<LV1;2><@BodyText;FW700;AL3>Church & State: America's Myth of Separation<FW-1;EL;AL4;@BodyText;FW700>As featured on The 700 Newswatch, March 30, 1994<FW-1>
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The supreme court will hear a case that could have long-reaching effects on church and state law in the united states. The case involves the village of Kiryas Joel a primarily Satmar Hasidic Orthodox Jewish community located in New York State.
Until 1985, handicapped children here attended classes within the local public school district. However, the children's parents claimed their children were traumatized by their experiences outside their community. After extensive negotiations, the state of New York agreed to make Kiryas Joel its own school district, so that the state could provide the needed remedial education for the handicapped students within their own environment.
Although no religion is taught in the school, the New York State School Boards Association challenged the arrangement on the grounds that it violated the U.S Constitution. Two lower courts in New York decided against Kiryas Joel, and now the Supreme Court must finally rule.
The case in particularly significant because the petitioners are asking the Supreme Court to overrule the controversial "lemon" test- a court -created test that has governed church-state decisions for more than 23 years.
In the 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzmann case, the Supreme Court established the three-part Lemon test: 1) must have a <UL2>secular purpose;<UL0> 2) must not have the <UL2>primary effect<UL0> of advancing or inhibiting religion; and 3) the can be no excessive entanglement between the state and religion.
If any of these parts are violated, the courts have declared it unconstitutional. <UL2>Several members of the Supreme Court have expressed misgivings with the Lemon Test<UL0>, lending hope to those who want to see the test overruled in the Kiryas Joel case. <UL2>Justice Antonin Scalia went so far as to characterize the test as a "monster."<UL0>
<UL2>Tom Jipping of the Free Congress Foundation calls the Lemon Test "anti-religious"<UL0> and is hoping the Supreme Court will replace it with a standard that "is more accommodating and more consistent with the intentions of the Founding Fathers."
What exactly did the Founding Fathers intend for church-state relations? Most are surprised to learn that <UL2>the phrase "wall of separation" between church and state <UL2>does not appear in <UL2>the Constitution.<UL0> Thomas Jefferson used those words in a letter to the Danbury (Conn.) Baptist Association in 1802-13 years following the writing of the Constitution.
The text of the Constitution pertaining to church-state relations can be found in the First Amendment: "<UL2>Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof<UL0>."
Thus, the Constitution does not call for a "wall" separating church and state, even though this phrase has become a cornerstone of America's legal lore.
As for the Kiryas Joel case, <UL2>Georgetown Law professor Fr. Robert Drinan says it is unlikely that the Lemon Test will be overturned.<UL0> He also warns that a ruling in favor of Kiryas Joel could set a precedent for any cultural or religious group to demand a state-sponsored educational system tailored to their needs.
While it id unlikely that the Lemon Test will be completely overruled, the Kiryas Joel case could provide insight into where the Supreme Court is heading on the issue of church-state relations
<FW700>A Response
<FW-1> The Lemon test keeps coming back to haunt us year-after-year. It was a bad test, not in keeping with the Constitution, and (the courts) will continue to have these hassles until they settle the matter closer to what Constitution actually says. This issue is extremely important.
<FW700>Live By These Words
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"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Psalm 33:12
"By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice." Psalm 8:15
