The Debate over the Separation Between Church and State

The Debate Over the Separation Between Church and State

Since the founding of the principle of separation between church and state, the institution has become a core foundation of modern democracy in the United States. However, disagreements over the function and constitutional validity of this principle has resulted in the positions of secularism and separationism in the debate. In recent years, this issue has been exacerbated by the tax exemption status that the federal government can present to private organizations; organizations that are often aligned as either secular or religious. This has resulted in declarations portraying the United States as biased and unwelcoming toward specific beliefs. In order to properly frame the argument and understand the basis of the contention, one must look to the historical antecedents that produced the modern disagreement.

In the United States, the relationship between church and state has been defined in the first amendment as separate, meaning that federal, state, and local governments cannot mix religion and government. The term church-state separation was first adopted in 1879 as a reference to the establishment of religion clause of the first amendment. In the 1947 Supreme Court case Everson v. Board of Education, Court justice Hugo Black addressed the issue in a statement saying “The establishment of religion clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another” (Everson). Justice Black’s interpretation of the the First Amendment specifically states that the federal government cannot condone or promote a single religious institution. In the years directly following this interpretation “justices opined that the separation must be absolute and uncompromising” to both liberal and conservative judiciaries (Churches). The separation was originally critical to the American judicature. This idea of having the two institutions, church and state, as disjointed entities has split the debate into two sides or “two groups of people: separationists, who favor separation, and accommodationists, who oppose it”(Peters). The separationist proposition began to rise in the 1940's and grew quickly in response to many conservatives being appointed to the United States Supreme Court in the 1980's. It was exemplified in decisions such as the prohibitions of religious expression in public schools, use of religious images on government displays, and the reduction of religion-based exemptions from society.

The separationists approach states that both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights hold that the government has no power over religion and vice-versa. This position, “advocates a broader understanding of separation to ensure that all government functions remain secular” (Green).