August 12, 2001



Separation of Church and State

Susan Mogull, President
Sacramento Chapter
Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Americans United for Separation of Church and State was founded in 1947
by Protestant clergy, educators, and civic activists. The national
organization has 70,000 members and 5,000 allied houses of worship.  Our
Executive Director, Rev. Barry Lynn, is a minister of the Church of
Christ.  Although our opponents portray us as anti-religious, we are an
activist coalition of religious and nonreligious people dedicated to
preserving religious liberty in America.  We formed a chapter in
Sacramento in 1997, one of 5 CA chapters.  The national organization
publishes Church and State monthly.  There are sample issues available.
I also have pamphlets on vouchers, charitable choice, and religion and
the public schools for you. 

Several separation of church and state issues are in the forefront
nationally.  They include:

1. Charitable choice-giving government money to religious institutions to
provide social services.

2. The Supreme Court-church-state issues are usually 5-4 decisions

3. Posting of the 10 Commandments in schools and public buildings-offered
as a solution to school violence and moral decline.

4. Attempts to put organized prayer back in the public schools. 

5. Vouchers-using public funds to send children to private schools,
including religious schools.

6. Evolution/creationism-in Roseville and elsewhere, there is an attempt
to add creationism to the science curriculum.

Issues that Americans United has participated in locally include:

1.  Grant High School basketball coach praying with students--letter to
supt.; op ed by Ex. Dir. Barry Lynn in the Sacramento Bee.

2.  Oroville graduation speech and prayer--meeting with the Sacramento
Bee editorial board, amicus brief for the appellate court.

3.  History standards-we led the struggle to include separation of church
and state.

4.  Opposition to the voucher proposition last year.

5.  Lobbying for regulations that ensure charitable choice proposals in
California do not violate the Constitution.

6.  The fight against adding creationism to the science curriculum in the
Roseville City Schools.

Let's look first at Charitable Choice, which originated with former-Sen.
John Ashcroft (R-Mo.) during the drafting of the 1996 Welfare Reform
Act--a radical change. Many religious affiliated organizations, such as
Catholic Charities and Lutheran Social Services, have received government
funds to provide social services for many years, but these groups created
separate entities to deal with public funds.  These charities abide by
the same regulations as other social service providers.  Charitable
choice removes these safeguards, allowing groups to evangelize while
providing publicly financed services. It also permits groups to
discriminate in hiring on religious grounds.

Soon after taking office, President Bush established a new White House
Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives that reports directly to
him.  The purpose of this office is to coordinate federal funding from
multiple government agencies and encourage states to establish their own
faith-based offices to facilitate state funds going to religious groups.
The office will remove barriers that prevent funding of religious groups,
so long as they achieve valid public purposes such as curbing crime,
conquering addiction, strengthening families and neighborhoods, and
overcoming poverty--including after-school programs, drug treatment
counseling, prison rehabilitation, and meal assistance.

Bush also established faith-based centers at five agencies.  The Justice
Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department
of Housing and Urban Development, and the Education and Labor Departments
will be charged with drawing up lists of federal regulations that stymie
private groups from cooperating with the government to provide social
aid.  Those regulations, Bush said, would then have to be rewritten or
eliminated.  "We will look for greater cooperation between the government
and the independent sector," Bush declared. "And we will remove
regulatory barriers."

In essence, these new groups will be competing with a number of
established organizations -- including federal agencies -- for a set
amount of tax dollars.  The new White House office will be charged with
distributing billions of federal dollars to a variety of religious groups
and charities over the next 10 years.  No new money is provided for
social services.

Locally, Americans United and allied groups have been lobbying to ensure
that the CA Dept. of Social Services and the Employment Development
Department institute regulations that maintain church-state separation
safeguards:

1.  Ensure that no program beneficiary is subjected to unwanted and
unconstitutional proselytizing when he or she receives government-funded
social services,

2.  Ensure that taxpayer money does not fund religious discrimination in
the hiring and firing of people who will deliver the services,

3.  Ensure that secular alternatives to religiously provided services are
readily available, and that those who prefer secular alternatives are
made aware of them and have realistic and convenient access to them,

4.  Ensure the development of proper firewalls between government-funded
services and the core religious activities of a religious organization,
so that taxpayer dollars are not channeled into other religious
activities of sectarian organizations (as a practical matter, this can
best be implemented through religious organizations' establishment of a
separate corporate structure which would distinguish a sectarian
religious entity from its government-funded social welfare organization),

5.  Ensure that program providers comply with all requirements and
restrictions imposed upon all government-funded activity by the Religion
Clauses of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,

6.  Ensure that extremist, terrorist or hate mongering groups are not able
to receive government money.

The practical effects of the faith-based initiatives are sweeping and
dramatic.  Under this plan, federal tax dollars will go to religious
groups to provide social services now being provided by government
agencies or secular groups. In other words, Bush intends to use tax
dollars, houses of worship and his office of faith-based action to create
church-state "partnerships" at an unparalleled level. In the process, the
president literally hopes to change the lives of millions of Americans.
We are all familiar with Bush's story of how religion saved him from
alcoholism.  No one doubts that religion can be a powerful force for
change.  The question is, should the government fund it?

Many religious groups are less than enthralled by this plan because they
know that with government money comes government control.  Pat Robertson
spoke for many conservative Christians when he raised this issue. He
further pointed out that the government could not fund some religions
without funding others.  He was particularly concerned about government
funding of the Moonies and Scientologists.  Others worry about funding of
Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam and hate groups such as the Church of
the Creator and the Identity Church.

Church-state experts describe the new faith-based government agency as
part of a misguided and dangerous approach to public policy.  "The
Constitution requires a separation between religion and government, not a
government agency designed to unite the two," said AU's Barry Lynn. "The
very existence of a federal office whose sole purpose is to give tax
dollars to religious groups is in irreparable conflict with the First
Amendment."  In fact, religion has flourished in our country precisely
because it has been free of government entanglement.

The second area of major concern to separationists is religion and the
public schools.  The pamphlet God and the Public Schools: Religion,
Education, and Your Rights, contains a short history of religion in the
public schools and outlines what school personnel and students may do,
and what they may not do.  Beginning in 1996, the U.S. Department of
Education each year has sent a document entitled Religious Expression in
Public Schools to every school in the country.  The Department of
Education document is used by most school districts throughout the nation
as the authority on religion and the public schools.  Note that this was
a Clinton administration initiative.

This document has disappointed separationists because many things that we
had thought were not allowed, such as proselytizing, are in fact
acceptable under these guidelines.  The document explains how religion
can be expressed in public schools but does not clearly delineate the
restrictions required by the establishment clause.  Americans United
supports understanding and enforcement of both the establishment and the
free exercise clauses of the First Amendment.  The US Department of
Education also actively promotes partnerships between public schools and
religious groups, including counseling, tutoring, mentoring, and after
school programs.

Religion and the public schools has two distinct aspects: religion in the
curriculum and the law regarding religious practice in public schools.
The main concept of the law is that students' religious expression is
protected while educators are restricted to neutrality because they are
agents of the state. 

Many of us remember prayer and Bible readings when we were in public
school, although this was never a universal practice.  By the 1950's
fewer than one-third of America's public schools had formal religious
exercises.  In the early 1960's the Supreme Court ruled that
government-mandated prayer, Bible reading, and other religious devotions
are inappropriate in public schools.  Although the Supreme Court
specifically stated that studying about religion is consistent with
separation of church and state, many school districts gradually moved
away from any mention of religion.  By the 1980's most textbooks did not
include much information about religion.

In the 1990's things have changed.  Today, religion is a major strand in
the history curriculum, in literature, and in the arts in California
schools.  Unfortunately, there is no requirement that teachers be trained
to teach about religion in a neutral way or that they have any
preparatory class about religious traditions or religious influences.
The books adopted in 1990 have serious flaws because the authors wrote
them from their own religious perspective.  I became involved in this
issue as a member of the Jewish Community Relations Council.  When we
reviewed the texts prior to adoption, we were shocked to find that
Judaism was presented from a Christian replacement theology point of
view-that Judaism was an imperfect religion fulfilled by Christianity.
The sixth grade textbook included such items as the Jewish God spelled
with a lower case "g" and the Christian God spelled with a capital "G." 
The word "persecute" was introduced by a five-page section of New
Testament quotations about Jews persecuting Christians.  Apparently the
authors were unaware that when these statements were written, the
Christians were still Jews and the quotations reflected the
interreligious struggle between Jews who followed Jesus and Jews who did
not.  Indeed, every minority religious group in the state had problems
with these books.  The State Board of Education approved three new
textbooks in 1999, and two of these are somewhat better.

In 1998, California adopted Academic Content Standards for History/
Social Studies that follows the 1990 curriculum.  California schools are
not required to follow the state curriculum, but the new testing program
based on state standards ensures that they will.  The gold sheet outlines
the religious topics in the CA curriculum.  World history is taught in 3
segments--ancient times are covered in sixth grade, the middle
ages--500-1500--in 7th grade, and modern times in 10th grade.  American
history is handled the same way, with the colonial period through the
Revolution covered in 5th grade, the Constitution to Industrialization in
8th grade, and modern times in 11th grade.  California history is studied
in 4th grade and American government is covered in 12th grade.

Literature classes often correlate to the history segments. 

Thus, 6th grade teachers are expected to teach about Hinduism, Buddhism,
Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, and Christianity.  They are expected to
explain the core beliefs and practices of each faith in addition to the
role of religion in history.  Since elementary teachers do not specialize
by subject in their training, and since no teachers are required to take
courses in world religions, how to teach about religion neutrally, or in
the law regarding religion, problems frequently arise.  We do not oppose
teaching about religion.  Rather, we support appropriate training for
those entrusted with that task.  I also work with an organization that
offers training to school districts on religion and the public schools.
I have painted a gloomy picture of separation of church and state in
2001.  On the bright side, 10,000 new members have joined Americans
United for Separation of Church and State since Bush took office, nearly
a 15% increase. If these issues concern you, I encourage you to contact
your elected representatives.  I have joined my school district's
curriculum committee and I monitor actions of the state Board of
Education.  You are the kind of people who can influence public policy,
and I urge you to join our efforts.  Thank you very much for your
interest in and support of separation of church and state.  If you want
to be added to our chapter mailing and/or e-mail list, please contact me
at:

president@au-sac.org

or contact:

AU Sacramento Chapter
P.O. Box 279591
Sacramento, CA 95826