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Show Straight T alk Practical and Moral Issues ' ' - ' , , This is ths fifth m a series of tight artistes sponsored by Snow College and the Utah Endowment for the Humanities. The articles are being used by students at Snow as discussion material for a Philosophy class. The public is invited to attend these discussions free of charge on Thursday evenings at 7.10 p.m. in the Little Theater in the Noyes Building. These articles will precede the discussions by one weeh. CHURCH AND STATE An Introduction to the Issues v By Roger C. Baker i To say that the issue of the relationship between church and state is complex is an understatement. Thu example should illustrate: In April of 1966, at oral pleadings before the United States Supreme Court in a case involving prayer in the public schools. Chief Justice Earl Warren asked a question of one of the attorneys: What are the reasons," the Chief Justice asked, "behind the school boards adoption of the prayer? " The school's attorney indicated that the prayer was adopted to promote "belief in the morals, ethics, and virtues traditional in American life. The Justice noted, You shy away from the use of the word 'religion'." The attorney replied, "I don t want the court to be left with the impression that the purpose was to teach religion. This exchange is enough to confuse anyone. Is a prayer designed to teach ethics and virtues and not teach religion? Is a prayer really intended to teach anything? The attorney must have thought that if a prayer was designed to teach religion it would be found unconstitutional. The separation issue is further complicated by the vigor with which opponents rally support for their views. This vigor often polarizes the issues when exact views are not productive. Madalyn Murray O'Hair, who has helped bring separation issues to the courts has identified the issues as follows: 1. The 1971 decision of the Congress to extend the copyright on Mary Baker Eddys religious book. 2. Religious services in the White House, including prayer breakfasts. S. The executive order designating the week of April SO as prayer week. 4. The tax exempt status of organizations like the Boy Scouts and the Veterans ofForeign Wars which have as one of their tenets a belief or faith in God. 5. "In God We Trust as the national motto which was adopted in 1956. 6. 7. 8. The statement "Under God" which was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. The statement "So Help Me God" required for oaths for many public offices and to secure a passport. Paid religious holidays for government employees such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. It seems that in looking at the possible relationships of church and state and the relationship that exists in the United States at the present time, that the real issues may be more profound than Ms. OHair has proposed. Her examples may not be constitutionally relevant. Some definitions and historical perspectives may help identify the real DEFINITION OF TERMS The issue of church and state is obscured by its very name. Church and State are both just two of many social institutions in a society. Both are theoretical concepts. The state cannot be described as a government or a church or as a labor union can be described. The state is not a government and it is not a society. The state is defined as people organized under government. This organization is only one particular organization among many. The state then is simply a manifestation of social life. It does not embrace all of the communities activities. The church is a social organization also and there are basic differences between the church and the state as social institutions. Everyone residing in the United States is a member of the same state under our definition, yet religion in the United States is pluralistic. People choose wjth which religion to affiliate. There is no such choice ' J in the matter of state. The issue is furthejf., complicated because each individual is a member of the state and can also be a member of a religious institution. For this reason, we are talking about two relationships. One is a relationship of two institutions and the other is the relationship of two aspects of an individual person's life or two aspects of the lives of all citizens. f WHAT THE CONSTITUTION SAYS Alexis de Tocqueville, who was one of Europes most famous observers of America, noted the following: "There is no nation in the world in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence over in the United States, religion the souls of men than in America exercises but little influence over the laws and details of public opinion, but it directs the manners of the community and by regulating domestic life it regulates the state. This is an insightful observation, especially when one considers the Constitution as it was originally drafted. In this document there is but one reference to religion. That is contained in Article VI and is this: "the Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all Executive and Judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. This reference seems very slight in light of de Tocqueville's observation. When the religious temperament of the Constitution's authors and the religious problems in the colonies are considered, the reference seems even slighter. This can be clarified by looking at the status of the American Colonies toward religious liberty in 1775: ... l. 2. There was one colony, Rhode Island, which had complete separation of church and state. There were three colonies (New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania), that had no established church at all. However, all colonies, with the exception of Rhode Island had laws unfavorable to Catholics and , , H ESTIMATES on all Electrical Contracting For Your ELECTRICAL NEEDS DIAL 529-749- Political theorists list eight alternatives when discussing the possible relationship between church and state. None of these alternatives really exist in their pure form, but are really theoretical constructs. The eight include: 1. Pure theocracy, 2. Total separation, 3. Mixed theocracy, 4. Total indentification, 5. Total conflict, 6. Erastianism, 7. Totalitarianism, 8. Partial separation. Without detailed discussion but in reviewing these alternatives, the obvious model for the United States is a Partial separation. The foregoing examples of churchstate cooperation indicate that this will be the only separation achieved under our present system. There are simply areas where church and state choose to cooperate in our system. There are other examples where they are antagonistic and still others where a "wall of separation exists. Madalyn Murray O'Hair has outlined issued that dont seem central in the context of the past. Here are some issues that seem broader: Since the state is not in the business of establishing a religion, or prohibiting religious practices, perhaps it is only fair to look at the other side of the issue and ask if the church is in effect trying to establish a state or prohibit political practices. Viewing the problem from this stance raises a legitimate, philosophical issue. This means that since the Constitution prohibits the United States from making a law about a religion and that this power is then reserved to the states or to the people. It is interesting to note that it was constitutional at this point in the history of the United States, for a state to make a law respecting an establishment of religion or regulating the free exercise of religion. In 1864 the National Reform Association asked for a constitutional amendment to name Jesus Christ as King of the United States. Article XIV adopted in 1868 makes the separation principle generally applicable to the states. Issue Issue 1 can be answered using a Utilitarian defense as John Stuart Mill did in his essay on Liberty. Churches should be able to lobby the federal government as long as this lobbying does not involve the exercise of coercion, for silencing the churches' right to speak would have the following consequences: Iftiie opinion promoted by the church is correct, then the government is deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for trutlif the opinion is wrong, the government would lose what is almost as gTeat a benefit and that is the clearer perception of truth produced by its collision with error. THE WALL OF SEPARATION The first significant Supreme Court test of the separation principle ' occurred in 1878 with a Mormon polygamy case called the Reynold's Case. The Supreme Court in this instance declared the practice of polygamy illegal. The first major decision involving the church and the state with respect to education occurred in 1947, 150 years after the framing of the Constitution. The 1947 Everson Case involved the state of New Jersey and the transportation of school children to various schools at taxpayers expense. A taxpayer brought suit against the state because some of the students were being transported to parochial or church schools. The court ruled that bus rides could be given to students attending parochial schools just the same as roads could be provided and health service be provided without regard to religion. The bus ride simply did not violate the separation principle. Justice Black, in rendering this opinion, reached back to a metaphor proposed by Thomas Jefferson in his writings. Jefferson wrote that, "A wall of separation between church and state is the appropriate interpretation of the separation principle. In support of this principle, when he became President, Jefferson refused to proclaim Fast, Prayer, or Thanksgiving Days on grounds of the unconstitutionality of the practice and as a matter of personal principle. "I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from meddling in the religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises. This results not only from the provision that no law shall be made respecting the establishment of free exercise of religion, but from that also which reserves to the states the powers not delegated to the United States. Certainly no power to proscribe any religious exercise, or to assume authority in religious discipline, had been delegated to the general government . . . Fasting and prayer are religious exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline . . . civil powers alone have been given to the President of the United States and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents." Modem presidents do not share Jefferson's reluctance. Justice Black, in his opinion in the Everson Case, elaborated on the metaphor saying that the wall must be kept "high and impregnable." The metaphor is unfortunate. There is no wall of separation between former Utah State A Representative, Vocational Viewpoints: message In addressing the second issue it is first only fair to indicate that there is a school of thought which claims that values cannot be taught. Those supporting this would say that the acquiring of values is simply a process and that the valuing process can be taught but not values themselves. If one agrees that values can be taught, then it seems there is only one other question to ask, that is, is religion a discipline like any other discipline such as political science or economics? If the answer to this question is yes, then religion and its accompanying values could be incorporated into the curriculum just as any other discipline is in a public institution. If the answer to the question is no, then religion could obviously not be taught as a discipline, but the values espoused in religion would have to be infused into the existing curriculum. In either case, the question still remains, which values then should be taught by a public institution? In this question lies the real issue of church and state. In this question we are asking what we want our future society and future generations to be. For what a generation values determines the quality of life, the moral traditions, the type of government and the laws that will be made. Time spent discussing this question then is certainly more productive than the discussion of Madalyn OHair's religious issues and would in fact answer the issues she's raised along with the issues being considered now in the courts regarding aid to parochial, schools and school credit for classes in religion. By Appointment Only 7 for A State and community attitudes, and skills necessary for persons to be productive and hold a job, for without a job in our society you are nothing." One other responsibility is to retrain and update the skills of the present work force, the former legislator maintains. New technology makes it necessary for workers to constantly update their skills or learn new in ones case technological advances displace them from their jobs. The pays training dividends, Washburn maintains, because people who work support every aspect of a community. They become taxpayers and contributors to community functions. It is far better to spend dollars for training people in skills necessary to hold a job than in any other government program, he contends. Report of Condition of Utah Independent Bank of Salina, Utah business on December 31, 1978. at close of ASSETS Cash and due from depository institutions (from Schedule C, item 6) All other securities Federal funds sold and securities purchased under agreements to resell a. Loans, Total (excluding unearned income) (from schedule A, item 10) . 1,436,000.00 B. Less: Allowance for possible loan losses 2,000.00 c. Loans, Net Bank premises, furniture and fixtures, and other assets representing bank premises , Real estate owned other than bank premises TOTAL ASSETS (sum of items 1 thru 11) 1. 5. 6. 9. 10. 250,000.00 14,000.00 400,000.00 1,434,000.00 86,000.00 58,000.00 2,242,000.00 LIABILITIES 13. 14. 16. 18. 19. Demand deposits of individuals, partnerships, and corporations (from Schedule F, item 1, col. A) Time and savings deposits of individuals, partnerships, and corporations (from Schedule F, item 1, cols. B&C) Deposits of States and political subdivisions in the United States (from Schedule F, item 3, cols. ABC) Certified and officers checks ( from Schedule F, item 5, col. A ) Total Deposits a. Total demand deposits (from Schedule F, item 6, col. A) b. Total time and savings deposits (from Schedule F, item 6, cols. B&C) 22. 24. 548,000.00 783,000.00 350,000.00 12,000.00 1,693,000.00 560,000.00 1,133,000.00 Mortgage indebtedness and liability for capitalized leases TOTAL LIABILITIES (excluding subordinated notes and debentures) (sum of items 19 thru 23) 67,000.00 1,760,000.00 EQUITY CAPITAL 26. 27. Common Stock: a. No. shares authrzd. 1,000 b. No. shares outstdg. Surplus Undivided profits and reserve tor contingencies and other capital reserves 1,000-250.0-0 28. 29. par value. TOTAL EQUITY CAPITAL sum ot items 26 thru 29) :il. TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY CAPITAL (sum of Hems 24. 25, and 30) 250,000.00 200,000.00 32,000.00 .10. 482,000.00 2,242,000.00 MEMORANDA 2. ,ni(iunts outstanding as of report date: Hme certificates of deposit in denominations of $100,000or more Average for 30 calendar days i or calendar month) ending with report date: a. Total deposits (corresponds to item 19 above) 350,000.00 1,693,000.00 bank, do I, Mike Shaw, Cashier of the above-name- d hereby declare that this report of condition has been prepared in conformance with the instructions issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the State Banking Authority and is true to the best of right on target," said ding to Mayor Nay. We feel this program my knowledge and belief. who added, Mayor Nay the site should be com- - furnishing water lines to the local homes pleted somewhere around directly an businesses will be March 15. a years The geothermal initiated within commen-under development initially will time, the mayor be the placement of the ted. drilling rig and permanent Drinking During drilling site; installing a test pump; laying of pipe from the well site to the women who drink even tru31 correct, South Sevier High School, moderale amounts of north of the present- aC0h0i during pregnancy proposed site; placement may deliver babies with of a heat exchanger on physical and behavioral school property and then abnormalities. - According retrofitting the present j0 y,e National Institute of Abuse high school internal lines to ACOhol and accept geothermal hot water supply. This one phase of retrofitting should seves t0 no more than two ,st'AL In Monroe A USA 1st A $1.5 million geothermal development will be unor on immediately derway after Feb. 1 making the City of Monroe the first community in the U.S. to have geothermal energy a city municipality, The development is being initiated on the property of Karl Mecham (Monroe Hot Springs) at an elevation of approximately 5,300 feet. The well to be drilled by Sweetwater Drilling Co. of Sweetwater, Wyo. will go level, down to a 1,500-fothe same as the original test well, to reach the magma strata. I The permanent drilling site well is expected to bring in geothermal hot take approximately ot rregnancy six mixed drinks f mfimnediaiely after the or two WinC STATE OF UTAH, Department of Financial Institutions: y C.B. Quinn, Chief Examiner, do hereby certify that the I, is completed, high is a true and correct copy of the statements of . . foregoing Terra under Tek, the city bank, filed in this office on January 24, on fur- - We .i ten pardon those the above-name- d work will Inc. begin i cannot we 1979. but bore us, who lines identical pipe fromUie test well site was nishing whom we 164 degrees Farenheit. directly to the com- - pardon those C.B. QUINN bore. and "The program for the munitys businesses Chief Examiner La Rochefoucauld- accorresidential is areas, geothermal development yh1 SAUNA, UTAH Page Consolidated Geothermal Heating Inspections Oimlly $35 s Legislators. In the article, Washburn maintains that the state has the primary responsibility for vocational training and to provide the necessary educational programs to meet the needs of the society we serve. The educational system must meet three primary human needs, Washburn writes: basic training in reading, writing and math, experience for individuals to develop good citizenship 2 Since the wall of spearation between church and state is not high and impregnable and, in fact, there are areas of cooperation, the question seems to be: What values or ethics as defined by religion can or ought to be promoted by public institutions? Another way to ask this question is to say: What can a school teach about religion or what values can a school promote? Wash-bum- article is titled . Issue issue of the national journal of the 55,000 member American Vocational Association. 1 What power or direction can legally and appropriately be exerted by a church or establishment of religion to influence the affairs of government? Some clarification is needed. The constitutional provision protects the church from the state by saying that the government can make no law respecting establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercies thereof. However, there is no such protection of the government from the institutions of religion who seek to persuade, lobby if you will, for religious and moral legislation. These words make the Bill of Rights (the First Ten Amendments) applicable to states as well as to the national government. ,'j 1 Utah? January "VocEd, 12. "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Call 529-703- 2 LICENSED Dewain C. Washburn, director of Sevier Valley Tech in Richfield, is the author of an article in the 7. THE ISSUES 'Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states respectively or to the people." SORENSEN ELECTRIC 29 East 'Mailt. Salina. THE ALTERNATIVES These two phrases are responsible for conflicting litigation and certainly more diatribe than dialogue. The statement certainly represents a compromise. Remember there was only one colony, Massachusetts, in which witches were hung, and only one colony, Rhode Island, which adopted a formal principle of separation. Between these two extremes someplace is the compromise found in the Constitution. Article X of the Constitution designates where the authority lies to establish religion. It says: Tht Prica Is Right BONDED AND ST(ATE COOPERATION There are areas, where the church and the state have established cooperative relationships that have avoided serious Constitutional challenge. One is the area of tax exemption. It has been a long standing practice, although sometimes challenged, to exempt churches from taxes except when the church is actually engaged in a business operation. Another area of cooperation is draft immunity for divinity students, clergy and conscientious objectors. This has been a practice through all major arme 1 conflicts of the United States, even during severe manpower shortages during the World Wars. Another area involving the military is the fact that government salaries are paid to clergymen to act as Chaplains for the armed forces. Not only does the armed forces have this service, but there is a Senate Chaplain and a House Chaplain in the national congress. Tax support for church related social welfare agencies is a well established cooperative venture between an establishment of religion and the state. Churches operate orphanages, hospitals, adoption services and many other services that promote the general welfare, and they often receive tax monies for these services. The final area of cooperation is what many regard as ceremonial. This ceremonial relationship institutionalizes the motto "In God We Trust on the coins, the "So Help Me God" at the end of many oaths, the "prayer breakfasts that are sponsored by the White House, the days of fasting and Thanksgiving declared by the President by official proclamation, and daily prayers offered in the Senate and House of Representatives. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise therof." 1 All work Qwaratrtdl CHURCH ... FARM- - COMMERCIAL - HOME Beautiful Lighting Fixtures, Commardat Wiring and Supp'ie at Discount Meat! te church and state in United States ss can be seen by simply listing the areas where church and state cooperate. 5. No. 2 (February) 1. 1979, Author In VocEd 3 There were three colonies that lud congressional church establishments. These were Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. 4. There were six colonies that had legal Anglican (Church of England) establishments. In the case of New York this amounted to no establishment at all, but the others were Maryland, Virginia, the Carolines and Georgia. , In these instances, the term "establishment of religion", was used when the state assumed some taxing authority which generally led to the support of the church. Further insight into the context of the Constitution can be gained by looking at the religious climate at the time. Some estimates say that in 1775, nowhere in the colonies was church membership in excels of 55 of the population. One estimate even puts New England Church membership at only None of the first four Presidents of the United States belonged to an establishment of a religion or a church. Jefferson and Adams were to some degree deists. With folklore to the contrary, the views of Washington are not even known precisely. Jefferson claims, based on information from Govemeur Morris, that the first President was not a Christian, and it is true that he refrained from references to Christianity even though his closing address to the nation asked this blessing upon the people. I shall carry to my grave . . . unceasing vows that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence." Washington also noted in this address, "With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits and political principles, when speaking to the nation. Further clarification is in his same address. "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity. Religion and Morality are indispensable supports . . . it is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of let us with caution indulge the supposition, popular government that morality can be maintained without religion." After drafting the Constitution it became apparent that the document would not be ratified by the states unless amended with a Bill of Rights. This is where the separation principle is elaborated. Article I, or Amendment 1 says: S. BE UP TO TDDflYlS UVIT1G FREE ill THE SUN, February -- |