[blindchristian] FW: BreakPoint Daily: Trinity Lutheran before the Supreme Court
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- Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 11:50:08 -0500
V. E. Gilkerson
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Subject: BreakPoint Daily: Trinity Lutheran before the Supreme Court
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BreakPoint Daily
april 27, 2017
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Trinity Lutheran before the Supreme Court
Used Tires, Playgrounds, and Religious Discrimination
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JOHN STONESTREET
with roberto rivera
Okay, so government cannot establish religion. We get that. But can it
discriminate against religion? We'll find out.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in what David
French, over at the National Review called “the most important case about
recycled tires in American legal history.”
Now French was, of course, being facetious. As he made clear, while the case
did involve recycled tires, the critical thing is its potential impact on
religious freedom.
The basic facts of the case, Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, are as follows:
Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Missouri, operates a licensed pre-school
and day-care facility. Its facilities include the type of playground that you
and I played on as kids. In other words, scrapes, bruises, broken bones, and,
perhaps, a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Fortunately, or so it seemed for Trinity Lutheran, the state of Missouri has a
program which provides “funds for qualifying organizations to purchase recycled
tires to resurface playgrounds.”
Trinity Lutheran applied for such a grant and seemed to have easily met the
qualifications. I say “seemed,” because it was then informed that such a grant
would, in Trinity’s case, violate a provision in Missouri’s state constitution
that “no money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or
indirectly, in aid of any church, section or denomination of religion.”
The provision is one of 36 so-called “Blaine Amendments” in state
constitutions. These amendments were originally aimed at Catholic schools and
were born of the now-incredible belief that the public schools were a principal
instrument in safeguarding America’s Protestant Christian character.
I know, ironic.
The church sued the state government, claiming that this kind of singling out
of churches violated the free exercise of religion. After all, whatever else
the free exercise of religion means, it should, at a minimum, mean that you
can’t be denied a government benefit available to similar organizations solely
on account of your religion.
Case closed, right? Well, unfortunately, no. The First Amendment reads
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Thus while Trinity Lutheran argued the
“prohibiting the free exercise thereof” part, the state emphasized the “no law
respecting an establishment of religion” part.
If you’re wondering how protecting kids from scrapes and broken bones
constitutes “an establishment of religion,” well, welcome to the tortured world
of establishment clause jurisprudence. The late justice Scalia wrote that the
cases involving Christmas displays required “scrutiny more commonly associated
with interior decorators than with the judiciary.”
While I can only speculate what Scalia would have made of this case, it was
clear from oral arguments that the majority of the court was skeptical of
Missouri’s claim that protecting kids on a playground constitutes an
establishment of religion.
If there was a theme to most of the questions, it was just how “extreme,” to
use David French’s word, Blaine amendments like Missouri’s are. Justice Breyer
asked the lawyer defending the law if, under the constitution, a city could
deny fire and police to places of worship while providing it for everyone else.
The reply was a hedged semi-“yes.”
While it’s always risky to predict the outcome based on oral arguments, French
is right when he predicts that Trinity Lutheran will win.
Actually, it already has. Missouri’s new governor has announced a change in the
policy that will permit Trinity Lutheran to apply for the grant. But Missouri’s
Blaine Amendment, and three dozen similar provisions across the country, still
stand.
So while the Court could declare the case moot, let’s pray that it decides the
case in a way that deals a major blow to laws like Missouri’s across the
country. Because the damage done by them to religious freedom is a lot worse
than just skinned knees.
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Trinity Lutheran before the Supreme Court: Used Tires, Playgrounds, and
Religious Discrimination
To read more about the case of Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, click on the
link below. And as John suggested, pray that the Supreme Court’s decision will
be one that reflects and protects the value of our religious freedom heritage.
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In Trinity Lutheran, One Question Exposed Missouri’s Historical Hostility to
Religion
David French | National Review | April 19, 2017
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