Does Louisiana’s requirement for public schools to post ‘In God We Trust’ in all classrooms violate the doctrine of separation of church and state? A legal scholar weighs in.
Kennedy v. Bremerton, a case about a public school teacher’s prayer, helps close out a Supreme Court term in which religion was often in the spotlight.
At least six states have permitted the study of the Bible in classrooms, which could reignite a 19th-century debate that split US Protestants into liberal and conservative camps.
As the Kentucky Senate considers a bill for school prayer, a scholar explains the violent history of prayer – and a time when Catholic students were sometimes whipped, beaten and worse for not participating.
In the early 19th century Catholics were persecuted for refusing to participate in Protestant Bible reading in schools. In many schools, those opting out of Bible classes are harassed, even today.