Texas wants to post the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Other states want to bring religion back to schools and public spaces. It ought to be a no brainer — they cannot do that. The Supreme Court long ago said all this was unconstitutional. But don’t be surprised if this Supreme Court reverses or narrows its previous precedents and allows it. The irony here is that at a time of growing secularism in American society, the current conservative majority on the court is becoming even more pro-religion, reversing decades-old precedents. Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the court has moved away from using the Establishment Clause to enforce a “high wall of separation” to protect non-Christians and non-believers; it now uses the Free Exercise Clause not simply to accommodate religion but to impose the religious views of a minority upon an emerging secular majority. Call this the “New Sectarianism.” The First Amendment seeks to ensure neither government-endorsed religion (the Establishment Clause) nor interference with individual religious belief (the Free Exercise Clause). While one may not wish to make too much of it, the first words of the First Amendment are “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of […]
News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.