KY SB278 Forces United States To Debate Religion Yet Again

In the United States, the separation of church and state began with the Constitution. Included in the First Amendment is the phrase “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” However, the actual phrase “separation of church and state” is taken from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1802, where he referred to that amendment. In his letter, addressed to the Danbury Baptist Association, he quoted the First Amendment and said its establishment “thus built a wall of separation between Church and State” in the United States.

As time passed and his letters were reprinted and widely distributed, lawmakers in the United States began to see Jefferson’s statement as a clarification of the intention the Founding Fathers’ had when they wrote the First Amendment. According to a 1998 Information Bulletin published by the Library of Congress, the United States Supreme Court first used the term in its interpretation of the First Amendment in 1878 in its decision on Reynolds v. United States.

Fast forward to 1947 and McCollum v. Board of Education, which was the first landmark case in the United States to deal specifically with the separation of church and state in public schools. After an Illinois circuit court and the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school board, the case found itself before the United States Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court ruled in 1948, Justice Hugo Black was very clear in his written decision.

“…the First Amendment rests upon the premise that both religion and government can best work to achieve their lofty aims if each is left free from the other within its respective sphere.”

One of the best summaries of the decision in non-legal terms is provided by Justia, which reads, “Public schools cannot allow religious groups to use their facilities to provide religious instruction to children.”

Today, Jefferson’s “separation between church and state” is one of the most-quoted phrases in the United States. However, it is also one of the country’s most-contested principles. On March 3, 2016, the Kentucky Senate introduced Senate Bill 278. SB278, sponsored by Democratic senator Robin L. Webb and Republican senator Danny Carroll, proposes the introduction of Bible literacy courses as a part of the curriculum in the state’s public school systems. Yesterday, March 10, 2016, the Senate Education Committee approved the bill.

Basically, the bill, if passed, would allow Kentucky schools to create elective Bible literacy courses. SB278 states the curriculum would be designed to explore the Bible from historical, cultural, and literary standpoints. Additionally, the bill’s language states that “maintaining religious neutrality and accommodating the diverse religious views, traditions, and perspectives of students in the school” is a requirement per laws and guidelines in place in the state of Kentucky and in the United States.

When news of SB278 hit, people in Kentucky and across the United States reacted quickly, but their reactions were the result of not only SB278 but a combination of SB278 and other recent bills introduced in the Kentucky Senate. In February, a committee approved Senate Bill 180, which would allow businesses to refuse service based on religious beliefs, and Senate Bill 106, which would allow public schools to include religious references in studies and performances of art, music, theater, and literature. Currently, SB180 is awaiting a Senate vote, while SB106 has passed the Senate and is awaiting a House committee decision.

By introducing these bills to the Senate, Kentucky is once again questioning how wide the separation of church and state should be in the United States. Many will look at the neutral language in SB278 and SB106 and support the bills. Meanwhile, others will look at the bills and see attempts by the religious right to further its cause. Similarly, some will look at SB180 and see the bill as protecting the rights of the religious, while others will see the bill as discriminatory.

At this moment, looking at past decisions made by the highest court in the United States does not provide much clarity about the futures of any of these bills, should they become law, especially with the current Supreme Court vacancy. Unless these bills travel the same path as Tennessee’s attempt to make the Bible the state book, which was killed by the Tennessee Senate, a long conversation about the separation of church and state appears once again likely in the United States. Perhaps, it is time for a definitive line to be drawn between state and religion, so the United States can begin working to overcome the division the subject has created between both states and citizens.

[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]