Establishment Clause Case Study

Since the founding of America, there has been concern with the church manipulating government. The separation of Church and State was to make sure the church did not become more powerful than government. In spite of wanting a separation of church and state, The United States of America became one nation under God. The earliest test of the separation of church and state with respect to education is McCollum versus Board of Education. This was a landmark case the United States Supreme Court in 1948 ended the power of a state to use its tax-supported public school system in aid of religious instruction. “The court case which prohibited the state from sponsoring specific prayers in public schools was Engel v. Vitale, decided in 1962 by an 8-1 vote.” (Cline p) It is unconstitutional to compose a school prayer and make students repeat it daily. Although these cases protect our religious freedoms, there is some fear that expelling God from public school has adverse effects. God can still be present; teachers can lead by example and teach behaviors and ethics that

The Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe stated that student-led/ student-initiated prayer at high school football games violated the establishment clause of the first amendment. The Baptist religion was promoted in the Santa Fe Independent School District in Texas, which is located between Galveston and Houston. A teacher handed out flyers for a “revival meeting” which involved reading the bible and other Catholic things. They offered prayer up to God at graduations, assemblies, and football games. One mormon student and mother filed suit against the school district. Also, one catholic student and mother filed suit against the school district. Their lawsuit involved that the Establishment Clause was violated many times. They did not

America has been built on freedom throughout the years. Freedom to speak, freedom to choose, freedom to worship, and freedom to do just about anything you want within that of the law. America’s law has been designed to protect and preserve these freedoms. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. It assures citizens that the federal government shall not restrict freedom of worship. It specifically prohibits Congress from establishing an official, government supported church. Under The First Amendment, the federal government cannot require citizens to pay taxes to support a certain church, nor can people be prohibited from worshipping in any way they see fit. However, if a certain religion

The first amendment, Establishment Clause, prohibits the state and federal government from establishing an official religion or from favoring or disfavoring one religion over another. Though government cannot declare an official religion, citizens are given the privilege to practice their own religions freely. In Ancient Rome, Constantine the Great ruled the empire from 306 A.D to 337 A.D. He issued the Edict of Milan, which declared religious tolerance throughout the entire empire. Along with this, while on his death bed, he converted to Christianity. After his death, the people of Rome converted as well and Christianity spread under this proclamation which is still part of our society today.

This sector of the 1st Amendment is called the Establishment Clause. After a case called Lemon v. Kurtzman in 1971 regarding religious freedom in public schools, a test to ensure that a law was respecting the Establishment Clause was created. “First, the legislature must have adopted the law with a secular purpose. Second, the statute’s principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion. Third, the statute must not result in an excessive entanglement of government religion.” This three-pronged test helps ensure that everyone, including students in public schools, have a right to their own religious freedoms and no particular religion is forced upon them which is what the Establishment Clause is all about in the first

In 1995, there was a dispute between the Santa Fe Independent School District, and the families of the students who went there. Two different religious families filed a lawsuit against the Santa Fe Independent school district because religious prayers were being said over the public address system by the student council chaplain. The Santa Fe’s Independent School District violated the Lemon test law by allowing student-led prayers to be recited on the public address system, which was not furthering the student's education, they were not acting neutrally toward religion, which is a distinct part of the Lemon Test rule, and they violated the rule against government and religion being mixed.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution 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” (U.S. Const. amend. I). The Establishment Clause which derives from “Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion” was added to secure that state and church would be separate. In the 1971 the landmark case Lemon v. Kurtzman was heard by the Supreme Court and questioned “Do statutes that provide state funding for non-public, non-secular schools violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment?”

The United States Government First Amendment States that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Therefore, I believe this artwork should not be able to be shown in a campus environment. There are several reasons why my decision is the best choice on not accepting this piece of work into Francis Marion University. The first reason is this artwork is not protected by the First Amendment of the United States of America.

While the first amendment endows several paramount freedoms, it can, at times, be onerous to understand. Both the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause is imperative to our freedom, the Supreme Court has historically argued various ways regarding these two clauses. Our founders, such as Thomas Jefferson, saw the importance of creating a separation between church and state. As such, no national religion was to be declared, and still has not been. As such, there are varying approaches to establishment. By examining the historical decisions regarding these clauses, I have found that while it is crucial to separate the church and state, these two entities can still, in some capacities, intermingle. In this specific context of the Missouri Scrap Tire Grant Program, it is acceptable for Trinity Lutheran Church, and more specifically, their Learning Center, to receive financial support in order to renovate their playground for safety reasons.

America guarantees religious freedom under the First Amendment. The Establishment Clause is defined in our textbook as the “part of the First Amendment prohibiting the establishment of a church officially supported by the national government” (Schmitt, 69). According to Thomas Jefferson, this clause is in place to create a “wall of separation of the Church and State.” Through much effort, the Establishment Clause covers “all conflicts about such matters as the legality of giving state and local government aid to religious organizations and schools, allowing or requiring school prayers . . . and discriminating against religious groups in publicly operated institutions” (Schmitt, 69). The Free Exercise Clause is defined as “the provision of the

The First Amendment 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."

The Establishment clause may be the most frustrating part of the First Amendment, but it is the duty of the court to set precedence that may alleviate this frustration. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, quite possibly the most influential of all of the Framers believed in a separation of church and state which is outlined very clearly in Justice Blacks opinion. However under the Presidency of Jefferson congress approved treaties requiring financial support of the religious education of Native American tribes. While their ideologies do not match their practice, I think that we can learn from this, an idea that within a government there needs to be some level of accommodation. This idea in itself strikes down separation on the grounds of historical framework alone. If we review the decisions of a past congress and the lack of the supreme court to question or strike down any treaty approves and any financial support given, we may be at this for sometime, reversing many of the actions that a prior government has taken. By adopting the historical framework as a main guiding idea being all cases that bring the Establishment clause into question, then our rulings on

The establishment clause was created to generate separation between the church and the state. According to our textbook this means that neither the federal or state government can pass laws which aid one religion, all religions, or prefer one religion over the other. It also covers the legality of many conflicts. There have been many supreme court rulings based on this clause. In the case Lemon v. Kurtzman, the issue of aid to private schools with religious affiliation was debated. According to our textbook, the court determined that aid had to be secular, can not advance or inhibit religion, and that the government must avoid entanglement with religion. Many cases must pass the lemon test by assuring the aid is secular, does not advance, or entangle religion. The supreme court has made many rulings against aid to church related schools believing it to be unconstitutional.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion …” — the First Amendment

Separation of church and state is a defined as, the understanding of the intent, and function of the Establishment Clause, and Free Exercise Clause. The Combination of church and state has been a topic that, many generations have struggled with for centuries. The first amendment of the constitution states that “Congress shall make no law about our religious beliefs, or prohibiting our free exercise of religion” If we put our faith in the constitution to define the founding father’s standpoint of separation of church and state, then we have definitely misinterpreted their stance on religion. Many people believe the reference to separation of church and state is in the original constitution, but the truth is, the references, often conceptualized and misinterpreted as intertwining with our religious freedom, but that is not the truth.