gat

Everson v. Board Of Education (1947)
The Supreme Court decision Everson v. Board of Education 330 U.S. 1. (1947) prepared the
dismissal of religion from American public schools. We are hidden by more than a half-century
from the shock and numbness this new doctrine of "separation of church and state" occasioned, a
great bewilderment caused in part by the absence of any hint of such a separation doctrine in the
Declaration, Constitution, or the Bill of Rights.
The Court, which erected the wall of separation, went on to radically change the entire face of
American jurisprudence, establishing firmly a principle which had only operated spottily in the
past, the "judicial review" power which made the judiciary final arbiter of which laws were legal.
No longer could the people’s representatives expect that by working for legislation, their will
would be honored by the courts. A new and higher power had spoken, a power with the ability to
dispense with religion in government facilities, including schools and the towns and villages of
America where public property was concerned.
Everson was no simple coup d’etat, but an act of Counter-Reformation warfare aimed at the
independent and dissenting Protestant-Christian traditions of America. To understand the scope of
this campaign, you have to look at a selection of court decisions to appreciate the range of targets
Everson was intended to hit:
Item: A verbal prayer offered in a school is unconstitutional, even if it is both denominationally
neutral and voluntarily participated in. Engel v. Vitale, 1962; Abington v. Schempp, 1963;
Commissioner of Ed. v. School Committee of Leyden, 1971.
Item: Freedom of speech and press is guaranteed to students unless the topic is religious, at which
time such speech becomes unconstitutional. Stein v. Oshinsky, 1965; Collins v. Chandler Unified
School District, 1981.
Item: If a student prays over lunch, it is unconstitutional for him to pray aloud. Reed v. van
Hoven, 1965.
Item: It is unconstitutional for kindergarten students to recite: "We thank you for the birds that
sing; We thank you [God] for everything," even though the word "God" is not uttered. DeSpain
v. DeKalb County Community School District, 1967.
Item: It is unconstitutional for a war memorial to be erected in the shape of a cross. Lowe v. City
of Eugene, 1969.
Item: It is unconstitutional for students to arrive at school early to hear a student volunteer read
prayers. State Board of Ed. v. Board of Ed. of Netcong, 1970.
Item: It is unconstitutional for a Board of Education to use or refer to the word "God" in any of
Table of Contents
Page 335