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Three major Supreme Court cases could reshape the boundaries between faith and government in the U.S.—and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
One involves taxpayer funding for a religious charter school in Oklahoma. Another centers on Maryland parents who want to opt out of LGBTQ-themed storybooks in public classrooms. The third challenges whether a Catholic diocese should be exempt from paying into state unemployment insurance.
Supporters argue these cases protect the free exercise of religion. Critics worry they weaken the wall between church and state.
Where do you stand?
Do these cases reflect a long-overdue correction—or a step toward entangling faith with politics in dangerous ways?
What biblical principles should guide Christian engagement with issues of religious liberty in the public square?
The first two cases have this in common: if we plant our feet under Caesar’s table, we forfeit our right to complain about the menu.
The world would be a better place if parents could get a tax credit for raising their own children. IOW, get to keep more of their OWN money. Which makes sense – if I’m saving my neighbor $13K / year / child by acting responsibly, some token tax relief would show public appreciation for what they’re doing to build a better future.
OTOH, helping myself to my neighbor’s money to support my paternal duties is a very ungracious thing to do. Charter schools have an element of compromise baked in – and sooner or later Caesar will claim his pound of allegiance.
In the United States, freedom of religion is a constitutionally protected right provided in the religion clauses of the First Amendment. The Bill of Rights supports freedom of religion as a legally-protected right, reading that, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof… ". George Washington stressed freedom of religion as a fundamental American principle even before the First Amendment was ratified. In 1790, in a letter to the Touro Synagogue, Washington expressed the government “gives to bigotry no sanction” and "to persecution no assistance. (Wikipedia)
Freedom of religion means that the government should stay out of the right of everyone to practice their religion and, more importantly, the government should NOT establish an official state religion.
“our” “government” has already established an official state religion, complete with government-funded buildings, government-paid clerics, and a top-heavy government-paid bureaucracy (in most school districts, there are more “educators” on the payroll than teachers.) Caesar’s temples exist to proclaim to the most vulnerable and gullible among us that man shall live by bread alone, and bread comes from Caesar.
This is kind of a big deal. Some folks argue that “leaders” who render unto Caesar that which is God’s, the children entrusted to THEIR care, thereby disqualify themselves.
It depends on your definition of “religion”. Regarding the OP, I don’t agree with your comment. The Federal government has NOT established an official state religion.
Religion is …
The belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers, regarded as creating and governing the universe.
US Supreme Court may broaden religious rights in looming rulings | Reuters