Church-State Separation - It's Nothing To Sneeze At

Recently I received this story by e-mail:

They walked in tandem, each of the 93 students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With rich maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they felt. Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and moms freely brushed away tears.

This class would not pray during the commencement - not by choice but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it. The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling.

They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.

The speeches were nice, but they were routine - until the final speech received a standing ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then, it happened. The other 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!!!!

The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said, "GOD BLESS YOU, each and every one of you!" And he walked off-stage.

The audience exploded into applause. The graduating class had found a unique way to invoke God's blessing on their future with or without the court's approval!

Isn't this a wonderful story?

Pass it on to all your friends.

No, it is not a wonderful story - for at least three reasons:

1: The event described violates the clear teaching of Scripture.

In Matthew 6:5-6, our Lord said: "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

2: It glorifies students' disobeying the law, with the encouragement of their parents and other relatives.

The schools of this country, both private and public, ought to teach students to obey the law. The citizens of America are concerned with crime in our cities. No one would want to compare this sneeze episode with the horrendous rape, murder and pillage that are seen on our streets and glorified on TV. They are not of the same magnitude.

But the story illustrates the inclination of many in our society to break the law and impose religion on society by using state-created captive audiences. The schools must teach, at an irreducible minimum, respect for and obedience to the law of the land.

3: The story is correct that the prohibition on commencement prayers in public schools is based on a 1992 Supreme Court decision, Lee v. Weisman.

The opinion was written by Anthony Kennedy, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and is one of the more conservative justices on the Supreme Court. But the decision was not designed to be hostile to religion.

The decision recognized that our society is religiously pluralistic. Not everyone believes in God the same way; some do not believe at all. But they are all Americans. They are all entitled to religious freedom. They are all entitled to not have the government or any instrument of government impose religion upon them.

The sneeze story implies that all the members of the graduating class participated in eliciting the blessing of God. Perhaps so. But that would not always be the case.

Remember that peer pressure in junior high and high school is enormous. Students who may have objections - religiously based objections - to prayer in classrooms or commencements may find it very difficult to express those against the majority.

But, you may say, in this country the majority rules.

Not in constitutional matters.

As justice Robert Jackson eloquently said in 1943 in West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette: "One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections."

The precious concept of religious freedom means that every person in this country is free to practice his or her religion. But the idea of separation of church and state means that one may not use the state as an instrument to practice that religion. And that means that all Americans, including students in public schools, are entitled to not have the government or any agent of government impose religion upon them.

Let us step back from this specific issue to look at a larger principle: the difference between toleration and freedom - toleration of religion and freedom of religion.

We frequently say that the Founders of our nation created a system of toleration of religion. But they did not. They created a system of religious freedom.

What is the difference?

Toleration means that the government regulates the religious situation. It usually means that a particular religion or religious tradition is favored, but others are allowed to exist. The others may even be allowed wide latitude for religious belief and practice. But the concept of toleration still holds the power in the government to determine the religious situation.