Accommodationism in the United States is a judicial interpretation of accommodationism which espouses that "the government may support or endorse religious establishments as long as it treats all religions equally and does not show preferential treatment."[1] Accommodationists espouse the view that "religious individuals, and/or religious entities may be accommodated by government in regard to such things as free exercise rights, access to government programs and facilities, and religious expression."[2]
Accommodationists hold that religion "has beneficial consequences for human behavior; that is, religion provides a transcendent basis for morality and provides limits for the scope of political conflict".[3] They teach that religion "combines an objective, nonarbitrary basis for public morality with respect for the dignity and autonomy of each individual" and thus "balances the need for public order with a respect for individual liberty".[3]
In his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, General George Washington acknowledged a day of "fasting, humiliation and prayer" proclaimed by the Continental Congress to be held on Thursday, May 6, 1779. To enable his soldiers to observe the day, Washington ordered a one-day cessation of recreation and "unnecessary labor".
The accommodationist perspective emphasizes rather that the First Amendment was clearly not intended to be antireligious--indeed, as already suggested, it was drafted precisely to protect the various religious practices of the states, including preferential establishments in some of them. Accommodationists therefore reinterpret the First Amendment to make of religious liberty a positive right, the exercise of which is to be encouraged by the government. By the same token, they believe that the First Amendment excludes only the direct establishment of, or preferential treatment for, a particular religion.[8]
The sects that exist in the United States are innumerable. They all differ in respect to the worship which is due to the Creator; but they all agree in respect to the duties which are due from man to man.... Moreover, all the sects of the United States are comprised within the great unity of Christianity, and Christian morality is everywhere the same.... Christianity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent; the consequence is ... that every principle of the moral world is fixed and determinate, although the political world is abandoned to the debates and experiments of men." (Tocqueville 1945, 314- 15; emphasis added).[3]
In light of this broad consensus, many political scientists have noted that religion legitimizes political authority.[3] Accommodationism also opines that "there is a common set of religiously based morals" with values such as "chastity, honesty, charity, and frugality [which are] ultimately regarded as having a religious basis, but are common to virtually all religious traditions".[9]
Richard John Neuhaus likewise stated that religion provides a "sacred canopy" under which political activity can occur, stating:[3]
Politics derives its directions from the ethos, from the cultural sensibilities that are the context of political action. The cultural context is shaped by our moral judgments and intuitions about how the world and how it ought to be. Again, for the great majority of Americans such moral judgments and intuitions are inseparable from religious belief. Perhaps this is true not just of the majority but of all of us, whether or not we call our ultimate values religious. In any event, whether it is called the Judeo-Christian ethic, or Christianity,... it is the dynamic of religion that holds the promise of binding together [religare] a nation in a way that may more nearly approximate civitas (1984, 60).[3]
In light of what accommodationists see as the ethical dimension of religion, especially that of the Judeo-Christian tradition, in the United States "accommodationists tend to take a very narrow view of the establishment clause, arguing that this clause only requires nonpreferentialism".[3]
A quarter dollar with the United States' official motto "In God We Trust" on the obverse side
Accommodationism advocates providing aid to parochial schools, school vouchers that provide tax credit for private/parochial schools, as well as nonsectarian school prayer, as long as these policies apply equally to all religious institutions and individuals.[3] In contrast to those advocating laicity, accommodationists view the expression of one's religious faith in the public sphere as a human right, such as the wearing of a cross necklace or headcovering, for example.[10][4]
In the United States, religious-based federal holidays and observances, including the National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving, as well as Christmas, exist based on accommodationist principles.[11] Accommodationism also is seen in the national anthem since 1931, in the Pledge of Allegiance since 1954, and in the official motto of the United States since 1956, In God We Trust, as well as in the judicial oath So help me God as early as 1789.[11]
When the state encourages religious instruction or cooperates with religious authorities by adjusting the schedule of public events to sectarian needs, it follows the best of our traditions. For it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to their spiritual needs.
In McGowan v. Maryland (1961) and Braunfeld v. Brown (1961) the Supreme Court did not accommodate the religious observance of Sabbatarians. They found that Sunday closing laws had a legitimate secular purpose despite their origin in Christian tradition. The secular interest in a common day of rest met the deferential standard of review applied to the legislation.[17] Two years after Braunfeld, the Court decided in Sherbert v. Verner (1963) that the Free Exercise Clause required accommodation for religious observances or practices when generally applicable laws imposed a penalty or burden on religious liberty absent a compelling state interest.[18]
Other cases relevant to the development of accommodationist jurisprudence are:
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws respecting an establishment of religion; prohibiting the free exercise of religion; or abridging the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the freedom of assembly, or the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.
Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971), was a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. The court ruled in an 8–0 decision that Pennsylvania's Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Education Act from 1968 was unconstitutional and in an 8–1 decision that Rhode Island's 1969 Salary Supplement Act was unconstitutional, violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The act allowed the Superintendent of Public Schools to reimburse private schools for the salaries of teachers who taught in these private elementary schools from public textbooks and with public instructional materials.
Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools, due to violation of the First Amendment. The ruling has been the subject of intense debate.
"Separation of church and state" is a metaphor paraphrased from Thomas Jefferson and used by others in discussions of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".
Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that applied the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to state law. Before this decision, the clause, which states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion", imposed limits only on the federal government, while many states continued to grant certain religious denominations legislative or effective privileges.
In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause together read:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...
The Free Exercise Clause accompanies the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause together read:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002), was a 5–4 decision of the United States Supreme Court that upheld an Ohio program that used school vouchers. The Court decided that the program did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as long as parents using the program were allowed to choose among a range of secular and religious schools.
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States has been criticized on several grounds. Its use in government funded schools has been the most controversial, as critics contend that a government-sanctioned endorsement of religion violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Arguments against the pledge include that the pledge itself is incompatible with democracy and freedom, that it is a form of nationalistic indoctrination, that pledges of allegiance are features of current and former totalitarian states such as Nazi Germany, and that the pledge was written to sell flags.
In the United States public school system, released time or release time is time set aside during school hours, typically an hour a day or a week, for students to voluntary receive off-campus private religious education. There were challenges, but the concept was upheld and a defined implementation resulted, blocking hostility to religious instruction for these students whose parents approved, permitting accommodation yet precluded public funding.
McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203 (1948), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case related to the power of a state to use its tax-supported public school system to aid religious instruction. The case was a test of the separation of church and state with respect to education.
Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940), is a landmark court decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that the First Amendment's federal protection of religious free exercise incorporates via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applies to state governments too.
Braunfeld v. Brown, 366 U.S. 599 (1961), was a landmark case on the issue of religious and economic liberty decided by the United States Supreme Court. In a 6–3 decision, the Court held that a Pennsylvania blue law forbidding the sale of various retail products on Sunday was not an unconstitutional interference with religion as described in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306 (1952), was a release time case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a school district to allow students to leave the public school for part of the day to receive off-site religious instruction did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Social conservatism in the United States is a political ideology focused on the preservation of traditional values and beliefs. It focuses on a concern with moral and social values which proponents of the ideology see as degraded in modern society by liberalism. In the United States, one of the largest forces of social conservatism is the Christian right.
Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette, 515 U.S. 753 (1995), is a United States Supreme Court case that focused on First Amendment rights and the Establishment Clause. Vincent Pinette, an active member of the Ku Klux Klan in Columbus, Ohio, wanted to place an unattended cross on the lawn of the Capitol Square during the 1993 Christmas season. Pinette and his fellow members of the KKK submitted their request. The advisory board originally denied this request. However, Pinette and the other members of the Ohio Chapter of the Klan fought this decision in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The court found in favor of the Klan and the advisory board issued the permit. The Board appealed to the United States Court of Appeals, which affirmed the decision of the district court. The board made one last petition to the Supreme Court where the decision was made, by a vote of seven to two, that the Klan was permitted to display the cross at the public forum.
School prayer in the United States if organized by the school is largely banned from public elementary, middle and high schools by a series of Supreme Court decisions since 1962. Students may pray privately, and join religious clubs in after-school hours. Public schools, such as local school districts, are banned from conducting religious observances such as prayer. Private and parochial schools are not covered by these rulings, nor are colleges and universities. Elementary and secondary schools are covered because students are required to attend, and are considered more at risk from official pressure than are older students and adults. The Constitutional basis for this prohibition is the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which requires that:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...
McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U.S. 618 (1978), was a United States Supreme Court case that struck down the last remaining state restriction against religious ministers holding elected office.
Vincent Phillip Muñoz is an American political scientist. He is the Tocqueville Professor in the Department of Political Science and Concurrent Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of two books on the principles of the American Founding focusing on religious liberty and the separation of church and state in the United States.
In law and philosophy, accommodationism is the co-existence of religion with rationalism or irreligion. It may be applied to government practice or to society more broadly. Accommodationist policies are common in liberal democracies as a method of guaranteeing freedom of religion, and these policies may include options for religious education, official recognition of certain religious practices, and tolerance of religious expression in public spaces. It contrasts with separationist secularism and fundamentalism.
↑ Ravitch, Frank S. (2007). Masters of Illusion: The Supreme Court and the Religion Clauses. NYU Press. p.87. ISBN9780814775851.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Wilcox, Clyde; Jelen, Ted G. (16 September 2016). Public Attitudes Toward Church and State. Taylor & Francis. pp.20, 100. ISBN9781315485478.
1 2 Nussbaum, Martha (11 July 2010). "Veiled Threats?". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2017. On the whole, the accommodationist position has been dominant in U. S. law and public culture ─ ever since George Washington wrote a famous letter to the Quakers explaining that he would not require them to serve in the military because the "conscientious scruples of all men" deserve the greatest "delicacy and tenderness."
↑ Nussbaum, Martha C. (24 April 2012). The New Religious Intolerance. Harvard University Press. p.76. ISBN9780674065918.
↑ Studies in Political Economy, Issues 19-21. Carleton University Graphic Services. 1986. p.97. Shortly after Independence, George Washington offered an influential statement of the accommodationist position in a letter he wrote to the Quakers, apropos of their refusal to perform military service (1789)...
↑ The Writings of George Washington, from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799. Vol.14. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1779. p.369.
1 2 Noll, Mark A.; Harlow, Luke E. (13 September 2007). Religion and American Politics: From the Colonial Period to the Present. Oxford University Press. p.82. ISBN9780198043164.
1 2 Drakeman, Donald L. (1 January 1991). Church-state Constitutional Issues: Making Sense of the Establishment Clause. Greenwood Press. ISBN9780313276637.
↑ Wald, Kenneth D.; Calhoun-Brown, Allison (16 August 2010). Religion and Politics in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp.80–85. ISBN9781442201538.
↑ Banks, Christopher P.; Blakeman, John C. (13 July 2012). The U.S. Supreme Court and New Federalism: From the Rehnquist to the Roberts Court. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p.176. ISBN9781442218581.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
