Church & State

Church & State

There is a terrifying trend occurring today in politics. The line between church and state is being blurred by many political figures, in a variety of ways. From prominent political voices, most notably the president, constantly saying “God bless this” and “God bless that”, to the abortion and stem cell issues being dominated by religious views, church and state are losing the boundary between them. It has even gone so far as having the Ten Commandments posted outside of a courthouse. It is written directly in The Bill of Rights that church and state are to be kept separate, and yet legislators have been trying to allow the public display of the Ten Commandments. The vast majority of the people in charge today are some form of Christian, and due to this, support legislation that strengthens the rights of Christians, even though that goes against the constitution.

Judge Roy Moore, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, put a monument of the Ten Commandments in front of the Alabama Judicial building last year, and refused when ordered by the Supreme Court to remove it, but Judge Roy Moore’s refusal cost him his job.

The Supreme Court very narrowly voted that other public displays of The Ten Commandments be removed. The Supreme Court’s decision was 5-4, one Justice’s vote away from allowing monuments to stay put. The Supreme Court case determining whether the Ten Commandments should be allowed centered on the meaning of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which state that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This has been interpreted two different ways; that the government and its agencies will not:

1. Give any aid to any religion, regardless of denomination.

2. Give any aid to one denomination, but are permitted to support religion over non-religion, and not the other way around.

It is the second opinion which allows there to be a debate on this issue. One of the Supreme Court Justices who is in the second group’s way of thinking is Justice Antonin Scalia. “According to Justice Scalia’s dissent, Ten Commandments monuments are constitutional because the Establishment Clause permits the government to favor religion over non-religion (but not vice versa), and, in the context of governmental religious expression, to favor Judeo-Christian monotheism over all other religions (but not vice versa).”-Northwestern University Law Review

The opinion of Justice Scalia was also that of Justices Rehnquist, Kennedy, and Thomas. The opposing view of Justices Stevens, Souter, O’Connor, Ginsburg, and Breyer as stated by Justice Souter is “The requirement of neutrality among religions and between religion and non-religion is the touchstone of the establishment clause inquiry. Thus, the government may not take action that has the purpose or effect of inhibiting or advancing a particular religion or set of religions, or religion generally.”-Northwestern University Law Review

Justice Scalia and the other justices who agree with him on this issue have bent the meaning of the Establishment Clause to suit and better serve their personal religious views. It is pretty far off from the original text to say that the Establishment Clause not only allows the government to favor religion over non-religion, but that it also permits government to favor Judeo-Christian monotheism over all other religions. He is, however not alone in having his religious views affect his view on how our government should be run. The day before the Supreme Court heard arguments about the Ten Commandments, then speaker of the house Tom Delay said “I hope the Supreme Court will finally read the constitution and see there is no such thing, or no mention, of separation of church and state in the constitution”-Church & State. This is another example of how many high ranking officials have a very naÐ"Їve view of the constitution and seem to believe that their personal faith trumps what is written in the constitution. Many times Thomas Jefferson and James Madison explain that the first amendment was intended to keep church and state separate.

One argument for keeping the Ten Commandments monuments in place is that they are not a bad thing and just reflect our laws anyway. The problem with that is that only two of them are actual laws, don’t steal and don’t kill. To remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy has nothing to do with law in the United States; it is purely a Christian way of life.

The worst part about posting the Ten Commandments in public places is it’s completely inappropriate and offensive to all citizens who are not Christians. It shows favor towards one religious group’s views which goes against the entire basis of keeping government secular. There isn’t a more inappropriate place than a courthouse to have them displayed with the possible exception of public schools, where religion is also infiltrating.

In February of ’05, the Virginia House approved by a vote of 69-27 a proposal for an amendment to the state constitution which would allow state sanctioned prayer at public schools and other public