On Matters of Spirit and the Law : Chapman symposium provides guidance to local officials

Last spring, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had poached into its territory by interpreting the Constitution when it passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993. But the issue that the legislation had raised--the freedom to practice one’s belief without undue interference--remains a powerful current in contemporary society. That it has lost none of its steam is evident in persistent efforts by religious conservatives to lobby for a constitutional amendment along the same lines.

For anyone who has followed the Supreme Court’s rulings on the free exercise clause of the 1st Amendment, one of the most useful documents has been a 1994 guidebook for public schools called “Finding Common Ground: A First Amendment Guide to Religion in Public Education” put together by Charles Haynes, a scholar at the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center in Nashville.

Our schools, after all, are the crossroads of America, a place where each day our pluralistic nation looks at itself in the mirror. Haynes has navigated the tricky waters of church-state separation and the proper role of religion in the schools with skill and insight.

He has provided educators and parents with useful and practical information on the state of the law, and included the clarifying reminder that “First Amendment liberty clauses do not belong only to lawyers and judges; they belong to all of us.”

Orange County was privileged last week to have Haynes in town to conduct a workshop at Chapman University for school officials, teachers and parents, co-sponsored by the Orange County branch of the National Conference. The purpose was to lay out the law on religious freedom, and teach educators that through understanding, respect and education, different faiths could be accommodated in the public schools.

Teams of administrators, teachers, board members and parents attended from the Orange County Board of Education and at least six school districts across the county. The 4th District of the PTA, which covers all of Orange County, endorsed the event and sent a team. There were other delegates from the Anti-Defamation League and the Orange County Human Relations Commission.

Today, school officials are understandably confused about the state of the law and the nuances of Supreme Court pronouncements. The symposium aimed to demystify the law and to make clear that while religion or prayer cannot be mandated, learning about religion is an appropriate part of education.

As the society becomes increasingly diverse, such guidance is necessary. The participants are to be congratulated for their efforts to make this complicated issue understandable.