Washington Merry-Go-Round

IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 20, 2024
Today’s Events in Historical Perspective                                                                     
America’s Longest-Running Column Founded 1932
Religion and government make poor bedfellows
By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift         
 
          WASHINGTON — The Founding Fathers thought it was settled with James Madison, the principal author of what is known as “the Establishment clause,” declaring, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Those words are the basis for the separation of church and state, a tenet that goes back to the country’s founding and provides the foundational thought by which America is governed.
          It is worth recalling this essential fact as once again it is being challenged by a locally elected state official who signed legislation ordering the prominent display of the text of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms from elementary through state-funded colleges.
          “If you want to respect the rule of law,” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said, “you’ve got to start from the original law giver, which was Moses.” He added that he can’t wait to be sued.
          Conservative activists intent on blurring the boundaries between government and religion see Louisiana as another step to breaking down barriers that could reach a Supreme Court friendlier toward religion than it has been in a long time.
          Conservatives who call themselves originalists and want the Court to rule on everything the way they would have two hundred years ago should embrace James Madison’s establishment clause. It says in its entirety, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…,” which means anybody can form a religion.
          That’s a good thing and it should be applauded. What government should not do is ask the taxpayers to fund religion, or to give religions any special benefits, conflicts which the Louisiana law is bringing to the fore.
          A little history helps here. In the early 1500s, Henry VIII’s wish to divorce his wife to marry Anne Boleyn led him to eventually break with the Catholic Church. The public didn’t care about the divorce, but they minded the enormous wealth the church had amassed, which led to the Reformation.
          People fleeing England because of religious persecution came to America and then persecuted those who didn’t agree with them, setting in motion the attitudes about separating church and state which animated the Founding Fathers.
          Today, you don’t have to be Catholic in Maryland, Protestant in South Carolina, Puritan in Massachusetts, or Quaker in Pennsylvania – and we can thank the Constitution’s establishment clause for that.
          We’re all free to practice our religion or found a new religion if we feel called. The governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, left an Episcopal Church and together with his wife helped found Holy Trinity Church in 2010. It is described as non-denominational with Anglican roots and a “contemporary charismatic expression.”
          Parishioners initially met in the couple’s basement. Then Youngkin, who made a lot of money in private equity, established a foundation that owns the land in Virginia where the church now stands as part of a Christian retreat.
          Meanwhile, not everybody thinks churches and other religious institutions, including Youngkin’s church, should get the tax breaks that they do.
          Other people may question whether it’s worth fighting over exposing children to the commandments. After all, they say, what’s wrong with teaching children morals and values from a document that has stood the test of time?
          Critics would say it’s like letting the camel’s nose under the tent. The rest will follow – and do we really need to be explaining to kindergarteners what adultery is? Let’s leave that to parents.
          And if anybody asks you what’s wrong with letting prayer back into the schools, ask them whose prayer. It’s true that Congress begins each day when they’re in session with a prayer. There is a chaplain present who delivers the message, and great care is taken that it is ecumenical, when, in fact, there is no such thing as a truly ecumenical prayer. There simply are too many religions and no role for a government representing all citizens to play in them.
 
          Eleanor Clift’s latest book Selecting a President, and Douglas Cohn’s latest books The President’s First Year: The Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency and World War 4: Nine Scenarios (endorsed by seven flag officers).
          Twitter:  @douglas_cohn
          © 2024 U.S. News Syndicate, Inc.
          Distributed by U.S. News Syndicate, Inc.
END WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND