Establishment Clause Test Case Study

The supreme court case of Trinity Lutheran Church vs. Comer, is a case in which the supreme court of the United States of America held a Missouri Program that denied funding to religious groups that would be used for profane purposes, that is provided to non-religious groups violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religion. “The Trinity Lutheran Church Child Learning Center is a Missouri preschool and daycare center. Originally established as a nonprofit organization, the Center later merged with Trinity Lutheran Church and now operates under its auspices on church property.” The Trinity Lutheran v. Comer case finds that governments can not discriminate against churches that would otherwise qualify for funding just because

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment was incorporated in the 1947 Everson vs Ewing Township BOE. The Establishment Clause created a basis in which states have to keep the church and state separate. In the Everson vs Ewing Township BOE case, taxpayers claimed that the governmental funding of religious private schools was against the constitution. In the constitution it says that no state can support religion and doing so with taxpayers money directly violates this statement. Due to many issues regarding the cross between religion and state, the court was forced to come up with a test to determine whether or not states were crossing the line in terms of the state's involvement in religion.

“Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush” was written by Gary Scott Smith, the book goes in depth about how presidencies brought religion to America and its government. This book was written to be read by students and scholars looking to further their knowledge about the presidents’ religious views and how they used their views in office. Gary Scott Smith is currently the chair and professor of history at Grove City College, were he graduated from in 1972 with a bachelor’s in art in Psychology. He also has his master’s in art in American History from John Hopkins which he received in 1979. In 1981 he received his Ph. D in American History from John Hopkins as well (Faculty, par.1).

Secular governing, also known as the separation of church and state, has not been around for a long period of time. Since before the United States was founded, there have been many radical changes in the general consensus on whether or not a government should encourage or even force a religion on its people. With Puritanism, Deism, and Transcendentalism, it is easy to see a change in attitudes as the years went by. The canonical literature created by some of the celebrated writers in the United States shows a progression over time in regards to different beliefs and their views on secular governments.

Though prayer can seem innocent enough, Smiths’ action of praying while performing the duty of a judge violates the establishment clause; seeing how Roger Robber is being subjected to Smiths’ beliefs. As made evident in the 1992 decision in the case of Lee v. Weisman, public schools, which function under the supervision of the government, cannot perform religious invocations and benedictions during a graduation, as doing so violates the establishment clause. A public school sponsoring a prayer at a graduation is considered “excessive government entanglement” when the objective is to create a prayer that is to be used in a formal religious exercise, which students, for all practical purposes are obliged to attend, resulting in a violation of the establishment clause. Going back to Smith, his inclusion of prayers while serving the government shows that there is no separation between church and state. This is a clear violation, seeing how Robber is placed in a highly religious environment, meaning that religious beliefs are likely to take the place of the law and completely disregarding the

Introduction The Pledge of Allegiance is an issue that has sparked so much controversy in recent times. The case of Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow is one such debate that has challenged the constitutionality of the pledge. This case provokes the argument of whether the pledge is religiously or politically inclined. The paper will explore the issues in the case, the levels it has evolved as well as its constitutionality and impact on the American population.

“Liberty which is essential to its existence, the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.” One of the many issues is the ability that religion

“The Pledge Of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Ballamy, an author, Baptist minister, and socialist. He was assigned to come up with something patriotic that school children could recite”. - Simon Brown. Since the existence or creation of The Pledge Of Allegiance, there have been many debates and controversy surrounding it. A lot of people oppose to the daily recital of The Pledge, while other’s are supporting and in favor of The Pledge being recited daily in school’s.

A group of parents and students challenged the New York State Board of Regents mandatory non-denominational prayer in school. A parent sued the school, arguing that law had violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Engel claimed that the prayer violated the 1st amendment, freedom of religion. Plaintiff being Steven I. Engel, defendant as William J. Vitale. This was located at Herricks School District argued on April 3, 1962.

The words “under God” endorse religion, and imposing a religious belief onto those who don’t share it contradicts the inalienable right promised by the Bill of Rights. The first amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” While the pledge is not a law, it has been formally adopted by Congress. Some claim that the phrase “under God” is nondenominational as it is a general reference and does not specify a particular “god,” however the phrase does specify that there is only one god, and therefore is not truly all-inclusive. Douglas Laycock, JD, argues that “We can’t have a nation under God unless there is a God.

This case changes the restraints enforcement against Jehovah’s Witnesses and declared the statement that it is constitutional to not salute the flag under state

" Some legislative actions associated to religion has been acknowledged legitimate by the Supreme Court. For example, implementing

(US History, Independence Hall Association) In 1986, a Jewish girl sued her school district because there was a christian prayer at her graduation. This was considered an “establishment of religion” and she successfully sued the district because she cited the First

Placing the 10 commandments placed in a courthouse to be seen as a threat to other different religions, and favoritism done by the government. We live in a society where there will be diversity. A place where there will be different beliefs and a variety of different critical thinking skills. We have to be open-minded and think of others as well. Concluding that in the case of McCreary v. ACLU of Kentucky (2005) the court justified that it is unconstitutional to display religious beliefs in political offices.

The majority stated that the provision allowing students to absent themselves from this activity did not make the law constitutional because the purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent government interference with religion. The majority noted that religion is very important to a vast majority of the American people. Since Americans adhere to a wide variety of beliefs, it is not appropriate for the government to endorse any particular belief system. The majority noted that wars, persecutions, and other destructive measures often arose in the past when the government involved itself in religious affairs.