Does the United States Have Separation of Church and State?
In the United States Constitution, the First Amendment, commonly mentioned as part of the Bill of Rights, states in part that: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Much later, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made broad strokes to prohibit discrimination based on religion or association with those of any religion. A key court case that helped further the concept of separation of church and state was the 1947 Supreme Court Case, Everson v. Board of Education, in which it was considered a misappropriation of funds to use school moneys to transport children to religious events. 1962 saw this separation extend further by prohibiting group prayer in school, especially as composed or organized by teachers or administrators.
So does the US have separation of church and state? Despite laws, this remains a hot button issue, with many other legal actions pending against various government agencies, or public agencies that would seem by their actions to endorse a specific religion. In the main, much of the way the US government works is not specifically tied to any church. However, candidates have certainly used their own religious status to appeal to those of similar religious views. The “red states” voting for President George W. Bush often were referred to as the “Jesus” states, suggesting a predominantly Christian viewpoint, and a fundamentalist one at that.
It’s hard to argue that the US has complete separation of church and state. The postal service, for instance, doesn’t deliver mail on Sunday, which makes absolutely no sense to those who celebrate the Jewish Sabbath, occurring on Saturday. Similarly, Christmas is a federal holiday, but Hannukah is not, nor Rosh Hashanah. Government offices don’t observe the fasting practices of Ramadan.
Our very currency and our Pledge of Allegiance (not taken by Jehovah’s Witnesses), suggest that separation of church and state is not complete. Our money references God, and the Pledge calls us a nation “under God.” There has been recent movement to strike this reference from the Pledge, to promote greater separation of church and state, but any pledge to a flag may be construed by some religious groups as placing a nation above God.
As for prayer in public schools, the idea of separation of church and state gets completely muddied and laws get very difficult to interpret. In some schools even calling for a moment of silence is considered as crossing into dangerous territory, yet many presidents sign off on presidential addresses by entreating God to bless us all. Further, many people will not vote for presidential (or any political) candidates who have a morality conflicting with their own. So religion influences who runs the US, and who stands in office. People are enjoined to vote their conscience, but what if they don’t believe in this concept?
In courts across the nation, people may swear that their testimony is true on a bible, and there are several states where political officials take oaths that include the words God. Chaplains are employed by the military, and military officers may pray at meals, though this is voluntary. It’s fairly clear from these examples that separation between church and state isn’t whole and entire. It’s also clear that the framers of the US Constitution built specific moral codes into the work that suggest a belief in God, and though intent may have been that one church should not have control over the government, intent may not have been to strike out belief in God or recognize commonalities among many Christian groups, making us a “God fearing nation” or marking our currency with statements like “in God we trust.”
The question then of whether separation of church and state exists in the US is one under constant scrutiny. There are those who argue that the state minimally involves reference to any “church,” and others who argue that especially a Christian religious viewpoint remains a constant influence over the government and is preferenced by the state. The questions each US citizen must ask is, “Does it matter, and if so, how much?” “Does practice of a specific religion within state context impinge on the rights of others or insult their free practice of religion?” “How much have we divided church and state and is more or less division purposeful or useful?”
Written by Tricia Ellis-Christensen
