CHAPTER FouR • CiviL LibERTiEs 69
Establishment Clause
The part of the First
Amendment prohibiting
the establishment
of a church officially
supported by the national
government.to bear arms. Even with that ruling, the national and state governments retain the power
to regulate the ownership of firearms. We examine a major gun-regulation topic in the
At Issue feature on the following page.Freedom of Religion
In the United States, freedom of religion consists of two principal rules that are presented
in the First Amendment. The first rule guarantees the separation of church and state, and
the second guarantees the free exercise of religion.The separation of Church
and state—The Establishment Clause
The First Amendment to the Constitution states, in part, that “Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion.” In the words of Thomas Jefferson, the
establishment clause was designed to create a “wall of separation of Church and State.”
As interpreted by the Supreme Court, the establishment clause in the First Amendment
means at least the following: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. Neither
can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against
his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. No person can
be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church
attendance or nonattendance. No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied
to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or
whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state nor the
federal government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious
organizations or groups and vice versa.^3The establishment clause covers all conflicts about such matters as the legality of
giving state and local government aid to religious organizations and schools, allowing
or requiring school prayers, teaching evolution versus creationist theories that reject evo-
lution, placing religious displays in schools or public places, and discriminating against
religious groups in publicly operated institutions.Aid to Church-Related schools. In the United States, almost 11 percent of school-age
children attend private schools, of which about 80 percent have religious affiliations. The
United States Supreme Court has tried to draw a fine line between permissible public aid
to students in church-related schools and impermissible public aid to religion. These issues
have arisen most often at the elementary and secondary levels.
In 1971, in Lemon v. Kurtzman,^4 the Court ruled that direct state aid could not be used
to subsidize religious instruction. The Court in the Lemon case gave its most general pro-
nouncement on the constitutionality of government aid to religious schools, stating that
(1) the aid had to be secular (nonreligious) in aim, (2) it could not have the primary effect
of advancing or inhibiting religion, and (3) the government must avoid “an excessive gov-
ernment entanglement with religion.” All laws that raise issues under the establishmentLO2: Explain how the First
Amendment’s establishment clause
and free exercise clause guarantee
our freedom of religion.- Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947).
- 403 U.S. 602 (1971).
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