Re: Have questions about "Blithe Spirit"
Here's some interesting info concerning the Church/State debate from ACLJ.org:
"The fact is the phrase ?separation of church and state? is not found in the U.S. Constitution ? the framework of our freedom. The ?wall of separation? was first described by Roger Williams, the founder of the Rhode Island colony. A Baptist minister, Williams described the wall that separates the church from government intrusion as being protective, much like the wall that separates a garden from a wilderness. Later, writing to an association of Baptists, Thomas Jefferson used the phrase in 1802 ? more than a decade after Congress drafted the Bill of Rights and sent them to the states for ratification.
The actual provision of the constitution that describes the proper relationship between government and religion is found in the First Amendment, which begins with the phrase ?Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof[.]? Too often, the ?separation of church and state? phrase is allowed to take the place of our actual constitutional provisions.
Consider what Justice Sandra Day O?Connor ? who is often one of the swing votes in church/state cases ? said about the Pledge: ?Certain ceremonial references to God and religion in our Nation are the inevitable consequence of the religious history that gave birth to our founding principles of liberty. It would be ironic indeed if this Court were to wield our constitutional commitment to religious freedom so as to sever our ties to the traditions developed to honor it.? She did not stop there. O?Connor continued: ?It is unsurprising that a Nation founded by religious refugees and dedicated to religious freedom should find references to divinity in its symbols, songs, mottoes, and oaths. Eradicating such references would sever ties to a history that sustains this Nation even today.?
And, then this from Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority: ?As its history illustrates, the Pledge of Allegiance evolved as a common public acknowledgement of the ideals that our flag symbolizes. Its recitation is a patriotic exercise designed to foster national unity and pride in those principles.?
Chief Justice William Rehnquist voiced his support for the Pledge with this conclusion: ?The phrase ?under God? in the Pledge seems, as a historical matter, to sum up the attitude of the Nation?s leaders, and to manifest itself in many of our public observances. Examples of patriotic invocations of God and official acknowledgements of religion?s role in our Nation?s history abound . . . All of these events strongly suggest that our national culture allows public recognition of our Nation?s religious history and character.?
In 1990, the Supreme Court determined that the Equal Access Act ? which was passed by Congress and signed into law by the late President Ronald Reagan in the 1980?s ? applied to students in the public school setting ? clearing the way for them to form Bible clubs and prayer groups on public secondary school campuses.
In an 8-1 decision, the court adopted an argument that I put forward in oral argument: that public secondary schools that receive federal funds and allow non-curriculum related clubs to meet on campus must also allow Bible clubs and prayer groups to meet on campus during non-instructional time. In the words of Justice Sandra Day O?Connor: ?If a state refused to let religious groups use facilities open to others, then it would demonstrate not neutrality but hostility toward religion.? Justice O?Connor also concluded ?there is a crucial difference between government speech endorsing religion, which the Establishment Clause forbids, and private speech endorsing religion, which the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses protect.? (Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, emphasis in original, 1990)"
