The Establishment Clause | BRI’s Homework Help Series
What is the proper relationship between church and state? In this Homework Help video, we analyze this question by reviewing the history behind the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment as well as how the Supreme Court has interpreted its meaning.
0:00 One topic that is debated publicly and often is the separation of church and state. But what motivates these discussions and how this idea evolved over time? One starting point for answering these questions is the establishment clause of the first 1st Amendment. The Establishment Clause of the first amendment reads, quote congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.
0:23 This clause is intended to preserve the principle of religious liberty, an idea essential to the protection of natural rights. By preventing the national government from creating an official national religion, the founders feared. An established religion will lead to persecution, as it would compel individuals to violate their consciences or personal beliefs and as a result, violate their religious liberty.
0:45 So how has this foundational principle impacted the United States throughout its history? This is the story of the Establishment Clause.
1:10 An established religion is a faith that is officially endorsed by the government, tied closely to it, and often supported by public money. In the 16th and 17th centuries, England and other European countries had established churches. The founders saw how these state-run churches resulted in persecution for religious beliefs. Prior to the founding era, many of the American colonies had established churches.
1:33 Those who did not subscribe to these established churches were called dissenters. Dissenters often faced government persecution and faced punishments such as restrictions on holding public offices, fines and imprisonment, and in rare cases, death. For example, in early colonial Massachusetts, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, Quakers, and Anabaptists were persecuted
1:56 for their views, which differed from the established puritan religion. Williams warned that uniform religious beliefs should not be enforced by any government because it inevitably caused division and oppression. Even as late as 1774, on the eve of the American Revolution, established churches continued to lead to oppression.
2:16 In Virginia, Baptists were severely oppressed and jailed. Eyewitness James Madison told a friend quote, "that diabolical, hell conceived principle of persecution rages." The American founding fathers recognized the idea of religious liberty as a natural right. This led to a movement for disestablishment over the next several decades at the federal and state level.
2:38 But the founders did not completely agree on the idea of disestablishment. In Virginia, some, like Patrick Henry and George Washington, believed that having state government supported churches promoted morality and education, so long as it did not restrict the religious liberty of dissenters. On the other side of the debate, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison believes that disestablishment was
3:01 necessary to end persecution and protect the natural right of religious liberty. Together they work to pass a bill that Jefferson wrote called the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. This law stated that, quote "No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained,
3:21 or burdened in his body or goods nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief in that the same shall in no wise, diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." Other states would follow Virginia’s example when the new Constitution was written in 1787, the idea of religious liberty was brought to the national level.
3:43 The US Constitution supported disestablishment for the new national government, as Article Six, Section Three banned religious tests for national office. And when the First Congress ratified the Bill of Rights in 1791, the First Amendment included the Establishment Clause, which stated, quote congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.
4:05 As a result, there was no official church or religion for the United States. However, because of the principle of federalism, some state governments continue to have established churches into the 1800s. For example, Connecticut would not disestablish until 1818, while Massachusetts kept the state church until 1833. The exact boundaries of the Establishment Clause were still debated in the new Republic.
4:29 On one hand, Presidents George Washington and John Adams issued proclamations calling for national days of thanksgiving and prayer. On the other, President Thomas Jefferson took a different view, as he thought such presidential proclamations were unconstitutional. In fact, Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist stating, quote "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people
4:52 which declares that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state." This language and understanding has helped to shape some contemporary thinking about the Establishment Clause. Later on, the 14th Amendment applied
5:12 the Bill of Rights to the states in a process called incorporation. This led to a debate over the Establishment Clause in many new areas, such as public schools, football games, graduations, and even public holiday displays. Many of these questions and disputes made their way to the Supreme Court. For instance, in Everson v. Board of Education, the Court allowed the government
5:34 to reimburse travel expenses to parochial schools, but followed the Jeffersonian idea that there was a wall of separation between church and state. Writing for the majority, Justice Hugo Black stated, quote the First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable.
5:55 We cannot approve the slightest breach. Following that case, the Court issued several decisions related to prayer in schools. In Engel v. Vitale, the Supreme Court ruled that school-sponsored prayer, even if voluntary and non-denominational, violated the Establishment Clause. And in Abington School District v. Schempp, the Court ruled mandatory Bible reading in school to be unconstitutional.
6:18 Furthermore, in Lee v. Wiseman, the Court banned nondenominational prayers at graduation ceremonies because they were seen as coercive. Since then, a variety of cases have emerged, most famously involving government financial assistance to churches, religious displays in government buildings, and religious activity in public schools.
6:39 For example, in county of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, the Supreme Court ruled that a nativity scene display in a state courthouse violated the Establishment Clause because it was said to endorse a religion. In one of the most important cases, Lemon v. Kurtzman, the Supreme Court ruled that state funding of educational materials, books and salaries for private
7:01 religious schools violated the Establishment Clause. It also created the subsequently named Lemon Test to determine if a statute faithfully upheld the Establishment Clause. First, the statute must have a secular legislative purpose. Second, its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion.
7:22 Finally, the statute must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion. However, the Court recently moved away from the Lemon Test in American Legion v. American Humanist Association when it allowed a Christian cross at a public memorial. Today, there is significant uncertainty about how to interpret and apply the Establishment Clause.
7:44 The Supreme Court has created several different tests, but none have proven to be satisfactory in the long term, which has led the Court to apply them inconsistently or disregard them altogether. The exact meaning and application of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment has been debated from the founding to the present. What is the proper relationship between government and religion?
8:06 And how will debates over the Establishment Clause continue to shape American history? This has been the story of the Establishment Clause. Hey, what are you doing? I’m trying to learn American history. Really? You know that there’s a YouTube channel, Bill of Rights Institute that will help you out with that, right?
8:27 Huh really? Yeah. You should check them out and subscribe. Cool.
