The watchdog group, Americans United for the Separation Of Church and State (AU), filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a pending case to the Supreme Court of the United States known as Trinity Lutheran Church of Colombia v. Pauley.
This case started in Missouri. A friend-of-the-court brief is used to provide information that could be useful to the court. The AU filed this brief because the case could greatly increase the amount of state money going to religious organizations.
The Missouri Constitution prohibits churches from receiving public money; Missouri is one of 38 states with these laws. Missouri is one of 38 states who have “no-aid” clauses in their constitutions. These rules keep churches from receiving public money because tax dollars should not be used for religious purposes.
We have had these types of policies for over 150 years via the concept of “Separation of Church and State,” but this church wants to challenge that.
These laws expand on part of the First Amendment of the Constitution. Specifically, they look at the part “respecting an establishment of religion.” This means the government cannot establish a specific, official nationwide religion, but it does give people the right to practice the religion of their choice. Because of this, the government cannot be seen as contributing public funds to a specific religious organization.
Being a secular nation, we strive to keep churches out of the government and vice-versa. This is what the Separation of Church and State is.
The church runs a daycare out of their basement, and they applied for a grant for their playground from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources recycling program. It provides money to public schools and non-profit organizations to buy recycled rubber chips to use in their playgrounds.
Although the school has an open enrollment policy, its curriculum is “Christ-centered.” It includes such religious activities as “Jesus time” and Chapel time as part of the children’s daily schedules.
The Trinity Lutheran Church is suing the state of Missouri because the state government wouldn’t pay to resurface the playground at the daycare because the state thinks it is obviously exclusively religious.
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has also filed a brief. I’m glad to see a religious organization that understands the concept of Separation of Church and State. The church’s brief states:
“In this case, Missouri certainly does not prevent the Trinity Lutheran Church from building, improving, or operating its facilities consistent with its religious calling. Nor does it prevent the Church from having a playground or a preschool, and operating them consistently with its ministry priorities and community outreach efforts. Missouri is simply refusing to fund a capital improvement project for the Church, consistent with its three bright-line constitutional provisions, which are similar to provisions found in most other states’ constitutions as well. It would profoundly upend our constitutional history, state and federal, to require Missouri to fund the improvement of church property.”
The church uses its daycare to indoctrinate children to its religion. They teach about Christianity. These practices are protected by the First Amendment, but the Constitution also prevents the government from funding a church’s activities in any way.
When the initial grant application was denied, the church hired a right-leaning religious legal group to help known as the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
ADF Senior Counsel, Erik Stanley, said that this is a case of “religious hostility.” This is hardly the case.
The church’s petition said:
“Trinity seeks a grant for a rubber pour-in-place playground surface where its children and those from the community play. Seeking to protect children from harm while they play tag and go down the slide is about as far from an ‘essentially religious endeavor’ as one can get.”
This group may claim that anyone can use their services, but then preach to those who do. Those of us who are not Christian don’t want our taxes supporting any church at all. Not using public, taxpayer funded money to improve a church is not “hostility.” It is common sense, and the law.
This is eight years old, but it is very good. Here is President Barack Obama talking about the Separation of Church and State:
Featured Image: Screenshot Via Boston Globe And YouTube Video.
