Religious legal org pushes back against media claims that Supreme Court wants to ‘promote Christianity’
The First Liberty Institute brings religious freedom cases to the Supreme Court
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Over a month has passed since the Supreme Court ruled on several high-profile religious cases, and media continue to attack the institution as imposing Christianity on the country.
The two cases that gained the most attention were Carson v. Makin and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, both of which dealt with the freedom of religious expression. The Carson ruling allowed tuition assistance programs to be used for religious schools while the Kennedy decision ruled that ex-Bremerton High School football assistant coach Joseph Kennedy maintained the right to say post-game prayers on school grounds. First Liberty Institute, a legal organization dedicated to defending religious liberty, helped defend both cases as they headed to the Supreme Court.
Although some media outlets claimed that these decisions forced Christianity onto Americans, First Liberty Institute President Kelly Shackelford disputed this to Fox News Digital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The statements afterwards, the Muslim groups, Jewish groups, many of them said, ‘Hey, this provides freedom for us, too,’" Shackelford said.
Religious activists pray outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on November 6, 2013. (Getty Images)
After the decisions were rendered, Shackelford praised the justices for returning to the original constitutional design.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"What is happening is the court is going back to the words of the Constitution. There are some old cases that didn’t follow the Constitution, they kind of made things up, and I think that those are being abandoned as cases because they’re going back to what the Constitution says, not to what some judge said 50 years ago that’s not based on the words of the Constitution," Shackelford said.
While Shackelford argued that the decision is a return to the Constitution, several liberal figures, including ones in the media, have claimed otherwise.
Rep. Susan Wild, D-Penn., compared the Kennedy ruling to Taliban rule, insisting this "is what happens in theocracies." Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin tweeted out in June that the Carson decision was "prime Christian Nationalist stuff." As recently as last week, a Politico essay insisted that the Supreme Court is determined to "promote Christianity" and "end separation of church and state."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy answers questions after his legal case, Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District, was argued before the Supreme Court April 25, 2022 in Washington, DC. Kennedy was terminated from his job by Bremerton public school officials in 2015 after refusing to stop his on-field prayers after football games. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
In light of Democrats and media pundits slamming these and other Supreme Court decisions, Shackelford noted that people have often "used the courts for their political goals."
"They feel like if freedom is allowed, the next thing you know, it’ll lead to concentration camps," he added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shackelford explained, "Of course, that’s not how it works. The more freedom you have, the more freedom everyone has. It’s an irrational fear that leads to clamping down on people’s freedoms and the willingness to give up your own freedom so much just so somebody else doesn’t have it."
He also criticized those who continue to push "separation of church and state" as a constitutional doctrine despite not being written into the actual Constitution.
"This is sort of the extreme. Separation of church and state has nothing to do with a religious entity. That has to do with 'Let’s just ban religion in public. Let’s ban it anywhere there’s any government.' So they misuse the term horribly. The term might have some meaning, but it’s not in the Constitution. The Constitution’s about not establishing religion," Shackelford said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Demonstrators gather outside the Supreme Court June 24 (Fox News Digital/Lisa Bennatan)
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court decisions, Shackelford predicted "a lot of clean up," reporting that cases are already citing the justices’ opinions in defense of religious freedom. However, he expected some to continue to challenge what they believe is forcing religion in government spaces.
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"They either haven’t read the law and the decisions or they just have an agenda and want to push things in a different direction," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shackelford remained optimistic, though, saying, "Most Americans now have more religious freedom than they’ve ever had in a lifetime."