On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute President Provides Staunton School Board with Analysis, Guidelines on Weekday Religious Education
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Responding to recent reports that the Staunton (Va.) School Board is re-evaluating the future of its Weekday Religious Education program after some parents raised objections that religious studies should not be done during school hours, The Rutherford Institute has provided members of the school board with a constitutional analysis and guidelines for such programs. Weekday Religious Education (WRE), a longstanding program in the Staunton schools and elsewhere, provides for students to be allowed to leave school for a specified amount of time in order to receive non-denominational religious instruction."As the U. S. Supreme Court, federal courts of all levels and state courts nationwide have ruled, a public school program allowing pupils to be excused for the purpose of receiving religious education does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "In fact, such programs are wholly consistent with the First Amendment and this nation's religious heritage. Therefore, far from being illegal, Staunton's Weekday Religious Education program is in the best tradition of cooperation between the state institutions and the people represented by those institutions."
Staunton's Weekday Religious Education program, which has been in existence for over 50 years, enjoys overwhelming public support from local residents, as evidenced by resident turnout at recent meetings to discuss the issue. However, in addition to complaints from some parents about the school allowing for off-site religious instruction, school officials have also cited an increasingly diverse population with varied religious beliefs and the need to meet new state and federal education requirements as reasons for possibly doing away with the WRE programs. As Whitehead urged Staunton School Board Members in his memorandum, "Any claims that Staunton's Weekday Religious Education program is constitutionally suspect must be rejected and should play no part in the Board's decision to continue the program." Whitehead concluded his memorandum by quoting from Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas in his 1952 ruling in Zorach v. Clausen:
We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being. We guarantee the freedom to worship as one chooses. We make room for a wide variety of beliefs and creeds as the spiritual needs of man deem necessary. We sponsor an attitude on the part of government that shows no partiality to any one group and lets each flourish according to the zeal of its adherents and the appeal of its dogma.
The Rutherford Institute's guidelines for Weekday Religious Education programs are available online here (PDF).
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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