04 教会与国家分离的含义 What Separation Between Church and State Means

One of the things the United States is known for is a separation between church and state.

But those exact words do not appear in the U. S. Constitution.

Instead, Americans point to a line in the First Amendment that says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

In other words, the U. S. government is not permitted to declare and support a national religion.

In 1971, the Supreme Court sought to clarify this idea in a case called Lemon versus Kurtzman.

Alton Lemon was a teacher in the state of Pennsylvania.

David Kurtzman was a top school official there.

Lemon objected to the state giving money to teachers in Catholic schools, even though those people were teaching non-religious subjects, such as math.

Lemon objected because, in this country, taxpayers support only public schools.

Parents who want their children to go to religious schools pay for that education themselves.