Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1195_g314.pdf
Page Number: 67.0

6 

ESPINOZA v. MONTANA DEPT. OF REVENUE 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

designed to “ ‘induce religious faith.’ ”  Locke, 540 U. S., at 
716, 721.  That kind of program simply cannot be likened to
Missouri’s decision to exclude a church school from apply-
ing for a grant to resurface its playground.
  The  Court  in  Locke  recognized  that  the  study  of  devo-
tional theology can be “akin to a religious calling as well as
an  academic  pursuit.”  Id.,  at  721.    Indeed,  “the  shaping,
through primary education, of the next generation’s minds
and spirits” may be as critical as training for the ministry,
which itself, after all, is but one of the activities necessary
to  help  assure  a  religion’s  survival.    Zelman  v.  Simmons-
Harris, 536 U. S. 639, 725 (2002) (BREYER, J., dissenting). 
That is why many faith leaders emphasize the central role 
of  schools  in  their  religious  missions.    See,  e.g.,  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  Resolution  on  the  Importance  of 
Christ-Centered Education (2014) (underscoring the power 
of Christian schools to “win students to salvation through
evangelism,  make  disciples,  and  foster  spiritual  develop-
ment”); The Holy See, John Paul II, Catechesi Tradendae
¶69 (Oct. 16, 1979) (explaining that “the underlying reason 
for” the Catholic school “is precisely the quality of the reli-
gious  instruction  integrated  into  the  education  of  the  pu-
pils”).  It is why at least some teachers at religious schools
see  their  work  as  a  form  of  ministry.  See, e.g.,  Hosanna-
Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 
565  U. S.  171,  192  (2012).    And  petitioners  have  testified 
that it is a “major reason” why they chose religious schools 
for  their  children.  App.  to  Pet.  for  Cert.  152  (the  school 
teaches “the same Christian values that I teach at home”).
Nothing in the Constitution discourages this type of in-
struction.  To the contrary, the Free Exercise Clause draws
upon a history that places great value upon the freedom of
parents to teach their children the tenets of their faith.  Cf. 
Wisconsin  v.  Yoder,  406  U. S.  205,  213–214  (1972).    The 
leading figures of America’s Enlightenment followed in the 
footsteps of those who, after the English civil wars, came to