Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway, asking them to end any appearance of state endorsement of what it is clearly a religious event.
Luchenitser and Hardy noted in the letter that the breakfast is referred to as the “Governor’s Prayer Breakfast†and that it is being heavily promoted on the state’s official website. On the site, Beshear notes that he selected the theme for the event, which is described as a time for Kentuckians to “come together in prayerful humility and reflection to ask God’s wisdom in guiding the future of [the] Commonwealth.â€
Hp>Here’s the problem with that: Not all Kentucky residents may want to pray at the governor’s urging. Some don’t want to pray at all. It’s none of the state’s business whether they do or don’t. When state officials heavily promote an event like this, the clear message is that they think you ought to be religious and pray. Promoting faith isn’t in their job description.
Whenever Americans United protests events like this, we encounter the same arguments. None are particularly persuasive, but here they are:
The prayer breakfast is privately sponsored. Really? You could have fooled me. It’s all over the Kentucky government’s website, and it sure looks like the state has a heavy hand in it. As Luchenitser and Hardy noted in their letter, “The name of the event includes the Governor’s official title. The event is advertised on the Commonwealth’s official website, directly below a banner that includes the Commonwealth’s official seal, the Governor’s title, and the text ‘Kentucky.gov.’ Those who wish to attend the Breakfast, whether as individuals or legislators, can reserve a spot using a form linked to the same website. That form, which can be submitted electronically directly from the website, itself bears the official seal of the Commonwealth.â€
The event is non-sectarian and/or ecumenical. So what? Government should not promote “non-sectarian†religion any more than it should promote a specific faith. Ecumenism is also no defense. When government promotes 10 religions instead of one, it’s only compounding the problem. The government’s stance on religion should be strict neutrality. Prodding people to attend a prayer event is not neutrality.
We’ve been doing it for years. That’s irrelevant. Church-state violations don’t get grandfathered in because they’ve been going on for a long time. Beshear points out that the prayer breakfast started in 1965. All that means is that the state has been violating the law for 47 years. It’s time to stop.
No one is saying Beshear can’t attend a privately sponsored prayer breakfast. AU’s letter makes that clear. What we want is also clear: “[W]e ask the Governor’s office to cancel the Prayer Breakfast. Alternatively, if feasible at this late date, it may be possible to cure the constitutional violation if the Prayer Breakfast is converted into a privately sponsored event and the Governor’s office fully disassociates itself from the event. Among other actions, the Commonwealth and the Governor’s office must cease their official endorsement, promotion, and advertisement of the Breakfast â€" on  the Commonwealth’s website and elsewhere. The Commonwealth and the Governor’s office must refrain from funding, planning, or organizing the Breakfast, and any state funds already spent for this year’s Breakfast must be reimbursed by private parties.â€
Kentucky officials have a right to their bacon and eggs. They should leave the state-supported side of prayer off the taxpayer’s tab.
Do non-Christian students face discrimination in some public schools? That certainly seems to be the case.
In a column published in the Knoxville News Sentinel yesterday, student Krystal Myers said Christianity is routinely favored at her Lenoir City (Tenn.) High School.
Myers, an atheist, said there are prayers each year at graduation ceremonies, prayers at football games and other athletic events and religious displays by teachers. Youth ministers, she said, are allowed to come onto the school campus and hand out candy and other food to Christian students and their friends.
According to her sources, the local school board also opens its meeting with Christian prayers.
“The whole foundation of how our school is conducted is established by obvious Christians,†asserted Myers, an honors student. “Somehow, this is unsurprising. If our school board chooses to ignore the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the Supreme Court, then it is no surprise that teachers choose to do the same.
“I know that I will keep trying to gain my rights as an atheist and as an American citizen,†she continued, “but I also need your help in educating other people to realize the injustice done to all minority groups. The Christian faith cannot rule the United States. It is unconstitutional. Religion and government are supposed to be separate.
“If we let this slide, what other amendments to the Constitution will be ignored? †Myers asked. “I leave you to decide what you will or will not do, but just remember that nonbelievers are not what you originally thought we were. We are human beings â€" just like you.â€
Myers’ column was originally written for the Panther Press, the student newspaper where she is editor, but school officials refused to allow it to be published. School Superintendent Wayne Miller told the News Sentinel he feared her editorial had the potential for disruption in the school.
"We do have the right to control the content of the school paper if we feel it is in the best interest of the students," he told the newspaper.
So the bottom line is this: School officials sponsor or allow the promotion of Christianity but censor the expression of dissenting voices. That’s about as clear a violation of the U.S. Constitution as you can get.
Krystal is a bright and courageous young woman. She was right to bring these issues into the light of day so the situation can be corrected. Public schools must welcome all students, regardless of their views about religion. It is a violation of the First Amendment for government to favor the majority faith over others, or to favor religion over nonreligion.
That is a fundamental rule of American life, and it applies in Lenoir City just as it applies in the rest of the country.
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Officials in Carroll County, Md., have managed to make something as seemingly innocent as a seminar on the Maryland Constitution into a serious church-state separation issue.
County employees were asked to attend a class today on the state constitution taught by an ultra-conservative Christian minister, David Whitney of the Institute on the Constitution.
According to The Baltimore Sun, Whitney said, "We will be looking at the language of our founding fathers who wrote they were 'grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberties' front and center on this document. The Bible is the source of the authority that they looked to."
The seminar is not technically mandatory, but who is to say what sort of peer pressure is being applied to reluctant attendees and what consequences employees could face if they skip out?
The training is also being paid for with $800 of county money, which has Americans United particularly concerned.
My AU colleague Rob Boston told The Sun, “It is outrageous for any county government to be spending taxpayer dollars for religious-right political indoctrination, which is exactly what this seminar is about. Do these commissioners realize what a mess they have stepped into? This is a toxic stew, and employees should not be forced to dine there."
The AU Legal Department has written to county officials warning of the constitutional improprieties involved.
Apparently the county commissioners either don’t realize what they’re stepped into, or they don’t care. I’d say it’s the latter because Commissioner Richard Rothschild sees no problem with this situation.
"It is perfectly appropriate to teach a course which factually explains the role God plays in our constitution," Rothschild said, according to The Sun. "Many of us take an oath to uphold the constitution. Government leaders should make every effort to understand it. Many of our problems today occur because leaders ignore this beautiful document, which I honor and respect."
Keep in mind, this is the same county that drew criticism last year when the board began opening its meetings with Christian prayer.
And just when you thought this situation couldn’t get a lot worse, it turns out Whitney is part of an organization that seems awfully cozy with the Christian Reconstructionist movement, which is on the farthest fringe of the Religious Right. Christian Reconstructionists want to scrap democracy in favor of a draconian fundamentalist theocracy.
On its website, the Pasadena, Md.-based Institute claims its view “of government is that there is a God, the God of the Bible, our rights come from Him, and the purpose of civil government is to secure our rights. There are many views of government, from equally numerous world views. Americans are blessed that our Founders' Biblical Worldview informed their political philosophy and the framing of our founding documents.†(The Institute disseminates reams of material by David Barton, a “Christian nation†activist.)
Let’s be clear on a few things. The Founding Fathers did not intend the United States to be a Christian nation, nor did they base the Constitution on the Bible. There’s a reason our laws say nothing about it being illegal to covet our neighbor’s backyard grill.
Carroll County’s officials are veering off into radical territory. Taxpayer money should never be used to fund religious indoctrination, nor should any government employee feel pressured to attend a religiously based seminar sponsored by a government entity.
Everything about this situation is wrong, and county officials need to make it right.
Last Thursday, the House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing on two of their Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bills, which include a number of troubling sections that would allow for voucher funding if passed. The National Coalition for Public Education (NCPE) sent a letter to all members of the Committee asking them to reject any provisions in the package of ESEA bills that would permit federally funded private school vouchers in the reauthorization bills.
Heads up, residents of Oklahoma: There’s a move afoot to strip your state constitution of its strong language protecting separation of church and state.
Rep. Jason Nelson, an Oklahoma City Republican, has proposed a ballot initiative that would ask voters to remove Article 2, Section 5, of the state constitution. This just happens to be the part of the constitution that separates religion and government.
Oklahoma, like a lot of states, has very specific church-state language. The provision in question states, “No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.â€
Nelson and his allies want to remove this provision to clear the way for voucher subsidies for religious and other private schools. The Rules Committee has already passed House Joint Resolution 1081 by an 11-1 vote, and now it faces a vote in the full House.
Americans United is speaking out and has written letter to state officials, urging them to oppose the change.
Those of you outside of Oklahoma should be concerned as well. Across the country, state constitutional church-state provisions are under attack. In Florida, the issue will appear on the ballot this November. Proponents there tried to rig the language to make the change sound benign. Americans United and its allies stopped that, but that vote goes on.
Americans United is working to defend church-state provisions in Georgia, Alaska and Missouri. The problem could surface elsewhere.
In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court let us down when it upheld Ohio’s voucher plan aimed at the city of Cleveland. Since then, advocates of church-state separation have relied on state constitutional provisions to knock down vouchers in some states.
The right wing has seen these victories and realizes that state constitutions are an important second line of defense in protecting taxpayers from mandatory support for religion. Their answer is to attack those provisions.
The irony is rich. The Religious Right, which so often claims to revere tradition, is willing to trash the basic freedoms found in state constitutions to promote its goal of taxing everyone to pay for the religious education of a few.
Stay alert. This is a nationwide problem. Your state may be next.
Earlier this month AU, along with over 20 other organizations, submitted comments opposing proposed regulations issued by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Commerce.
The regulations proposed by the Department of Commerce would remove current restrictions that bar the federal government from releasing federally funded property to private organizations if it will, at any point, be used for inherently religious activities. Our comments urged the Commerce Department to reject the proposed rule. The comments focused on the fact that the current restrictions on using federally funded property for religious purposes are mandated by Supreme Court precedent (both Tilton and Nyquist). And, we expressed our disappointment that the current Administration would propose abolishing constitutional protections that even the Bush Administration deemed necessary. In addition, we objected to the proposed rule because it conflicts with the process and "fundamental principles" established by Obama’s Executive Order 13,559. In particular, the proposed rule would ignore the mandate to “promote uniformity in agencies’ policies that have implications for faith-based and other neighborhoods organizations and in related guidance.â€
The proposed HUD regulations are plagued by a number of similar problems. They would apply Bush-era faith-based rules (which have since been rejected by an Executive Order issued by President Obama as well as the Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships) to a newly created homeless emergency assistance program. Again, the proposed rule breaks with both the reform structure established by the President, and is simply bad policy.
We sincerely hope both agencies maintain respect for the Constitution and reject both proposed rules. You can read our comments to HUD here and to Commerce here.
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