Separation Of Church And State

1
Separation Of Church And State

• The Commendments
• Paul Chang, Heidi Sawyer, Amy Compeau

2
Separation Of Church And StateWhat Did The
Founding Fathers Intend?

• Madison feared an established church
• Jefferson believed there was no religion worthy
  of state power, The first amendment has erected
  a wall between church and state
• Thomas Paine My own mind is my own church.
• John Adams rejected the idea of the trinity, and
  was not even a Christian

3
Groups Against Separation Of Church And State

• Christian Coalition - http//www.cc.org
• An organization that is working to promote
  Christian values in government on a local, state
  and national level
• Moral Majority
• An organization led by Jerry Falwell that
  lobbies for prayers and the teaching of
  creationism in schools
• We Still Pray
• A group o f Christians from Asheville, North
  Carolina who still want to have Christ in the
  classroom

4
Groups For Separation Of Church And State

• ACLU-American Civil Liberties Union -
  http//www.aclu.org
• American Atheists Organization -
  http//www.atheists.org
• Americans United For Separation Of Church And
  State - http//www.au.org
• People For The American Way - http//www.pfaw.com
• Freedom From Religion Foundation -
  http//www.ffrf.org
• Mainstream Opinion Organization
  -http//www.mainstreamop.org

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Court Cases Dealing With School Prayer

• Engel v Vitale (1962) - In 1951 the New York
  Board of Regents created a non-denominational
  prayer that was to be read in public schools at
  the start of each day. Non-Christian religions
  took this to the highest New York court where
  they ruled that prayer in school was
  constitutional. This was then taken to the
  Supreme Court of the United States where they
  ruled against a non-denominational school prayer.
• Abington School District v Schemmp (1963) - In
  Pennsylvania the schools were allowed to read 10
  Bible versus at the beginning of each day. The
  Supreme Court invalidated this by not allowing
  the verses to be read.
• Murray v. Currlet (1963) - In Maryland a state
  law required the Lords Prayer or a reading from
  the Bible to be recited everyday in class. When
  the case had reached the Supreme Court it had
  been ruled unconstitutional.
• District of Sante Fe v Jane Doe (2000) - In a
  Texas high school the football team held prayers
  before their games. The prayers were Protestant
  prayers and a Mormon and Roman Catholic family
  raised this to the attention of the Supreme
  Court. The court ruled against having prayers
  before football games.

6
School Vouchers

• What are they?
• An educational reform that takes funding away
  from public schools and gives it to low-income
  parents so they can send their children to better
  performing private schools
• Who benefits?
• Low-income families whose children a trapped in
  failing schools

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Voucher Programs in Action

• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Oldest program, started in 1990
• excludes religious schools
• Cleveland, Ohio
• The Ohio Pilot Scholarship Program
• Started in 1996
• Florida (statewide program)
• newest program started in 1999
• only 53 students from two failing elementary
  schools benefit from this program

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Recent Voucher Proposals

• Michigans Proposal 1
• Failed 68.3-No, 31.7-Yes
• Californias Proposition 38
• failed by a 2-1 margin

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Works Cited

• Action Alert Tax Payer Subsidies for Religious
  Schools. ACLU. 14 Nov. 2000. http//www.aclu.org/
  action/vouchers107.html
• Aiken, Wayne. "Inaccurate and Improper Usage of
  Quotes From the Founding Fathers." Christian
  Revisionism. American Atheists. Org. 24 Nov.
  1997. 7 Nov. 2000.
  ouse/charlotte.html.
• Alley, Robert S. School Prayer. Buffalo, New
  York Prometheas, 1994.
• Allison, Jim. "Study Guide for Original Intent."
  The Constitutional Principle Separation of
  Church and State. 3 Oct. 1999. 7 Nov. 2000.
  .
• Bender, David L. Civil Liberties Opposing
  Viewpoints. San Diego, California Greenhaven
  Press, Inc., 1999
• Court Sets Aside School Prayer Ruling. USA
  Today. 26 Jun. 2000. 7 Nov. 2000.
  http//www.usatoday.com/news/court/nsco1329.htm
• Deception by the Numbers Ten Reasons to Doubt
  the Latest Claims for Vouchers. PFAW. 21 Sept.
  2000. 10 Nov. 2000. www.pfaw.org
• Donovan, Teresa L. Voluntary School Prayer.
  Washington DC Free Congress Research and
  Education Foundation, 1996
• Florida School Prayer Ruling Set Aside. MSNBC.
  2 Oct. 2000. 7 Nov. 2000.
  cal/rtwpb/2324.asp

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Works Cited

• In Cleveland, Vouchers Fail to Raise Test
  Scores. ACLU. 27 April 1998. 14 Nov. 2000.
  http//www.aclu.org/news/w042798c.html
• Nettlehorst, R.P. "Notes on the Founding Fathers
  and the Separation of Church and State." Quartz
  Hill School of Theology. 11 Dec. 1999. 7 Nov.
  2000.
  istor.htm.
• Norman, Redlich. Is The Wall Crumbling? The
  Nation. 9 Oct 2000. 5 Nov. 2000.
  http//www.proquest.com
• Robinson, Emily. "Church-State Separation Was
  Never Intended." The Daily Utah Chronicle. 10
  Apr. 2000. 7 Nov. 2000.
  .edu/0410/robinson0410.html.
• School Vouchers and American Freedom A Wise
  Decision. Church State. Feb. 2000. 11 Nov.
  2000. http//www.proquest.com
• Sendor, Benjamin B. A Legal Guide to Religion and
  Public Education. Topeka, Kansas National
  Organization On Legal Problems of Education,
  1988.
• Sikorski, Robert. Prayer In Public Schools and
  the Constitution. Buffalo, New York Garland
  Publishing Inc., 1993.
• Smith, Rodey K. Public Prayer and the
  Constitution. Wilmington, Delaware Scholarly
  Resources Inc., 1987.