It should be a no-brainer. If the First Amendment means anything, it means public officials cannot use the power of the government to endorse one religion’s sacred text and promote that text in official settings. Obvious though this may be, it was a 5-to-4 ruling that preserved church-state separation today.
“The touchstone for our analysis is the principle that the First Amendment mandates government neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion,” Justice David H. Souter wrote for the majority.
“When the government acts with the ostensible and predominant purpose of advancing religion, it violates the central Establishment clause value of official religious neutrality,” he said.
“Neutrality” is such an easy concept to understand, but which the right consistently fails to appreciate. The government should not intervene in matters of faith, leaving these issues to people to decide on their own without aid or interference. The power of the state must protect the right of Americans to worship, but it must not be used to promote and endorse religion. It’s really not complicated.
The Ten Commandments have not been banned. We can and will continue to see the Decalogue throughout the public square, including in churches and people’s homes. But when it comes to public schools and courthouses, the government won’t be able to take sides in religious issues.
There is, however, another Ten Commandments ruling due today, which could help flesh out where the church-state line rests. I’ll have another post soon with more details.