The status of the three major religious groups in Church-State relations
and religious freedom in this country early in 1949 stood approximately as
follows.
(1) As to religious freedom, all groups supported religious freedom in the
United States, and all recognized that they have prospered under it. They
were almost equally active in supporting international co-operation and a
constructive civil rights program.
(2) As to Church-State relations, all were more or less active in
supporting or opposing legislation on matters which specially interested
their group. For example, the Jews were specially interested in securing
public aid and recognition for political Zionism as represented in the
emerging Jewish state; Roman Catholics were interested in opposing
legislation for information on birth control and in securing Federal aid
for parochial schools; Protestants in supporting temperance and
antigambling legislation, and public schools free from denominational
influence but permitting the reading of the Bible without comment.
There are also some matters on which the groups differ. For instance,
Protestants and Jews believe that the Constitution of the United States was
designed to bring about a separation between the functions of Church and
State so definite as to rule out, for example, all direct financial aid to
denominational and parochial schools. Roman Catholics, on the other hand,
as represented by the hierarchy, do not accept fully the "wall of
separation" theory, in spite of the utterances of the founders and clear
dicta in recent Supreme Court decisions, and are still pressing for
financial aid from public taxation for their own school pupils, as well as
urging the continuance of the president's special wartime representative at
the Vatican as a full-fledged peacetime ambassador.
It is well to differentiate somewhat between the two closely related issues
of religious freedom and Church-State separation; for, as indicated above,
Roman Catholics in the United States can go along with other religious
groups and support religious freedom, but not to the same extent
Church-State separation. In fact, there has been a definite attempt in some
ecclesiastical circles to drive a wedge between the two ideals and to
assert that the Constitution did not have the Church-State separation in
mind except to prevent support by the government of one Church to the
exclusion of others. For example, here is a typical statement of this
position in a recent article by a well-known Jesuit:
It is already significant that the Protestant campaign is not being waged
under the device of "religious liberty" or "freedom of conscience"; neither
of these two positive, intelligible formulas would suit the purpose.
Rather, the banner bears the slogan, "separation of Church and State"—that
negative, ill-defined, basically un-American formula, with all its
overtones of religious prejudice.. . . 34
A study of the early sections of this work and especially of those on the
origin of the Constitution" and of those on its founders like Thomas
Jefferson and James Madison" will show that the founders, though wishing to
encourage religion, were definite in their belief in Church-State
separation. Such a recent statement from a responsible Roman Catholic
source is therefore discouraging. It is doubtful that this point of view
will have much popular support among Roman Catholics, especially after the
recent 8 to 1 decision in the Champaign religious education case, a
decision joined in by the only Roman Catholic on the court, Mr. Justice
Murphy, and specially notable for its attitude on Church-State separation."
But some other Roman Catholics accept the traditional American view. An
excellent statement of the interrelation of religious liberty and
Church-State separation is that given in the first sentence of the
introduction of Michael Williams' book entitled Shadow of the Pope (1932).
This reads:
Religious liberty—the complete separation of church and state, and the
non-application of any form of religious test of citizenship or of fitness
for public office—is in principle and in practice the unique contribution
of the United States to the political and social theories and customs of
the world.
Probably most Americans would agree that Church and State must be kept
distinct in function, but that each should understand and sympathize with
the other in the solution of individual and public problems.
34. Christian Century, Dec. 31, 1947
Church and State in the United States, Anson Phelps Stokes Vol III, Harper
& Brothers, (1950) pp 450 - 52
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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