Questioning the Constitutional
Questioning the ConstitutionalIt is unconstitutional for local, state or federal governments to favor one religion over another? Government can show favoritism toward religion by displaying religious symbols in public places at taxpayer expense, by sponsoring events like Christmas concerts, caroling, or by supporting the teaching of religious ideas. It appears the United States government has had a history of favoring Christianity.
The United States government's favoritism of Christianity is a clear violation of the First Amendment. This amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." There is another reference to religion in Article 6, Section 3. This clause states "the United States and the several States shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution, but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
There have been several court cases on this and related issues which include Engel vs. Vitale, Everson vs. the Board of Education, and Lynch vs. Donnelly, the "Creche case".
In 1947, in the Everson vs. Board of Education case, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th amendment prevented the States and the and the Federal government from setting up a church, passing laws that favor any religion, or using tax money to support any religion. Justice Hugo Black "incorporated" the First Amendment's establishment clause into the 14th Amendment which states that "the State shall not deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws and due process. After this trial, people began to question whether school prayer was constitutional (pg. 93-94, Klinker).
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he "creche case," Lynch vs. Donnelly, came from Rhode Island in 1980. In this case, the city offical included a creche, or nativity scene, in their city's annual Christmas display that included all traditional Christmas symbols. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger represented the court's opinion when he stated that, "Nor does the constitution require complete separation of church and state; it affirmatively mandates accommodation, not merely tolerance, of all religions, and forbids hostility toward any." Justices Brennan, Marshall, Blackman, and Stevens dissented. They thought the "primary effect of including a nativity scene in the city's display is. . . to place the government's impremature approval on the particular religion's beliefs exemplified by the creche." They argued that it clearly...
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