Religion In The Constitution A Delicate Balance

Religion in the Constitution, a Delicate Balance

A Delicate Balance

Focusing on current legal issues in church, state, and school relations, this book examines four critical areas in the controversies surrounding the respective rights of public education and religious education; it then addresses the issues of state aid to and governmental regulation of parochial schools. Court opinions about religious observances and activities in public schools include decisions regarding Bible reading and prayer, the uses of religious holidays and symbols, the religious content of graduation exercises, and the distribution of religious literature in public schools. The author further examines the judicial balancing between the constitutional protections of religious exercise and the government's requirements for compulsory schooling and mandated areas of curriculum. The legal challenges offered to public school curricula are also analyzed, including efforts to introduce the teaching of creationism and to censor instructional materials in public schools. Finally, the book addresses the problems in the relationship of the states and parochial schools by noting the judicial interpretations (both federal and state) regarding the various forms of aid to parochial schools--transportation aid, loans for services, tax relief for parents of parochial school students--and discusses the lawsuits and decisions relevant to the question of the state's authority to regulate parochial schools and home education programs. (JW)

Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States Restoring Religious Freedom