William
Orville Douglas died JANUARY 19,
1980.
He was a Justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court for 36 years,
after having taught law at Yale
and Columbia University.
In the 1952 case of Zorach v.
Clauson, Justice Douglas wrote:
"The First Amendment, however,
does not say that in every and
all respects there shall be a
separation of Church and
State...Otherwise the state and
religion would be aliens to each
other - hostile, suspicious, and
even unfriendly...
Municipalities would not be
permitted to render police or
fire protection to religious
groups. Policemen who helped
parishioners into their places
of worship would violate the
Constitution. Prayers in our
legislative halls; the appeals
to the Almighty in the messages
of the Chief Executive; the
proclamations making
Thanksgiving Day a holiday; "so
help me God" in our courtroom
oaths - these and all other
references to the Almighty that
run through our laws, our public
rituals, our ceremonies would be
flouting the First Amendment.
A fastidious atheist or agnostic
could even object to the
supplication with which the
Court opens each session: 'God
save the United States and this
Honorable Court...'"
Justice Douglas continued:
"We are a religious people whose
institutions presuppose a
Supreme Being...
When the state encourages
religious instruction...it
follows the best of our
traditions. For it then respects
the religious nature of our
people and accommodates the
public service to their
spiritual needs.
To hold that it may not would be
to find in the Constitution a
requirement that the government
show a callous indifference to
religious groups. That would be
preferring those who believe in
no religion over those who do
believe."
Justice William Douglas
concluded:
"We find no constitutional
requirement which makes it
necessary for government to be
hostile to religion...We cannot
read into the Bill of Rights
such a philosophy of hostility
to religion."
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