Rush Limbaugh has nothing to do with Engel v Vitale, the Red Scare or religions’ proper place in the educational system in the 1960s, but this quote describes exactly what permeated the minds of Americans at the time. It was conservatives against liberals, the United States against the Soviets, religion against secularism, First Amendment activists against anti-Communist crusaders and so on. Freedom from an established religion and the ability to freely exercise any religion of your choosing are cornerstones of American democracy. It has long been debated what exactly constitutes an established religion or what constitutes prohibiting free exercise of religion, but government protest and individualism are also tenants of the American view of
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It is known that the Red Scare had its grip on Capitol Hill, but it also had a hold on the religious and educational systems. The dialogue of subversion permeated the debate over religions’ place in the American educational system. Within this debate is where historiography becomes relevant. As religion cases occurred more frequently, the question of usability of 14th amendment arose. Incorporation is the process by which certain articles of the Bill of Rights are made justifiable and legitimate towards the states. The public, judges, lawyers and activists wanted to know what was meant by “Congress shall make no law.” They wanted to know if the men who crafted the 14th amendment meant for it to apply to the constitutionality of religions’ place in schools. They wanted to know how to define specific words and phrases, such as “establishment” or “free exercise.”
The debate reached a boiling point in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Engel v. Vitale
(1962). The acrimonious tension that had been building between those who wanted to protect 1st amendment rights and those who wanted religion mandated in the education system came to fruition. There had been previous Supreme Court cases that focused on religions’ place in the educational system, but none of the cases had been decided within the context of the early 1960s. The decision made in Engel by the Warren Court produced an extreme response among those who disagreed and the tenacity behind this reaction …show more content…
I will use the Dierenfield book as my most important source in this section. It has been extremely helpful in piecing together missing links and figuring out the proper way to organize the 1950s and early 1960s around Engel. Second will be the reaction to Engel. It would be easy to guess what the RFC, HUAC and the John Birch Society felt and thought in reaction to the decision, but I need to find more primary sources and secondary literature to outline this reaction. I also want to talk about the public’s reaction to the decision, especially in reference to the Cold War undertones (the decline of morals in the American youth, the secularist trend, atheism being congruent with Communism) that surround it. (I know where to find it and what I am looking for, I just have yet to secure these
It is known that the Red Scare had its grip on Capitol Hill, but it also had a hold on the religious and educational systems. The dialogue of subversion permeated the debate over religions’ place in the American educational system. Within this debate is where historiography becomes relevant. As religion cases occurred more frequently, the question of usability of 14th amendment arose. Incorporation is the process by which certain articles of the Bill of Rights are made justifiable and legitimate towards the states. The public, judges, lawyers and activists wanted to know what was meant by “Congress shall make no law.” They wanted to know if the men who crafted the 14th amendment meant for it to apply to the constitutionality of religions’ place in schools. They wanted to know how to define specific words and phrases, such as “establishment” or “free exercise.”
The debate reached a boiling point in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Engel v. Vitale
(1962). The acrimonious tension that had been building between those who wanted to protect 1st amendment rights and those who wanted religion mandated in the education system came to fruition. There had been previous Supreme Court cases that focused on religions’ place in the educational system, but none of the cases had been decided within the context of the early 1960s. The decision made in Engel by the Warren Court produced an extreme response among those who disagreed and the tenacity behind this reaction …show more content…
I will use the Dierenfield book as my most important source in this section. It has been extremely helpful in piecing together missing links and figuring out the proper way to organize the 1950s and early 1960s around Engel. Second will be the reaction to Engel. It would be easy to guess what the RFC, HUAC and the John Birch Society felt and thought in reaction to the decision, but I need to find more primary sources and secondary literature to outline this reaction. I also want to talk about the public’s reaction to the decision, especially in reference to the Cold War undertones (the decline of morals in the American youth, the secularist trend, atheism being congruent with Communism) that surround it. (I know where to find it and what I am looking for, I just have yet to secure these