The Irrelevance of Church-State Separation in the Twenty-First Century
![handle is hein.journals/syrlr69 and id is 35 raw text is:
THE IRRELEVANCE OF CHURCH-STATE
SEPARATION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Steven K Greent
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ............................. ..... 27
I. BACKGROUND .................................... 32
II. SEPARATIONISM'S MODERN ADOPTION .............. 48
III. SEPARATIONISM IN TRANSITION ................... 50
A. The Demise of Separationism ............ ..... 55
B. The Consequences of Separationism's Demise........62
CONCLUSION............. .................. .... 67
INTRODUCTION
Few jurisprudential theories have had a greater transformative im-
pact on American law and culture than the maxim of separation of church
and state. Few constitutional theories have experienced such a compara-
ble longevity, as well. Even though the Supreme Court first identified
church-state separation as a principle undergirding the Religion Clauses
in 1879,1 in 1947 the modem Court made it an operative legal theorem.2
That year, in Everson v. Board ofEducation, Justice Hugo Black wrote:
The establishment of religion clause of the First Amendment means
at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a
church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions,
or prefer one religion over another.... In the words of [Thomas] Jef-
ferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended
to erect a wall of separation between Church and State.3
The Court's embrace of church-state separation in Everson was nei-
ther novel nor a sport; indeed, historians and legal and religious scholars
had been promoting the principle for decades.4 The nation's leading
t Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law and Director, Center for Religion, Law and Democ-
racy, Willamette University. Earlier versions of this article were presented at conferences in
2016 sponsored by Claremont Graduate University and the Religion and Law Section of the
American Academy of Religion.
1. Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145, 164 (1879).
2. Everson v. Bd. of Educ., 330 U.S. 1, 16-18 (1947).
3. Id. at 15-16 (citing Reynolds, 98 U.S. at 164).
4. See An Unamerican Appointment, 57 CHUsTmI CENTURY 34,38-40 (1940); Threats
to Religious Liberty, 56 CHRusTIAN CENTuRY 790, 790-91 (1939); Vatican Appointment
Draws Protestant Fire, 57 CHRISTIAN CENTURY 66,69 (1940).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/syrlr69&div=6&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Irrelevance of Church-State Separation in the Twenty-First Century
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