Church and state: Where’s the line?

Before every town board meeting in Greece, N.Y., a Christian clergy member would invite the public to join in a prayer, said Jesse McKinley in The New York Times. Standing at a lectern with the town seal, the speakers would invoke Christ, the Holy Spirit, and “our Savior,” and when the prayer ended, board members would say “amen” in chorus. Two local activists—a Jewish woman and an atheist—have challenged those prayers on the grounds that they violated the Constitution’s prohibition on government “establishment of religion,” and last week, the case went before the Supreme Court. A critical distinction is at stake here, said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. Religion has always played an important role in American life, and as long as no one is compelled to participate, the Constitution does not prohibit public prayer. If it did, the Supreme Court would not open “each session with ‘God save the United States of America, and this honorable court.’”

But in the context of a town board meeting, said Barry Lynn in The Washington Post, the pressure to pray is powerful. If a Jewish woman comes before a board to request a zoning variance for her small business, she might alienate board members by refusing to take part in a Christian prayer. “What attorney would counsel a client to make herself known as a person not going along with the crowd as she, moments later, seeks special help from that body?” Many Christians may shrug off such public prayers as no big deal, said Jeff Schweitzer in -HuffingtonPost.com. But how would they feel if a “town meeting opened exclusively with an Islamic prayer from the Quran?” The answer is obvious: “It would be offensive, and clearly counter to the ideal of religious freedom.”

This church/state issue “has divided, confused, and angered Americans for decades,” said Tom Krattenmaker in USA Today,and the Supreme Court is unlikely to come up with a “tidy and final resolution.” The Constitution offers vague clues as to where the line between church and state must be drawn, but no definitive answers—especially for a nation far more diverse than it was in the 18th century. “That leaves us to apply some resources that seem in short supply today: reasonableness, respect, and consideration for people with ideas and beliefs different from our own.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up