Separation of Religion and State

What is JAC's Position?

A true democracy must have laws that reflect and celebrate the diverse nature of its population. Our Founding Fathers believed that our nation should not be comprised of a national religion, nor should its government show preference or persecution based upon religious ideology. JAC is committed to the viewpoint that separation of religion and state strengthens religious freedom and has allowed expression of all beliefs to flourish.

Religion-State issues can be divided into two categories. The first is government funding of religion — which includes school vouchers and charitable choice. The second is government promotion of religion — which includes prayer in schools and other public venues and posting of the ten commandments and other sectarian symbols in or around government buildings.

JAC's view, like that of many Jewish organizations, is that school vouchers may threaten religious liberties. Since eighty-five percent of all private schools are religiously affiliated, and three out of five private school students attend Roman Catholic schools, vouchers would require all Americans to contribute to the religious operations that run private schools. These schools can also set their own criteria for who can attend, forcing taxpayers to pay for schools that might not accept their own children.

An area we watch carefully is the social services provided by faith-based organizations that receive US funds. While faith-based organizations such as Jewish Federation and Catholic Charities have long provided social services with government assistance, the services themselves have been non-sectarian and provided, for the most part, in non-religious settings without religious messages, without religious discrimination, and with other appropriate safeguards. As long as these safeguards are in place, JAC supports the current approach of government aid to faith-based organizations.

Recent attempts by right-wing politicians to codify legislation based on their personal religious views are very concerning. Laws like the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage as between one man and one woman, have been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court because they impose a group's religious beliefs upon the entire society. Additional attempts to define life as beginning at conception —the concept of "personhood"—which would eliminate the option of abortion altogether and outlaw many forms of contraception, work to erode the definitive barrier between Religion and State that has defined this country since its founding. Attempts by national retail institutions to impose strict religious doctrine on their employees while enjoying benefits afforded to those same companies in the free market are anathema to the concept of Separation.

JAC believes that our country is at its strongest when all religions are free to practice, but their ideological premises are kept separate from basic civil laws.