Church, state: not always so separate

Jillian Bush- Staff Writer

2/10/12

Despite the revered U.S. principle of separation of church and state, instances of the two institutions mixing still can be found in public schools nationwide. Now more than ever, it seems, U.S. citizens are taking action to remove the vestiges of religion that remain in their public schools.
Last week, the City of New York passed an ordinance that banned church congregations from using public school buildings to worship, after a federal court ruled in 2011 that the gatherings violate the separation of Church and State. As of last year, there were approximately 160 churches meeting in New York City public schools. These churches have less than one week left to vacate the buildings.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Jessica Ahlquist of Cranston, R.I. continues to face ridicule from her community after requesting that her high school remove an eight-foot-tall prayer banner that hangs on the auditorium wall. Though the banner has been hanging there for 49 years and provides, according to residents, a sense of solidarity for students and their families, Ahlquist wanted the prayer removed because she said it made her, as an atheist, feel unwelcome and out of place.
William Jewell College, formerly a Baptist-affiliated school, became unaffiliated in 2003 by severing  ties with the Southern Baptist Convention. Despite its neutrality, the College maintains Christian practices, like weekly Chapel services.
“We’re a private school. That makes us fundamentally different,” Dr. Andrew Pratt, vice president of religious ministries and dean of the Chapel, said. Pratt said he recognizes that though the school is no longer Baptist, it is also not completely secular. Pratt also promotes the right of students to practice whatever religion they choose.
“We [the College] don’t want anyone to feel like they’re second-class citizens if they come here, and they’re not Christian,” Pratt said.
Spencer Allen, first-year, does not practice Christianity but does not oppose the College’s doing so.
“I’m not obligated to attend the [Chapel] service, and it’s not as if the service is invading some public place that I enjoy drinking tea or having lunch. It’s in the Chapel … that’s what it is for,” Allen said.
The ongoing dilemma for Americans seems to be the propensity to interpret the Establishment Clause as exclusively “freedom of” or “freedom from” religion, rather than finding a balance between the two. This balance is something the College strives to achieve.
 “[The College is looking to] be faithful to our own heritage and, at the same time, be a place where all the world religions are welcome and can engage in conversation,” Pratt said.