We the People, Pay for Religion?

The separation of church and state is a vital protection guaranteed by the Constitution

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Part one of a separation of church and state series

Amid everything else that happened this summer, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case, Carson v. Makin, that requires the state of Maine to fund religious education at private religious schools as part of its tuition assistance program. Let’s unpack what that means for the separation of church and state.

Case: Carson v. Makin involved a challenge to a state law implementing a mandate under Maine’s state Constitution that the state provide free public education for children living within the state. Maine is very rural, with sparse populations in certain parts of the state. Because of that, a number of school districts were unable to maintain their own public schools. In order to provide state-mandated free public education, the law allowed these rural districts to either:

• (1) contract with a public school in another district or approved private school, or

• (2) ) pay tuition for a student to attend another public or approved private school.

To be approved, the law required that a school be nonsectarian (meaning non-religious). Maine’s law was designed to ensure that children received an education that was roughly the same as they would receive in public school.

Two families challenged the law and argued the exclusion of schools that provide religious instruction violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses.

What I Predicted: In October 2021, I wrote for The Atlantic about this case, discussing that SCOTUS’s rule could set a new precedent for how taxpayer dollars are used to fund religious education. The First Amendment is “squishy” and does not offer clear answers on whether the government can make laws “respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” I argued that, with the composition of this Court, America’s long-standing separation of church and state would go by the wayside if the Court mandated the use of public education funds to teach Christian and Biblical world views.

Outcome: The Court held that Maine’s tuition assistance program violates the Free Exercise Clause because the requirement that schools be nonsectarian excluded other schools on the basis of religious exercise. The Court than providing the equivalent of public school education – the program provided a general benefit that allowed parents to choose where to send their children to school. Therefore, if Maine utilizes a tuition assistance program for children in rural areas, it must provide tuition for both nonsectarian and sectarian schools.

Impact: Maine can either halt its program entirely or Maine taxpayers’ money must now go toward teaching kids Christianity. The decision undermines the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits laws “respecting an establishment of religion.” The Court ignore the Establishment Clause in order to adopt an extreme and unprecedented view of the Free Exercise Clause.

Reality: According to Pew Research Center, most Americans oppose declaring Christianity (or any other religion) as the official faith of the U.S. With the blatant disregard for decades-old constitutional principles, the separation of church and state may soon be void.

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Follow the Facts,

KW