“I think the establishment of a religion is deadly. Faith is only really vital and relevant when it is able to stand on its own. It becomes small and trivial when it becomes an arm of the government,” said Tom Currie, dean of Union Presbyterian Seminary – Charlotte campus in a recent statement to The Charlotte Observer.
Currie’s statement is in response to a controversial bill filed by Republican legislators in North Carolina Monday seeking to establish Christianity as the official state religion.
Rep. Carl Ford, a Republican from China Grove, and Salisbury Republican Rep. Harry Warren filed the measure this week as a means to counter a lawsuit that seeks to end Rowan county commissioners’ habit of opening meetings with explicitly Christian prayers. Nine other Republicans have since signed on to the proposal, backing the establishment of a state religion in the Tar Heel State.
The resolution could have far-reaching consequences, potentially leading to a clash between the state and the federal government.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” North Carolina representatives argue that the First Amendment prohibition doesn’t apply to states, counties or towns. The proposed bill asks the legislature to adopt a resolution supporting their right to set up their own religious laws.
“Each state in the union is sovereign and may independently determine how that state may make laws respecting an establishment of religion,” the proposal reads.
Ford believes that his proposal isn’t about establishing a state religion and is merely about the right to pray. “We’re not starting a church. We’re not starting a religion. We’re supporting the county commissioners in their freedom of speech,” Ford said.
“There’s no question that any attempt to establish an official state religion is blatantly unconstitutional. That’s true whether it’s North Carolina or the federal government,” said Michael Keegan, president of the liberal People For the American Way foundation. “Our nation was founded on the premise that church and state both benefit from a clear ‘wall of separation.’ ”
Since Thomas Jefferson declared that government should build a wall of separation between church and state, the U.S. Supreme Court has typically restricted public practice of religion, including a ban on mandatory prayer in public schools. Two key cases — Engel v. Vitale (1962) and Abington School District v. Schempp (1963) helped establish the current prohibition on mandatory prayer in schools.
Even Franklin Graham, an Evangelist minister, believes it would be wrong to establish an official state religion, but maintained that political leaders should be able to lead voluntary prayers before meetings.
Later, in 1992, the Supreme Court case, Lee v. Weisman, found that public officials cannot offer prayers at public events, a clear precedent that critics believe should invalidate the current North Carolina bill being debated.