Supreme Court Cases on Separation of Church and State Clauses

Religion is one of the most controversial issues in society today. The concern of allowing prayer in schools is an on-going debate and has resulted in numerous lawsuits. Religious school clubs, after school activities, curriculums, and moments of silence during school are just a few of the court cases that judges have administered. People in favor of prayer in schools believe that their children can only learn certain values through religious practice. On the other hand, an individual against religious practice in schools views this issue as an infringement on his or her children’s rights as Americans.

Many people believe this phrase, “separation of church and state”, can be found in the United States Constitution; however, this phrase originated in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson. While some people believe this was a secular phrase, other people believe it has more of a religious viewpoint. There are controversial issues that violate this phrase, which includes the presidents using a Bible and saying the phrase “so help me God” during their inauguration ceremony. Another time which violates the phrase “separation of church and state” is during court when someone has to be sworn in to the stand by placing their hand on the Bible. While church and state is best kept separate, one might ask themselves, why Thomas Jefferson, the man who created this controversial phrase, might still show countless religious efforts during his presidency that would violate his own phrase, if he intentionally meant it to be a complete “wall” between the

Town of Greece, New York v. Susan Galloway was a Supreme Court case that posed the question of whether or not the town of Greece should be allowed to open their board meetings with voluntary prayer that was almost always Christian prayer. The defendant in this case was the town of Greece, which is located in the state of New York and has a population of 94,000 people (opinion p.1). In 1999, under new leadership, the town of Greece made the transition from opening each town board meeting with a moment of silence to opening with a prayer (opinion p.1). The opinion states that the prayer was supposed to, “place town members in a solemn and deliberative state of mind, invoke divine guidance in town affairs, and follow a tradition practiced by Congress and dozens of other state legislatures (opinion p.2).” The prayer was given each month by an unpaid volunteer clergyman. After this person gave the prayer they were then named the “chaplain for the month” (opinion p.2). Anyone could volunteer to be a chaplain no matter what religion they practiced or even if they practiced no religion at all (opinion p.2). However, almost every single chaplain was Christian (opinion p.2). One very important fact about the case is that the town of Greece did not provide any guidelines or suggestions about what the prayers should include. In fact, they didn’t even read the prayers beforehand because they believed that would be impeding the chaplains’ first amendment right (opinion p.2). This meant

Thomas Jefferson fought for separation of church and state, in Virginia. Jefferson fought so strongly for this because under British anarchy, they were persecuted for their religion. This document brought conflict with Jefferson and the Anglican Church, as the Anglican Church believed that Church and State should be one. The idea of Freedom of Religion carries into our government. President’s can swear in with a Bible during oath, though the book may differ on religion. The separation between church and state was one of the most important policies in the United States Constitution and was inputted in the first amendment. In the 1st Aamendment it states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The Virginia Statute For Religious Freedom has ensured Americans’ freedom to express whichever religion they choose, and it is a main part of why The United States of America is so

Church and State were set apart by the founding fathers for the sole reason that North America was colonized, by the English, to escape religious persecution. Consequently, America was a melting pot of people practicing their different faiths and beliefs. In the 1800’s, after the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the first amendment supported the idea of this separation by stating “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This acknowledged the religious freedom that the United States government bestowed on American citizens.

Constitution were in favor of the separation of church and state. The founding fathers felt that a man's religion and faith are personal matters and the government had no right be involved in them. Therefore, I believe they wanted all religions to be protected whether Christian or non-Christian. In Thomas Jefferson’s letter, he states, "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that acts of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State." (How to cite in text) This expression has become well known because it is said to explain the "religion clause" of the First Amendment to the Constitution which reads: "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).

For centuries, the debate has existed whether or not to allow prayer in public schools. Many Americans feel it is not right of the schools to teach religion. With all the diversity associated with the United States, public schools cannot select one standard religion to practice, due to the cultural and religious differences in the country. Not only are schools the storm center of controversy involving religious differences, they are the principal institution charged with transmitting the identity and mission of the United States from one generation to the next. If we fail in our school policies and classrooms to model and to teach how to live with differences, we endanger our experiment in religious liberty and our

Originally, the separation of church and state stands for the principle that the American government must always keep up an unbiased attitude toward religion, as opposed to the English system which has an official state Church which it supports through taxes. Unlike what a majority people think, the isolation of the church and the government is not required by the first amendment, despite the fact that they kind of have the same final objective which is keeping the government from officially recognizing or

"Separation of church and state" is a well-known figure of speech. Equally understandable is the metaphorical meaning of the church remaining out of the state's business and the state remaining out of the church's business. Most people erroneously credit this famous analogy to the U.S. Constitution; however, President Thomas Jefferson originally coined the actual phrase “wall of separation between the church and the state” in a letter to the Danbury Baptists on January 1, 1802. His purpose was to alleviate their fears over the lack in their state constitution of explicit protection of religious liberty, and against a government establishment of religion. President Jefferson explained that this “wall” had been constructed to protect them. The

It is a shame that we have a few people that think the separation of church and state means that the school can not even have a prayer. This I not what the forefathers mint when they wrote that the separation of church and state in to the constitution.

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.

The above quote is the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States. In no part does our constitution mention a “separation of church and state.” What it does mention is that Congress is forbidden to tamper with the religious beliefs and practices of its people.

The phrase, “separation of church and state” is not found in the U.S. Constitution. On January 1, 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter titled “Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists.” This letter was written in response to a letter sent by the Danbury Baptists nearly three months before. The Danbury Baptist expressed their sentiments at Jefferson’s election and their concerns about the relationship between religion and the state. In the correspondence, Jefferson discussed the importance of the state being unable to control the religion of the people: “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State” (Jefferson). “A wall of separation between Church and State” led to the now widely used phrase, “separation of church and state.”

The debate for and against religion in public schools has weaved itself in and out of both court systems and the communities the many cases brought forward involved. While it was established early on that the state and those who represent the state could not display advancement of any particular religion, the focus on distinguishing that there are no favored religions became especially difficult. As many actions to equalize the ability to practice religions were taken, some saw those same actions as infringing of their own. The dichotomy was thus created which involved debating the best possible outcome between letting prayer into schools vs strictly keeping it out. The case for equal access started out as a push for students in secondary

One of the most highly debated issues in schools today is prohibiting of school-sponsored prayer. Before the issues with prayer in schools, prayer was offered in public places before an event of at the start of a day. The problems that arise from having prayer in school was that because of the many cultures in schools some students were being force to deny their own belief and religious freedom. Congress, state legislatures, and citizens tried to find an alternative to this situation by adopting a prayer that was school-sponsored, non-denominational, voluntarily, and to be recited by each class in the presence of the classroom teacher which was composed by the New York Board of Regents in 1962. The prayer read “Almighty God, we acknowledge our independence upon thee and we beg thy blessing upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country” (Essex, 2002, p 17). The students that did not want to participate in the reciting the prayer would be excused from participation, but some parents still was not satisfied, saying