Abstract:
It is evident that the 1948 decision of the Supreme Court declaring released time for religious instruction on public school property unconstitutional was viewed by some Catholic Church officials as an affront to the institutional church. Subsequent decisions, e.g., Engle and Schempp, were seen as hostile to religion in general and overstepping the view of Madison, author of the First Amendment, that there should be a line of separation between church and state.
Public outcry for an amendment to the Constitution was fueled by religious leaders of all major Christian faiths and peaked in the mid 1960s with the Becker Amendment. Still, some insisted that the judiciary was trying to destroy the religiousness of America, a contention that is false and held only by a minority today. The wisdom of the Court's decisions became clearer as denominational thinking, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish, was revealed and the rational and logical mind of the Court became apparent.
Few argue against the proposition that religion is an important part of American culture and was a major factor in the formation of the country. Arguments over how to approach denominational religious instruction in a pluralistic society festered until the solution of separation commanded by the First Amendment was enforced by the Supreme Court. The compromise satisfied few, angered many, and protected those who would be hurt and confused the most--the children.
Concern by fundamentalists over the godlessness of schools in the United States can be relieved through understanding that religion begins in the home, and what religiousness is carried to school in the hearts and minds of children can be neither hindered nor helped by the secular education, therein attained. Americans are religiously free. Instruction in religion can be given and learned or refused without fear of being ostracized. No more peaceful way has been found to ensure equality and fairness among the faiths than to adopt the policy set down by the Court separating church and state in the public schools.
"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness."
Richard Chenevix Trench. British archbishop and author 1807-1886
