American courts have heard cases over the Bible’s role in classrooms for more than a century. Whether lessons are constitutional depends on their purpose.
Articles on Establishment Clause
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American courts have legislated the Bible’s role in classrooms for more than a century. Whether it’s constitutional depends on the aims of teachers’ lessons.
When government officials hold prayer services, quote scripture and engage in religious proselytizing at the workplace, is it religious freedom – or an old-fashioned First Amendment violation?
The phrase ‘separation of church and state’ dates back to a letter from Thomas Jefferson to a Baptist congregation.
New laws mandating the Ten Commandments’ display in schools have faced lawsuits in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas are testing a Supreme Court precedent barring displays of the Ten Commandments’ display in public school classrooms.
School lawyers are petitioning the Supreme Court to hear Cambridge Christian School v. Florida High School Athletic Association.
The Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, or the CREC, has a highly patriarchal and conservative interpretation of Scripture.
Praying in school is protected by the Constitution but only under certain conditions.
The first female justice on the Supreme Court was also the last justice to have served as an elected official. And her contributions to the court reflected her political experience and pragmatism.
Kennedy v. Bremerton, a case about a public school teacher’s prayer, helps close out a Supreme Court term in which religion was often in the spotlight.
Educators walk an fine line when it comes to marking religious holidays. But in so doing, are they missing an opportunity for teachable moments on faith issues?
A 6-3 conservative court will hear a broader range of controversial cases, shift interpretations of individual rights and put more pressure on local democracy to make policy decisions.
Where you vote can make a difference in how you vote. Although the influence can be small, some ballots are decided by fractions of a percent.
The history of education in the West is closely associated with Christian religious spaces – from the first cathedral schools to the use of churches to teach children in WWII.
There’s been a reversal of power between religious and secular sides of American culture. The Supreme Court is now at the center of that shift.
A case regarding the constitutional validity of a cross shaped war memorial, is pending before the Supreme Court. An expert explains why these symbols have different meanings.
As the Kentucky Senate considers a bill for school prayer, a scholar explains the violent history of prayer – and a time when Catholic students were sometimes whipped, beaten and worse for not participating.
Following the controversy over the resignation of House chaplain Patrick Conroy, in this speed read, scholars explain when the tradition of legislative prayer was started and how it has sustained.
Top contributors
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Joseph Panzer Chair in Education and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton
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Law Student, University of Dayton
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Professor of American Civics, University of Tennessee
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Professor of Law & Walter H. Stowers Chair of Law and Religion, Michigan State University
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Professor of Political Science, Clemson University
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Dean and Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities, Wake Forest University
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Associate Professor of Practical and Political Theologies, Starr King School for the Ministry
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Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Baylor University
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President, Dickinson College
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Professor of Political Science, Tulane University
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Professor of Sociology and President, Bryn Mawr College
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Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Maine
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Professor of History and Religious Studies, Arizona State University