Seperation Of Church And State
Separation Of Church and State Currently in America there are strong concerns about issues dealing with the church and the state. The main issue is the separation of church and state within the United States, dealing with the First Amendment. Throughout history, there have been many court cases dealing with the separation of church and state. The Engel vs. Vitale court case also deals with the First Amendment. The First Amendment is of a great importance to the American people because it describes there freedom that they have. The First Amendment is the basis of the fundamental rights that society has. However, we are in constant jeopardy of having those rights violated by such establishment as schools and even the Government. The court case of Engel vs. Vitale went all the way to the Supreme Court whose verdict came to be an overruling of the district court. This case dealt with the public school district of New Hyde Park, New York. The problem in this case was that school officials were allowing a school prayer at the beginning of the day. A main political issue within public schools involves the First Amendment, how the school system enforces certain things and how schools can get around the s
eparation between church and state. The First Amendment is being violated by allowing public officials(teachers) to direct prayer in schools. The First Amendment has many different interpretations that people are attaching to it. People took this amendment to mean that the government was not intended to be banned from assisting religion or was intended to be erased from public or government officials. The Supreme Court case off 1962, Engel vs. Vitale, was a case about whether prayer should or should not be allowed in public schools. The argument is drawn from the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment. The Board of Directors of the school district of New Hyde, New York held firm to the prayer they wanted to say at the beginning of school which follows: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon thee, and we beg thy blessing upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country” (370 U.S. Sec. 421). This brief prayer is known as the Regent Prayer. Ten student of the public school asked if this prayer was against their beliefs, and those that their parents instilled in them. Their parents felt the prayer was a violation of the First Amendment statement “Congress shall make no law respecting on establishment of religion.” (US First Amendment) The courts of appeal ordered that New York had a right to say the Regent Prayer because it did not compel students to join in on the prayer, and because the prayer was completely optional. This ruling was protected by the rights of the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendments. The parents of those students believe that the Regent Prayer is a violation of the establishment clause. This prayer is seen by government officials as trying to further religious beliefs. The Regent Prayer is viewed by the parents as breaking the constitutional will of separation of church and state. In every court hearing and every Senate or House meeting there seems to be a small prayer said. The state
Some topics in this essay:
Supreme Court,
President Regan,
Park York,
Senate House,
Regent Prayer,
Justice Stewart,
National Anthem,
Hyde York,
Prayer Ten,
Star-Spangled Banner,
separation church,
public school,
public schools,
regent prayer,
supreme court,
government officials,
school system,
engel vs,
vs vitale,
engel vs vitale,
school district hyde,
amendment fourteenth,
dependence thee beg,
public school system,
god acknowledge dependence,
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Approximate Word count = 1311
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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