What Does Separation of Church and State Mean?
2022-07-05
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1The U.S. Supreme Court has recently decided several important cases involving religion.
2After the recent rulings, some critics say American legal traditions meant to prevent government officials from supporting religion are at risk.
3But others say the court's decisions made clear that governments must treat religious people the same as everyone else.
4In three decisions in the past eight weeks, the court ruled against government officials.
5The officials put in place policies, they believed, avoided violating of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.
6Part of that amendment bans the U.S. Congress from making laws that establish a religion or prevent people from exercising their religion.
7This is known as the "establishment clause."
8President Thomas Jefferson said in an 1802 letter that the establishment clause should represent a "wall of separation" between church and state.
9The establishment clause, then, prevents the government from establishing a state religion and bars it from supporting one religion over another.
10On June 27, the court ruled in favor of a Washington state public high school football coach who brought a legal case against the local school district that dismissed him.
11The coach had refused to stop carrying out a "quiet personal prayer" on the field after games.
12On June 21, the court ruled that the state of Maine could not favor non-religious schools over religious ones.
13The state had a policy of providing taxpayer money for students to attend private schools in areas where there were no public schools.
14But the state barred taxpayer money from being used to pay for students to go to religious schools.
15And on May 2, the court ruled in favor of a Christian group that wanted to fly a flag with a cross, a sign of Christianity, at Boston city hall.
16The flag was part of a program aimed at promoting diversity and acceptance among the city's different communities.
17City officials had feared flying a Christian flag would violate the establishment clause.
18In the June 27th ruling, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote about the court's goal.
19He said it was to prevent public officials from being hostile to religion as they deal with the establishment clause.
20Most of the religious-rights rulings in recent years have involved Christian plaintiffs.
21A plaintiff is a person who brings a legal action against another person in a court of law.
22But the court also has backed followers of other religions.
23In 2015, the court ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who was denied a job because she wore a head covering for religious reasons.
24In 2019, the court also ruled in favor of a Buddhist prisoner who was sentenced to death.
25He wanted a spiritual adviser present at his execution in Texas.
26The court also sided with both Christian and Jewish groups in legal cases against governmental restrictions on public religious gatherings.
27Such limits were put in place as public safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
28Cornell Law School professor Michael Dorf said the court's majority appears doubtful of government decision-making based on secularism.
29Dorf criticized the Supreme Court's conservative justices.
30He said: "They regard secularism, which for centuries has been the liberal world's understanding of what it means to be neutral, as itself a form of discrimination against religion."
31Being neutral means not supporting either side of an argument.
32In the three recent rulings, the court decided that government actions had limited the rights to free speech or the freedom of religion.
33These rights are also protected by the First Amendment.
34In the case involving the state of Main, Justice Sonia Sotomayor disagreed. She wrote the minority opinion for that case.
35She suggested that such a finding "leads us to a place where separation of church and state becomes a constitutional violation."
36Those who support a strong separation of church and state are concerned that earlier Supreme Court cases could be at risk.
37That could include a 1962 ruling that banned prayer in public schools.
38Nick Little is the legal director for the Center for Inquiry, a group that supports secularism and science.
39Little said, "It's a whole new door that (the court) has opened to what teachers, coaches and government employees can do when it comes to proselytizing to children."
40Proselytizing means to try to persuade people to join a religion.
41Lori Windham is a lawyer with the religious rights legal group Becket.
42She believes the court's decisions will permit greater religious expression by individuals without hurting the establishment clause.
43"Separation of church and state continues in a way that protects church and state.
44It stops the government from interfering with churches but it also protects diverse religious expression," Windham added.
45Nicole Stelle Garnett is a Notre Dame Law School professor who supported the legal effort for the football coach.
46She said the court was making clear that governments must treat religious people the same as everyone else.
47Following the recent rulings, many issues relating to religious actions in schools might be reexamined.
48Officials might consider the court's reasoning that behavior must be "coercive" in order to raise establishment clause concerns.
49"Every classroom," Garnett said, "is a courtroom."
50I'm John Russell.
51And I'm Ashley Thompson.
1The U.S. Supreme Court has recently decided several important cases involving religion. 2After the recent rulings, some critics say American legal traditions meant to prevent government officials from supporting religion are at risk. But others say the court's decisions made clear that governments must treat religious people the same as everyone else. 3Recent decisions 4In three decisions in the past eight weeks, the court ruled against government officials. The officials put in place policies, they believed, avoided violating of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. Part of that amendment bans the U.S. Congress from making laws that establish a religion or prevent people from exercising their religion. This is known as the "establishment clause." 5President Thomas Jefferson said in an 1802 letter that the establishment clause should represent a "wall of separation" between church and state. 6The establishment clause, then, prevents the government from establishing a state religion and bars it from supporting one religion over another. 7On June 27, the court ruled in favor of a Washington state public high school football coach who brought a legal case against the local school district that dismissed him. The coach had refused to stop carrying out a "quiet personal prayer" on the field after games. 8On June 21, the court ruled that the state of Maine could not favor non-religious schools over religious ones. The state had a policy of providing taxpayer money for students to attend private schools in areas where there were no public schools. But the state barred taxpayer money from being used to pay for students to go to religious schools. 9And on May 2, the court ruled in favor of a Christian group that wanted to fly a flag with a cross, a sign of Christianity, at Boston city hall. The flag was part of a program aimed at promoting diversity and acceptance among the city's different communities. City officials had feared flying a Christian flag would violate the establishment clause. 10In the June 27th ruling, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote about the court's goal. He said it was to prevent public officials from being hostile to religion as they deal with the establishment clause. 11Religious rights rulings 12Most of the religious-rights rulings in recent years have involved Christian plaintiffs. A plaintiff is a person who brings a legal action against another person in a court of law. 13But the court also has backed followers of other religions. In 2015, the court ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who was denied a job because she wore a head covering for religious reasons. In 2019, the court also ruled in favor of a Buddhist prisoner who was sentenced to death. He wanted a spiritual adviser present at his execution in Texas. 14The court also sided with both Christian and Jewish groups in legal cases against governmental restrictions on public religious gatherings. Such limits were put in place as public safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. 15Criticisms 16Cornell Law School professor Michael Dorf said the court's majority appears doubtful of government decision-making based on secularism. Dorf criticized the Supreme Court's conservative justices. He said: "They regard secularism, which for centuries has been the liberal world's understanding of what it means to be neutral, as itself a form of discrimination against religion." 17Being neutral means not supporting either side of an argument. 18In the three recent rulings, the court decided that government actions had limited the rights to free speech or the freedom of religion. These rights are also protected by the First Amendment. 19In the case involving the state of Main, Justice Sonia Sotomayor disagreed. She wrote the minority opinion for that case. She suggested that such a finding "leads us to a place where separation of church and state becomes a constitutional violation." 20Those who support a strong separation of church and state are concerned that earlier Supreme Court cases could be at risk. That could include a 1962 ruling that banned prayer in public schools. 21Nick Little is the legal director for the Center for Inquiry, a group that supports secularism and science. Little said, "It's a whole new door that (the court) has opened to what teachers, coaches and government employees can do when it comes to proselytizing to children." 22Proselytizing means to try to persuade people to join a religion. 23Supporters 24Lori Windham is a lawyer with the religious rights legal group Becket. She believes the court's decisions will permit greater religious expression by individuals without hurting the establishment clause. 25"Separation of church and state continues in a way that protects church and state. It stops the government from interfering with churches but it also protects diverse religious expression," Windham added. 26Nicole Stelle Garnett is a Notre Dame Law School professor who supported the legal effort for the football coach. She said the court was making clear that governments must treat religious people the same as everyone else. 27Following the recent rulings, many issues relating to religious actions in schools might be reexamined. Officials might consider the court's reasoning that behavior must be "coercive" in order to raise establishment clause concerns. 28"Every classroom," Garnett said, "is a courtroom." 29I'm John Russell. 30And I'm Ashley Thompson. 31Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 32_______________________________________________________________________ 33Words in This Story 34church -n. a particular Christian group; a building used for Christian religious services 35district - n. an area established by a government for official government business 36rule in favor of - expression to give an official judge that approves of or supports someone or something 37secularism-n. the belief that religion should not play a role in government, education, or other public parts of society 38interfere with - phrasal verb. to stop or slow (something) : to make (something) slower or more difficult 39coercive - adj. using force or threats to make someone do something : using coercion