A RULING last week at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is a reminder that church and state are far from separate in America. The First Amendment’s proscription on government acts “representing an establishment of religion” has been interpreted to bar prayer in schools, government aid to churches and certain types of sectarian displays on public grounds. But outside the classroom and the public square, official allusions to religion fly freely. In Marsh v Chambers, a case from 1983, six members of the Supreme Court found no trouble with the fact that Nebraska had hired a chaplain to deliver invocations in the state legislature. Legislative prayer is “deeply embedded in the history and tradition of this country”, Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote. “We are a religious people”, he continued (quoting an earlier case), “whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being”.
Two years ago in Town of Greece v Galloway, the justices ruled 5-4 that it was fine for a town board to invite mostly Christian ministers to launch their monthly meetings with a prayer. Now...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2d6NQpC
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