Do Religious Displays on Public Property Violate the Constitution?

“Some people, however, mistakenly use the word ‘public’ when they really mean ‘governmental.’ This can be seen, for example, with Ten Commandments monuments. The right of churches and families to erect such monuments on their own property is constitutionally protected, regardless of whether it is public or private and regardless of whether someone is offended or not. A Christian cross that is fully visible from a public sidewalk is constitutionally protected when placed in front of a church. But if that same cross were moved across the street and placed in front of city hall, it would violate the Constitution. The issue is not ‘religion in the public square’–as the rhetoric misleadingly suggests–but whether the government should be deciding whose sacred texts and symbols should be placed on government property and whose should be rejected.”

“The Anti-Defamation League believes that the increasing call by private citizens and public officials for the government to post the Ten Commandments in schools, government buildings, courts and other public places–while often well-intentioned–is bad policy and often unconstitutional. Governmental posting of the Ten Commandments can lead to the kind of religious divisions within otherwise harmonious communities that our founding fathers sought to avoid by constitutionally mandating the separation of church and state…

By adhering to the principle and spirit of separation of church and state we best fulfill the Constitution’s legacy of religious liberty for all Americans.”

“The display of a Christian religious symbol such as a Nativity Scene on a city hall front lawn has been held to violate the Establishment Clause on the ground that the display sends a message to non-Christians that their beliefs are not favored in that political community and that they are not full members of that community.

The underlying theory of the Establishment Clause then is that prohibiting the government from taking actions to advance or inhibit religion will serve to protect the religious liberty of all persons, and particularly the liberty of religious minorities. I think that this point is often not fully understood by religious believers, who may see such restrictions as demonstrating hostility to religion. Again it is not hostility to religion, but a structural concern for religious liberty in the United States that prohibits the government from using its power or its funds in any way to advance or inhibit religion. At least this is the theory of our Constitution.”

“Viewed on its face, Texas’ display [a Ten Commandments monument] has no purported connection to God’s role in the formation of Texas or the founding of our Nation; nor does it provide the reasonable observer with any basis to guess that it was erected to honor any individual or organization. The message transmitted by Texas’ chosen display is quite plain: This State endorses the divine code of the ‘Judeo-Christian’ God…

In my judgment, at the very least, the Establishment Clause has created a strong presumption against the display of religious symbols on public property.”

“When government displays a religious symbol without note or comment, it endorses and supports the religious traditions to which the symbol is sacred. In trying to justify by explaining the significance of the religious symbol, government takes sides in any controversies about the meaning and significance of the religious symbol – an endorsement of religion that the Constitution prohibits. Because government can display religious symbols only if it claims a secular purpose and effect, the tendency of its explanation is always to distort and desacralize the religious symbol. The inevitable effect is that government supports only the religion of those who agree with both the meaning of the symbol and the government’s secularized explanation of the symbol. Government puts itself in competition with the religion of all other Americans. The Constitution excludes government from such religious competition – for the protection of believers and nonbelievers alike.”

“I fought in Vietnam and I thought I fought to maintain freedom and yet the cross savers in this city would have us believe all of the veterans’ sacrifices are in vain, that the Constitution is something to be spit on…

The real message is equal treatment under the law, and religious neutrality. That’s the purpose of why I did it. It has nothing to do with me being an atheist. The fact is, the Constitution calls for no preference and that’s why every judge ruled for me.”