Biennial Update: Is America Abandoning Church-State Separation?

Melissa Rogers

America is standing at a crossroads when it comes to the role religion plays in government and the role government plays in religion.  From statements of faith made on the campaign trail, to the numerous court cases tackling complicated questions about the relationship between church and state, to legislation which seeks to infuse public life with religion, it seems as though we are all asking ourselves one question: “Is America Abandoning Church-State Separation?”

At the URJ Biennial today, a panel discussion will be asking this question along with 250 members of the Reform Movement.  The session will be moderated by Judge David Davidson, a former National Labor Relations Board judge and the former Chair (and a current active member) of the Commission on Social Action.  On the panel are three esteemed scholars and activists who work each and every day to preserve and defend the separation of church and state.  Melissa Rogers, Congressman Jerrold “Jerry” Nadler, and the RAC’s own Mark Pelavin will speak on various topics in the current church-state dialogue and answer questions posed by those in the audience.

Speaking to the importance of the judiciary in many church-state discussions is Melissa Rogers, the current director of the Center for Religion and Public Affairs at Wake Forest University Divinity School.  As the former executive director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and general counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, her expertise was in high demand when President Obama appointed her to serve as chair of his inaugural Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  Melissa will highlight key current Supreme Court cases, as well as a handful of other high level court cases.  She will also focus much of her time on threats to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, on which she has written extensively.

Also presenting in this session is Congressman Jerrold “Jerry” Nadler (NY-8).  Rep. Nadler served as the Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties from 2007-2010 and is currently the Ranking Democrat on that Subcommittee.  Congressman Nadler will discuss the deeply partisan and polarized situation on Capitol Hill and focus attention on the religious right and the Tea Party.

Mark Pelavin, the Associate Director of the Religious Action Center and an expert on church-state issues, is one of the Jewish community’s leading legislative strategists and senior lobbyists.  During this discussion, Mark will speak of the stake the Jewish community holds in current church-state rhetoric and the need for the Jewish community to adamantly oppose those who wish take down the wall of separation between church and state.  Mark often points to the Jewish community’s historical experience of religious persecution as a primary directive for the Jewish commitment to preserving the separation of church and state.

This panel discussion aims to yield a new understanding of current issues in the church-state arena and reinforce the Jewish commitment to defending the Constitution’s guarantees of religious freedom.  For more information on this important issue, please take advantage of this article from the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty detailing the top religious liberty stories of 2011, please visit the RAC’s Church-State Separation issue page, or contact me.