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As if the conservatives of the Supreme Court are less busy with abolishing the right to abortion, exploring centuries-old gun restrictions, and the power of the federal government to slow climate change, they are also ready to face another blow to the world. Church and state.
This week the judges listened to oral arguments Kennedy against Bremerton School DistrictA case in point of a football coach at Washington State High School carrying prayers after the game at the 50-yard line where student athletes and other coaches gathered to worship him.
School district officials said the prayers were a form of state -funded religious expression. They told the coach, Joe Kennedy, that he needed to pray independently and away from the pitch – and they offered to fix it.
Kennedy said officers were violating his right to exercise his faith in what was usually a private action for him and he decided to join. He still prayed and sued for the support of conservative religious groups.
The stakes are high. As Paul Blumenthal of HuffPost explained in the case letter, even a narrow decision in favor of the coach could significantly change the school’s prayer rules, allowing for a clearer and more public expression of faith in school premises – and during official sanctioned activities – than previously authorized by the court.
It was also, as Blumenthal noted, a “major achievement for the religious right of Christians”, who for decades have been trying to “restore religious prayer to schools”.
One of the concerns of such a decision is that it may put pressure on students who do not share the religious beliefs prevalent in their community, not to mention those who are not religious or do not appreciate the fact that the government is in the middle. of religion. First place. And this concern is not hypothetical.
The legend lasted several years in Bremerton and eventually became a media and political affair. During this time, the a Short District attorneys filed a statement, in which one parent told district school officials that their child felt “he needed to participate” because he felt he needed to make time for play, while other parents told their children “They only participated in group prayer because they didn’t want to. Separation from the team”.
It is not clear how many students felt this way. It could be a small handful – or even just one. But the main reason is that the Supreme Court initially banned teacher -led prayer 1962And after spending decades imposing bans on religious activity in schools, there has even been the protection of small minorities with the theory that even one student puts pressure on a very large number.
As Judge Elena Kagan said Oral arguments “Our business has long been concerned with thinking about these questions is the compulsion of students and the feeling that they have to participate in religious activities that they do not want to participate in. . “
But Kagan is a liberal and Obama -appointed. He does not speak for the six conservative judges who have been benched by Republican presidents. And in the past, this conservative court has taken a completely different approach to church-state affairs, arguing that the rights of American clerics are under attack and in need of special protection.
Consider, for example, a case 2020 Temporary restrictions on public gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In this case, the judges found that the restrictions actually penalized the practice of religion, even though the restrictions on public gatherings extend to different settings and do not separate religious gatherings for special treatment. .
The desire to protect religious people from attack may be familiar, as it is part of the broader argument that conservatives continue to make today – that their beliefs and lifestyles are offensive to the secular and “awakened”. elite people who influence society. policy. , Media, academia and (more recently) even corporate meeting rooms.
It’s also somewhat paradoxical, at least in the context of the school prayer case, because conservative religions that feel at odds have six conservative Supreme Court justices – and, most likely, they’re giving them a big win there. New case.
This does not mean that the success of the manager and his allies is certain. Almost any outcome is possible, including sending the decision to the lower courts to remand the case to settle lengthy disputes over the fact exactly what happened when.
But smart money is still a decision that will weaken the wall between church and state, a wall that, thanks to conservative justice, has already begun to crumble.
Source: Huffpost
