THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607260009
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 69 lines
Southern Baptists' reversal on the contentious prayer-in-the-schools issue occurred several years ago. It shows that members of that giant Protestant denomination have short memories.
American Baptists, including Southern Baptists, once fought for strict separation of church and state. They knew how tough life was for Baptists when government compelled citizens to support the Established Church. Baptists' had experience of government favoritism of one religion over others, government persecution of dissenters and government entanglement in religious institutions.
Church-state separation was one of five bedrock principles that distinguished Baptists from other faith traditions. In Baptists' sound original view, government and religion did not mix.
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 31 years ago that government-mandated prayers in public schools violated the free exercise of religion, Southern Baptists were among the mainstream denominations cheering the decision, as they had cheered previous high-court rulings and governmental policies blocking expenditures of public money for parochial-school education.
But now Southern Baptists as a group want public prayer back in classrooms and school assemblies attended by youngsters of scores of nationalities and religions. So what if public prayers in schools offend or discomfort some among the young captives in class or auditorium?
Thus it came to pass last week that Richard Land, head of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Christian Life Commission, testified before the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives for H.J. Resolution 184.
This document proposes a constitutional amendment to ``secure the right of the people to acknowledge and serve God according to the dictates of conscience.'' The amendment would not only bless public prayers in public schools but also pave the way for government funding for religion. Its language is so loose and so confusing that not even its enthusiasts agree upon its meaning in every particular.
The not-so-hidden purpose of this GOP exercise is to bring to the House floor in this presidential election year a mischievous at best, embitteringly divisive at worst resolution that many Democrats would likely vote against. Democrats' nays would provide the Christian Coalition and other conservative pressure groups with a new excuse to depict Democrats as anti-family.
These shenanigans score points with the gullible who trace America's social and moral ills to the ``expulsion of God from the classroom.'' Would that the causes of Americans' woes were so readily pinpointed, and thus simply remedied. But the sources of domestic unease are far more complex.
Mark J. Pelavin of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, one of the religious leaders from a dozen denominations who spoke out against H.J. Resolution 184 from the steps in front of the Supreme Court building, succinctly stated the case against the proposed amendment. ``(It) demeans religion, threatens our most precious rights and distracts American from addressing its most pressing problems.''
That sounds right. Far easier to misdirect public attention with prayer-in-the-school games than to respond thoughtfully, creatively and sympathetically to the common yearning for domestic tranquillity, material betterment, schools that equip the young to thrive as adults in the global economy, a safe and healthy environment, affordable health care and a financially secure old age.
As to the proper relation of church and state, the founding fathers got it right the first time, with Virginia's Thomas Jefferson leading the way. The First Amendment has made the religious freedom the United States enjoys the envy of the world. Zealots should refrain from tampering with the Bill of Rights. For more than 200 years, it has protected the religious practice of every minority from the tyranny of the majority. If left intact, it will do so for another 200 years. by CNB