Public Dollars Belong in Public Schools Only

Next week is the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, unfortunately I’m feeling a truly long night lasting many years in terms of our government and political trends. Last week the radical right majority of the Supreme Court of the United States showed signs of once again reversing long held precedent to satisfy the demands of the most vocal Republican activists without regard to the consequences. This time the Court heard arguments in the case of Carson v. Makin; the question to be decided is whether the state of Maine is required to subsidize religious education. Based on the questions asked or not asked by the Republican appointed justices the consensus among Court watchers is that they’ll render a decision in favor of your tax dollars being funneled to religious schools.

While some readers may not see a problem with that as they send their children to religious schools and would like the extra funding or the lower tuition that might be available there are sound constitutional reasons for not changing the current state of affairs. The first amendment specifically states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” which given that later amendments made it clear that the constitution applies to state and local laws in addition to those passed by congress means that neither the state of Texas nor a county can favor a particular religion over another. Government funding religious activities or organizations has generally been viewed as a step toward establishing a state religion. Funding religious educational institutions with tax dollars comes under that heading.

Should the Supreme Court, as seems likely, decide that it’s fine for government to subsidize religious education realize that it can’t apply to just Christian schools. This is a case of “be careful what you wish for as you might get it”. Expect schools associated with any and all religions to demand their fair share, so look to Islamic schools asking for and getting the same subsidies. Don’t be surprised if a militant atheist group starts up a school and rightfully demands the same subsidies as well. Those on the radical right will first be stunned, then scream bloody murder that they never meant to subsidize everyone’s religious schools, just their own. I don’t mind eating popcorn while watching Republican heads explode but I’d much prefer that we continue the understanding that Constitution requires neutrality, as the Court held in Everson v. Board of Education (1947), “no tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion.”

The doctrine of “Separation of Church and State” has served this nation well for nearly 250 years and is central to our freedom. Our founders were well familiar with the consequences of religious wars such as Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), which devastated Germany and killed one third of its population. In our lifetimes we’ve seen sectarian violence in both southeastern Europe and the Middle East. Continuing to chip away at that separation as Republicans have for decades will harm us all by adding more friction to the already polarized political situation we now find ourselves in.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - December 15, 2021