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The Tennessee Conservative [By David Seal]-
Over the past decade, the United States Supreme Court has decided multiple cases that support the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, but the message is not filtering down to the local policy makers concerning religious expression.
Jefferson County is proposing a partial solution to this problem.
As a result of misinterpretation of court cases, ignorance of the Tennessee Constitution Article I, Section 3, and a misunderstanding of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, certain school board members are afraid to recite a prayer to open their meetings and school administrators are reluctant to allow students to freely express their religion by reading aloud religious text within the school setting.
Fear of violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment is what gives progressive school administrators and their liberal attorneys heartburn.
Much of the cannon of school policy on religious expression is based on unfounded fear of lawsuits, mainly threats of lawsuits from progressive non-profit organizations that are anti-religious. These groups subscribe to the false narrative of “separation of church and state.”
In Jefferson County, a long-outdated case, Coles v. Cleveland Board of Education (1999), is used to perpetuate a policy of keeping prayer out of school board meetings.
A new standard test for violations of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment has emerged in two prominent cases. The first of which is Greece v. Galloway, a 2014 case in which Justice Anthony Kennedy stated for the majority: “Legislative bodies do not engage in impermissible coercion merely by exposing constituents to prayer they would rather not hear and in which they need not participate.” The key word is coercion.
More recently, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022) essentially overturned the “Lemmon Test” of “entanglement” which was a staple of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s approach in determining violations of the Establishment Clause. The new standard is called the “coercion test” established in Kennedy, a much more objective test.
Pursuant to the new doctrine of religious freedom established by the United States Supreme Court, and the continued confusion of public officials over the constitutional rights of free expression of religion in the U.S. Constitution and Tennessee Constitution, the Jefferson County Commission is asking the Tennessee General Assembly to enact two simple things.
- Codify a school board’s right to recite a non-coercive personal prayer to open their meetings; and
- Codify the right of students in Tennessee’s public schools to recite a passage of religious text for up to one minute over the school building public address system
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
The relevant text of the Tennessee Constitution, Article I, Section 3 reads as follows: “That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience; that no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any minister against his consent; that no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience; and that no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.”
For a WORD template of the Jefferson County Religious Freedom Resolution, which openly requests that it be adopted by other county CLB’s civic groups, and school boards, a copy can be found at the link provided HERE.
About the Author: David Seal is a retired Jefferson County educator, recognized artist, local businessman, 917 Society Volunteer, and past Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He has also served Jefferson County as a County Commissioner and is a citizen lobbyist for the people on issues such as eminent domain, property rights, education, and broadband accessibility on the state level. David is also a 2024 winner of The Tennessee Conservative Flame Award & has received an accolade from the Institute For Justice for successfully lobbing the TN legislature to protect property rights. David can be reached at david@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
Good, except that lucifer’s Islam needs excluded.
I’m sorry. I just can’t wrap my head around the legality of this and what the outcome might be like if enacted. Either you open up whatever religious activity one might be compelled to do at any time or, you don’t do anything. How can anyone say that “a student may recite a passage of religious text within school hours at public schools in Tennessee. Such code should provide as follows; a period of no more than one minute shall be provided during each school day for a student to recite the passage over the school building public address system. In the case of failure, or absence of a working public address system, the student shall be permitted to recite the passage in-person to an assembly of students.” How is this NOT coercive? And, will a Muslim be able to do this? How about Scientology? How about any other religion than Christian? And, what would constitute a legitimate religion? I think you’re all asking for trouble. Look above at Dwayne’s response. Even he has an objection. You just can’t have it both ways. Pray privately, at home or, have a moment of silence.