To address this matter on the bible further let us examine some court cases.
The Supreme Court decided to get into the act back in 1878. Using the Jefferson’s concept of “separation of church and state” it first became a part of the Establishment Clause in Reynolds v. U.S., 98 U.S. 145 (1878).
In the First Amendment it reads, an establishment of religion” is the Establishment Clause. And the free exercise thereof, is the Free Exercise Clause.
The court In that case explored the history of religious liberty in the US, deciding that while the constitution guarantees religious freedom, “The word (religion) is not defined in the Constitution. We must go elsewhere, therefore, to ascertain its meaning.
Their area to go to was the history of the times in the midst of which the provision was adopted. The best place to have gone to would probably have been a dictionary.
The First Amendment says nothing about (separation of church and state) the Supreme Court has applied all of the freedoms of the First Amendment to the states and thus to public schools through the 14th Amendment.
14th Amendment (1868)
Using Section 1, “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” Not sure how that affects teaching aspects about the bible in public schools.
American Court Battles Over Separation
- 1947, first case concerning separation of church and state; supporting busing for children to private religious schools and declaring that states were required to provide the same guarantees of religious freedom as the federal government.
- 1948, banning religious instruction in public schools
- 1952, allowing religious instruction off school property during regular school hours
- 1962, banning teacher-led prayer from public schools
- 1963, banning Bible-reading and the recital of the Lord’s Prayer in public schools
- 1973, allowing state funding for textbooks and teachers’ salaries in religious schools; creating the Lemon test
- 1987, declared the Creation Act invalid, which had mandated the teaching of Creation if Evolution was taught
- 1989, banning religious displays depicting only one religion
- 1992, banning prayers given by clergy as a part of an official public school graduation ceremony.
States have the right to hold a convention on Supreme Court Judges. With a three quarter decision they can limit the amount a judge can sit on the Supreme Court, let’s say 8 or 10 years. This way a judge not following the Constitution will be gone when there court time is up.
There should be no Justice known as a liberal or coming up with decisions other than what the Constitution says. The Constitution in some areas it seems doesn’t go far enough in explaining a situation as possible many think, but that was for a reason and a Justice shouldn’t come up with what she or he thinks the Constitution meant.
Right now there are 5 conservative Supreme Court judges and 4 liberal judges, although chief Justice Roberts is questionable.