Funds for Fostering Faith: Your Tax Dollars at Work?

Controversies are raging across America over the question of what, if anything, government should do to foster and inculcate religious values in children. Although the First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits "the establishment of religion", Americans remain deeply divided over what religious expression in public education is still permissible.

When public schools were first established in this country, they reflected the Protestant Christian culture of the society. For example, the classic McGuffey's Readers taught pupils that "In Adam's Fall, we sinned all," a specific Christian doctrine. Christmas and Easter were celebrated in the public schools, and some states and school districts even established daily prayers to be led by teachers. School rules, such as banning headcovering, also reflected Protestant norms. Catholic and Jewish holidays were generally ignored.

After massive immigration of Catholics in the last half of the Nineteenth Century, parochial schools were established in many large cities. By 1900, five percent of all American school students were enrolled in Catholic schools. The State of Oregon reacted by requiring all school-age children to attend public school. Other states permitted Catholic students to leave public school early in the afternoon for church lessons. After World War II Jewish day schools were established in many larger cities; the first one in Milwaukee opened at Congregation Beth Israel on Teutonia Avenue in 1950. Lutherans and other Protestants also established full-day religious schools around this time. In the 1960's several Muslim groups began opening religious schools.

Meanwhile, some aspects of the public school curriculum clashed with the religious views of many parents. For example, some of the J's Witnesses claimed that the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was idolatry. Others objected to the teaching of the Theory of Evolution in public school because it conflicted with their religious beliefs, and some states (notably Tennessee) prohibited it.

Here is where the main disputes stand today:

1. At the suggestion of President Dwight Eisenhower, Congress added the words "under G-d" to the Pledge Allegiance in 1954. Was this unconstitutional?
A suit claiming so was dismissed by the US Supreme Court, but the decision was based on the fact that the plaintiff did not have custody of the student involved. This case is sure to come back.
I learned the Pledge the old way, and was opposed to the new wording. I did nothing to protest the idea, since I was then too young to vote, and besides, my Congressman was a Republican (the last one to represent Milwaukee.) Atheists and agnostics can be patriotic Americans, and I say the Pledge should not leave them out. Nevertheless, the Court will probably find that the reference to G-d in the Pledge, like that on our money, is harmless and not a violation of the First Amendment.

2. Is it legal to post the Ten Commandments in public schools or other public buildings?
Where the Commandments appear alone, on a wall or tablet, it appears that the government endorses the message. The First Commandment declares that one G-d exists, and He took the Children of Israel out of Egypt. The courts have ruled that this is prohibited establishment of religion by the state.
However, if the same Ten Commandments are displayed as part of an exhibit of important legal documents, such as the Bill of Rights, the Five Principles of Islam, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, or the like, I believe that the entire exhibit would be permissible, since the state would not be seen as endorsing any of the documents.

3. Some say, "Christmas carols are beautiful music, why not teach them in public school?"
No quarrel about the music, but the lyrics proclaim that Jesus was born of a virgin, was the Messiah, was King of Angels, was (or is) the Lord, and so on. If anyone says that singing certain lyrics have no effect on a child's beliefs, ask if it would OK to teach songs that supported a worker's revolution (The Internationale), glorified the Storm Troopers (Horst Wessel Lied), or saluted Chairman Mao's Great Cultural Revolution (East is Red.)

4. What is wrong with a brief, non-sectarian, prayer in public school?
I prayed in public school before and after every lunch, and nobody stopped me. The Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that teachers and school authorities must not lead or advocate prayer, because they are empowered by the state and paid by tax funds. Every effort to amend the Constitution to permit state-authorized public school prayer has been defeated, to which I say "Omain."

5. Why can public schools teach evolution, but not creation?
A scientific theory, unlike a philosophy, must be backed by factual evidence. The Theory of Evolution is supported by tons of hard evidence from paleontology, biology, and genetics; it is accepted as fact by scientists in every major university in the world. If a school district today refused to teach it, the graduates of its high schools would be totally unprepared for college biology or other pre-med courses.
The question of whether the universe or life was created or not is beyond the scope of science, since it is not subject to verification or refutation by experiment or observation. Accordingly, it is not an appropriate subject for a school science course, and could violate the prohibition of fostering religious belief. (So would teaching atheism, for that matter). What is the probability that our universe, fine-tuned for the eventual existence of life, suddenly popped-up out of nowhere without any design at all? This will be answered in the very next Glazerbeam.

6. Most orthodox Jews send their children to day schools. Why should they care about practices in the public schools at all?
About 85% of all Jewish children in America attend public school, and most get no Jewish education. In many smaller towns, there is no Jewish day school within driving distance. We should care if these fellow Jews are subjected to Christian proselytization along with their reading and music.
We Jews are a small minority in this country, as are the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and atheists. We do not share the religious beliefs (or lack of belief) of these other minorities, but we do share an interest in maintaining the neutrality of government toward all religions and philosophies. By defending their rights and interests, we also defend our own.

7. The Wisconsin School Choice Program funds religious schools with tax money. Is that constitutional?
A program that would transfer state money to religious schools would violate both the First Amendment and the Wisconsin Constitution.
Our School Choice Program, on the other hand, provides scholarships to low-income students that can be used at any qualified school, whether religious, anti-religious, or ideologically neutral. Federally-funded college scholarships can be used at Marquette University, Yeshiva University, or the University of Chicago, even though all of them include a divinity school. Both the Wisconsin Supreme Court and US Supreme Court have ruled that fairly-administered scholarship programs may include religious schools on the same basis as any other type of school.
If a state scholarship program were limited to non-religious schools, it could possibly be challenged as in violation of the Equal Protection of the Laws clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.