Supreme Court Cases on Separation of Church and State Clauses

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

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).

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Separation of church and state is a crucial part of the U.S constitution. It is important that we keep religion out of the laws in our society. Upholding this right is progress for the diverse population, supports our citizens rights and prevents an oppressive government from running this country. My first reason in support of the separation of church and state is for the many people of this nation of different religious beliefs. Americans united for separation of church and state wrote “ In multi faith and multi philosophy America, government at all levels should embrace principles that make all feel welcome.”

In our government, the balance between church and state has been carefully deliberated. The decision to keep the two separate has caused controversy, with many American’s questioning the reasoning behind “removing God from schools”. But what many people do not realize is that, despite the removal of church from state, students still have many rights when it comes to their public display of religion. Students have many rights involving practicing their religion in schools, such as the right to meet together through religious clubs or gatherings, the right to pray, and the right to take part in daily moments of silence and the pledge of allegiance.

    Many public schools do not approve of prayer in the populated, student-filled environment.  The definition of prayer is” a devout petition to God or an object of worship”(Dictionary).  While private schools are capable of creating their own rules an regulations regarding religious practices such as prayer, public schools, as they are regulated by the state and federal government, are not able to create these regulations on their own.  This creates the argument of whether or not public display of religious practices such as prayer should be legalized by state as well as national school board agencies.  Although Prayer has many benefits, it is still a choice; Prayer is not forced, it’s an individual choice, and the First Amendment states freedom of religion.

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