Yep. Since they passed laws allowing religious schools to get tax money, I can't wait for the Church of Satan to open up a public school in the south. And some Muslim schools to get funding too. Freedom of religion works both ways. America can't just be Christian while saying all religions are OK
Originally Posted by onawbtngr546
You are mischaracterizing the decision in the Maine school case. The decision does not require governments to fund religious schools. It requires that religious schools not be excluded as options for parents who receive a voucher for education of their children. If no parents in the voucher program choose religious schools, then religious schools get no government funding. So go right ahead and open a Satanist school in Mississippi. Good luck getting any parents to send their kid there.
Now if the decisions required actual mandatory public funding of religious schools, I am with you. That would be a violation of the Establishment clause. Giving parents a voucher and allowing them to use it to pay for any school EXCEPT a religious one, OTOH, would seem to violate the Free Exercise clause.
The difference is coercion vs choice. The requirement to allow parents to choose religious schools is a choice on their part to fund that school. It would be no different than a law that states that welfare recipients cannot donate to a church. The money is given to the parents, who then choose where to spend it. Free exercise and that the choice to spend it on religious schooling should not be prohibited.
By contrast, a law that requires tax money to go to religious schools is coercion; tax payers are required to pay taxes to a religious organization. That is precisely what the term “established religion” historically meant. When a jurisdiction has an established church, all residents were required to pay taxes to support that church. Clearly such a requirement regarding forced funding of religious education would be unconstitutional.