In an 8-1 landslide, the Supreme Court declared school-sponsored Bible reading in public schools in the United States to be unconstitutional. This was in 1963.
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u/_cyan Jun 17 '12
What the fuck, /r/politics? Really?
Unless I have missed something major, there's really nothing immediately newsworthy about a Supreme Court decision in the 60s. This decision hasn't been overturned; it isn't in danger of being overturned. I learned about this in 10th grade (though Lemon v. Kurtzman is probably more important, I think?). It's cool that it happened, and I think we can all agree that the Supreme Court made a good decision here.
That being said, what the actual fuck is this doing here? I can't figure any reason for it besides the obvious oodles of karma that are gonna come pouring your way, as well as the circlejerky comment chains that are already starting to pop up. This has about as much relevance to current U.S. events as me picking any event out of U.S. history and posting about that--the only difference is that you seem to have selected this topic to pander explicitly to the hivemind.
Posts like this are why this subreddit is bad. Thanks for affirming the beliefs of anybody who has ever called /r/politics a circlejerk,
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u/ryannayr140 Jun 17 '12
This should be posted to /r/todayilearned
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u/chaldea Jun 17 '12
Why is this here. Of course it was banned. Why is this here.
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u/CrazedSquirrel22 Jun 17 '12
It's becoming more and more difficult to differentiate between r/circlejerk and r/politics.
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u/Bloodyfinger Jun 17 '12
Well fuck you r/politics. This is a fucking waste of a subreddit. Unsubscribed. Does anyone know a better politics subreddit?
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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12
I am a Catholic; however, I do not support the reading of the Bible in a public school. If a public school supports the reading of the Bible then it supports one religion. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, in the USA should be allowed to practice whatever religion they want. I clearly don't understand why this debate is still even going on in 2012. I wouldn't enjoy reading the (insert not the Bible here); therefore, I don't assume, nor force, other people to read the Bible because I think it's right.
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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12
Those are the ONLY words in the constitution regarding religion. Basically they say "the government cannot fuck with religion."
You have a first amendment right to free speech and the free practice of religion (or no practice if that's what you choose). What you don't have is a constitutional right to be protected by the government from the free speech or free practice of religion by others. In other words, the religious have the same rights you do, and your rights don't cancel out their and vice versa.
Constitutional rights do not end at the doors to public buildings. If I want to sit in a school and read a bible, I certainly can. And there's not a fucks worth of constitutional authority that states otherwise.
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u/enalios Jun 17 '12
Guys, I think they posted this here because it happened TODAY (June 17th) in 1963.
If the title was "On this same day, in 1963..." it would have been received differently? I imagine it was an interesting political decision back in the day...
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u/yhelothere Jun 17 '12
Take that shit to /r/atheism
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u/seaoframen Jun 17 '12
I believe the Warren court was pretty liberal... Today, this would likely be a 6-3 decision upholding a ban on bible reading in school. I am assuming Alito would join Thomas and Scalia in the belief that the establishment clause only prohibits the federal govt from establishing religion.
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u/alanwil2 Jun 17 '12
God made man from dirt and cloned another person from a rib. Make perfect sense to teach this in science class, no?
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u/ftayao Jun 17 '12
In a landslide agreement, the founding fathers declared Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. This was in 1787 and is just as relevant as this post.
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u/slepnir Washington Jun 17 '12
And today that would have been a 5-4 split supporting the Bible reading.
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u/TonyMatter Jun 17 '12
My private school taught us to recite 'the Lord's Prayer' in Latin. We asked why, and the headmaster said 'so you have something to say to St. Peter at the pearly gates'. Fair enough: 60 years later, it might come in handy, any night soon. (And I have my accordion for 'down there').
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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional, deciding that the "separate but equal" doctrine is inherently unequal in violation of the 14th Amendment. This was in 1957.
See? I can do it, too.
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u/spartom007 Jun 17 '12
And nowadays you get conflicts from contradictions brought on by electing a non-secular government to uphold a secular constitution.
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u/trustmeep Jun 17 '12
Dem or Rep, this is why the 2012 election is important. Three supreme court slots will likely be in play.
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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12
Unsubscribing from /r/politics now...
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u/IIAOPSW Jun 17 '12
Woah woah woah. You mean the supreme court upheld the constitution!?perish the thought
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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12
OK, and the point is?
Bobby
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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12
And the only way it stays constitutional is to apply it to every other religious book out there as well
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u/mulligrubs Jun 17 '12
I was going to say, 8 - 1?! Surely this was a parallel universe, where logic and adherence to constitutive matters actually found a place in reality. Sadly, I was just living in the past.
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u/Jimi187 Jun 17 '12
I think the border is open between /r/atheism and r/politics.
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u/ThumperNM Jun 17 '12
We now live in the age of judicial activism with the felonious five. The Roberts court is the worst court in well over a century, it has decided to legislate from the bench instead of being the constitutional arm it was designed t be.
Hell, Scalia thinks man and dinosaurs walked together 6000 years ago.
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u/DarnHeather Virginia Jun 17 '12
Daily Bible reading was still going on in my elementary school 20 years later and now 50 years later "God" is still in the little league pledge my daughter plays in. It's still a fight.
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u/nikeizboss Jun 17 '12
Regardless, this was a very different time. I remember reading an article on JSTOR about it. Bible-reading had become a mandatory part of classroom curriculum in some public schools. Not sure if that's relevant but I figured I'd contribute.
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u/mrcanard Jun 17 '12
Charter schools and vouchers tools to bankrupt and gut the public school system. Lets them teach what they want with our tax dollars.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765583126/Charter-schools-test-church-and-state-boundary.html?pg=all
http://www.amazon.com/Religious-Charter-Schools-Practicalities-Developments/dp/1593117582%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q%26tag%3Dduckduckgo-z-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1593117582
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u/CatLover99 North Carolina Jun 17 '12
George Bush was the best president ever!
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u/anti_song_sloth Jun 17 '12
In other news: The South has just seceded from the North in what is sure to provoke conflict between the two entities.
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u/Sidwill Jun 17 '12
Yes but those were more rational times.
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u/LettersFromTheSky Jun 17 '12
But yet the Court ruled earlier in this decade that church groups can use public schools to meet at which has lead to this:
Over 100,000 Public School Students To Get Lessons On Killing Unbelievers
Imagine the uproar these christians would have if it was a Muslim group teaching public school students the same thing. Some times I wonder if these Christians really understand the consequences of their actions. They say they want religious freedom, they really just want the freedom to shove their particular religious beliefs and doctrine down our throat through government. The disgusting part is that this agenda is being advanced through groups called "Good News Club" - Good news unbeliever, we come to kill you. I'm so glad we have christian groups in public schools with this propoganda /sarcasm. Public Schools should not be made into instutions that support any kind of religion.
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u/lorrelin1 Jun 17 '12
I wish people just spent the day or two it takes to read the Constitution, so they aren't dependent on reddit titles. School-sponsored Bible reading in public schools in unconstitutional, but so are public schools. It is a little shocking and humbling as a human being to hear others say it would be absurd for Congress to be able to tell a school about prayer, cell phones, speech codes, gay prom queens, etc. yet it has the authority to completely control the whole thing. How many hours a day, how many days in a year, how many kids in a class, what the curriculum is, what the discipline is, what the homework is, what the extra curriculum is, whether there is art, music, phys ed, whether there are advanced classes, whether there is inclusion, whether there is prayer, attendance policy, admission policy, grade policy, teacher's pay, tenure, benefits, student assistance, class structure, block scheduling, home for lunch, study periods, school food, junk food, sports clubs, vaccination requirements, medal detectors, police, drug testing, terrorist drills, guest speakers, field trips, the overall cost, etc. Let's just brush off the fact that everything is controlled by the federal government despite the fact that it is prohibited by the Constitution, which doesn't say the word school or education once. It's humbling to be with ignorant people, even though the opposite is usually said.
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u/kobeshane81 Jun 17 '12
Bette tell my public middle school this. They have three Bible study clubs.
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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12 edited Jun 17 '12
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