Supreme Court Building
& The Warren
Supreme Court (1963) These are the men who banned
School
Prayer, and Bible reading in our public schools. Top Row L to R:
Byron R. White, William J. Brennan, Potter Stewart, Arthur J.
Goldberg. Seated
L to R:
Tom C. Clark, Hugo L. Black, Earl Warren, William O.
Douglas,
John M. Harian
Supreme Court Rulings
on
School
Prayer & Bible
Reading
There
are three landmark cases that changed the
meaning of the First Amendment as it was previously
understood
and practiced in America. In these three cases a parent of a child in
school petitioned the courts to stop the school from exposing their
child to prayer in
school and reading the Bible in school. ACLU Lawyers used Thomas
Jefferson's
letter in the argument for the plaintiffs. They argued that the
founding
fathers wanted a "wall
of separation
between
church and State"; therefore, the
government should be
neutral to religion in schools, and as a result the Warren
Court
ruled that their would be no prayer in school or Bible reading. The
court's
"majority ruling" reasoned that being neutral or not favoring one
religion
over another was the same as not allowing religious practices in
school.
To learn more about
Prayer in School
Court cases click
here .
Justice
Potter Stewart,
the one dissenting vote
blasted the ruling saying, "It
led not to
true neutrality with respect to religion, but to
the
establishment
of a religion of secularism."
Secularization
(sec'u*lar*i*za'tion), n.
1. the social or political process of rejecting all forms of religious
faith. 2. the elimination of any religious elements with-in
public education and other civic institutions.
True
neutrality would
not favor one religion over
another, but the court's ruling favored atheism over all the religions
of the world that believe in God. A recent national poll indicated 85%
of Americans believe in the existence of God, yet the court ruled with
the minority, atheist. The U.S.
Government
officially recognizes atheism as a religion; therefore, the Government
has mandated a national religion of atheism for our public schools.
If the Court had really been true to its
intention of neutrality ; it would have been
impartial to the
students, by neither forcing non believers to pray, nor prohibiting
believers from prayer. The court's actions were not neutral
.
After the June
17,
1963 ruling the Wall Street Journal commented that
atheism was
now "the one belief to which the state's power will extend
its
protection."
Before
these three rulings, prayer and Bible reading were a common practice
in public schools. In early America, the Bible was actually used as a
text book and the Webster's Primer contained many
Bible verses.
These two rulings actually changed the meaning of the First Amendment
by establishing a national secular faith and interfering with the free
practice of faith. These are two things that the First Amendment
prohibits
the government from doing.
As William J.
Murray, the student
in Murray v. Curlett school prayer case, writes in
his book "
Let Us Pray ", "The original First Amendment
guarantee to
every
citizen, of the right to free religious expression without consequence
or
state interference, was transformed. This remarkable process,
which took many years and many court decisions, turned
the
First Amendment inside out. "
The question
arises "Can the Courts change or create law, or alter the Constitution?
Three
Court Cases
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Last Update Oct. 2007
