Milford chronicle., 1948-03-12
Religion Barred
In U. S. Schools
CONTINUED from arst page)

tented groups demanding that
school authorities delete from their
teaching everything Inconsistent
with the groups doctrines.
Jackson cOntended further that
the language was so general that
il might make trouble in teaching
subjects which touch on church
architecture, sacred music, the his
tOrical effect of religious move
ments, the Bible as literature. or
biology with its theory of eVOlu-
tlOn.
He argued also that the court
majority failed to set up any rules
on how far school may go on
religion.
The Champaign plan was attack
ed by Vashti McCOllum, atheist
wife Of a University of Illinois
professor.
She complained that her eldest
son, James Terry McCOllum, now
II years old, was embarrassed -
because he was the only child in
his class not taking religious in
strUctiOn. Illinois courts had de-
MED her plea for an order pro-
hibiting such teaching in the
schools.
Argued Rights Violated
She said it violated her rights
under the first and 14th amend
ments to the Constitution. Those
amendments guarantee religious
freedom and forbid establishment
Of a church by the state. Cham
paign school authorities permit a
local council on religious educa-
tiOn to hold classes in school
buildings once a week. The cOun-
Gil, including representatives of
Protestant, Catholic and Jewish
faiths provides the teachers. 1t
contends the teaching material is
nOn-sectarian.
Attendance is voluntary, upon
written permission of the parents.
The cards the parents sign give a
choice of INSTRUMENTATION, Pro-
testant, Catholic or Jewish teach
ings. Glasses for those groups are
held separately though the record
OF the case shows there have been
no Jewish classes for several
years.
Regular teachers keep attend
ance records, and pupils not TAX
ing religious courses continue with
secular studies.
Justice Black, delivering the main
opinion, held that under the facts
shown the states compulsory edu-
cation system assists and is inte-
grated with the program of relig-
iOus instruction carried on by sep
arate religious sects."
He said pupils legally required
to go to school for secular educa-
tiOn are released from some of that
legal duty on condition that they
attend religious classes. He add
ed:
'eFhis is beyond all question a
utilization Of the tax-established
and unsupported public school
system to aid religious groups to
spread their faith. And it falls
squarely under the ban of the first
amendment (made applicable to the
states by the 14th) ="
Black disagreed with the argu-
ment that the amendments we're in
tended to forbid "Only government
preference of one religion over an
other, not an impartial govern
ment assistance of all religions"
He denied that the ruling was a
manifestation of hostility to re-
ligiOn or religious teachings. He
said the first amendments rests
upon the premise that both relig-
ion and government can best work
to achieve their lofty aims if each
is left free from the other within
its respective sphere"
Reed said the religious classes
were financed and fully regulated
by the religious council and not by
the school board.
Denies Bar TO 'Aid'
He cOntended that, there is no
constitutional bar to such laid" as
religious groups "Obtain as a by
product of organized society" AS
examples he cited the exemption
of churches from taxation, a Su-
preme Court decision permitting
use of public funds for transport
ing pupils to parOchial schools,
and the denOminatiOnal chaplains
who serve Congress and the armed
forces.
Reed agreed that courts could
prohibit in public schools any ex-
ercises involving the ceremonial
practices of sects or groups. He
said Illinois itself had done that,
but he added:
"The prohibition Of enactments
respecting the establishment of re-
ligiOn do not bar every friendly
gesture between church and state.
Devotion to the great prin-
ciple of religious liberty should not
lead us into a rigid Interpretation
of the constitutional guarantee
that conflicts with the accepted
habit Of our people"
Frankfurter pitched his opinion
mostly on a conclusion that the
Champaign arrangement presents
powerful elements of inherent
pressure by the school system in
the interest of religious sects."
The court does not and cannot
now consider other. systems not
before it, Frankfurter said. He held
that some may be approved be-
cause of differing characteristics,
and other disapppOved, but he
wrote this for a rule to go by.
Separation means separation,