Separation of Church and State Border Also Needs Patrol

In Utah’s race for governor, a religious issue has popped up that would likely never come up in other parts of the country because it has to do with religious instruction for children during school hours offered by the Mormon church. As part of a legal program known nationally as “released time,” public school children can legally be pulled from school to attend religious classes during normal school hours. In parts of the country where these programs are offered, they are usually weekly events for 30-60 minutes. In Utah, however, they are daily classes and take an entire class period.

Because these classes are so frequent in Utah, when the Democratic challenger for governor, Peter Corron, a Catholic, outlined an education plan that included additional math and science requirements, the incumbent Republican claimed the plan would stop children from attending released time classes, known as “seminary released time” in Utah.

“Electives you’re going to have to give up in Utah under his proposal are gonna be some arts and probably seminary time,” Gov. Gary Herbert, a Mormon, said. “I don’t know that everybody in Utah’s going to think that’s a good idea to give up art and seminary release time in order to have this more rigorous curriculum.”

Corron’s running mate, Sheryl Allen, a Republican and a Mormon, said, “It’s unfortunate that a religious wedge has been interjected by Gary Herbert, because the discussion is about the future of our children and preparing them for the 21st Century.” She also claimed that the charges are unfounded because there is plenty of room in the school day for what is being proposed without jeopardizing religious classes.

So, what’s this all about?

Released time programs have been around in one form or another since 1914 and grew steadily through the 1940s when the first legal challenge was brought in 1945. The case, McCollum v. Board of Education (Champaign, Ill.), ended up going to the Supreme Court. In an 8-1 decision, the court overturned lower court rulings and declared the program unconstitutional. This program was on school property, during school hours and managed by the public school system.

In another clarifying case in 1952, Zorach v. Clauson, the court ruled that a New York State program was okay because it did not involve public school property or personnel. The court even said the public schools could close if they wanted to in order to allow students to attend voluntarily.

With those rulings behind them, released time programs are still around. Each school district must approve of them independently. They are legally protected as long as they remain totally independent from the public schools system. (Information can be found from the Anti-Defamation League’s website here.)

In Utah, however, there is such a tight connection between these programs and the public schools that the Mormon church has built their own buildings right next to the public schools. And, it’s not only happening in Utah. In Idaho, a new high school just opened with an allowed building put up by the Mormon church next to the school.

In Ft. Wayne, In., they have had to stop a program they have had in place for about 60 years because the classes were held in trailers on school property. The replacement plan is still unfolding, and is an initiative called “Rising Stars Ministry” which will look to take place after school hours. Their plan is to put in place something even more involved, however, increasing it from 30 minutes each week in the previous program to two hours in the new one. “We want to incorporate more in this program than we did in the trailers,” said Sarah Deans Adams, Associated Churches director of educational ministries.

There are several organization around the country promoting these released time programs, including School Ministries, Inc., and Released Time Education, among many others at the national and state levels.

These programs are legal when they keep away from public property, personnel and funding. But the line between church and state is exceedingly tenuous and must be strenuously maintained. You can be sure that the people who run these programs will be looking to cross that line whenever possible and set up camp on the other side. A national border patrol of this boundary is as or even more important than the one between the U.S. and Mexico getting so much attention. This border, however, can be monitored by every one of us, and needs to be watched with vigilance.

Related articles:

1. The First Separation of Church and State in America
2. Top 5 myths of the separation of church and state
3. A Bad Deal: Budget agreement advances school vouchers, trashes church-state separation
4. Jackson: There Is No Separation Of Church And State
5. Amazing Awardees: Americans United Salutes Two Bold Activists for Church-State Separation

Brian Magee hosts Appreciate Your Mind 11 a.m. – noon Saturdays on KNDS, 96.3 FM in Fargo, ND. Stream the show live at www.kndsradio.com, or download podcasts at AppreciateYourMind.podomatic.com. Keep in touch with Brian through the Appreciate Your Mind Facebook page.

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