The Supreme Court is taking a wrecking ball to the wall between church and state

[Nevilledog]

https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/8/13/23822822/supreme-court-establishment-clause-church-state-separation-carson-bremerton

Last June, a previously obscure Oklahoma state board voted to allow two Roman Catholic dioceses to operate a charter school in that state. Lawyers from several civil rights organizations, including the ACLU, responded just over a month later with a lawsuit alleging that this state-funded religious school violates the state constitution.

This challenge to the religious charter school, known as St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, should be a slam-dunk — at least assuming that the allegations in the lawsuit are correct.

Charter schools are public entities funded by state tax revenue. Among other things, the complaint points to a provision of the Oklahoma Constitution which provides that public education funds may not be “used for any other purpose than the support and maintenance of common schools for the equal benefit of all the people of the State.” And several school policies described in the complaint indicate that St. Isidore does not intend to operate for the equal benefit of all students.

According to the lawsuit, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, one of the two dioceses that plans to operate this school, has a policy of expelling students who “intentionally or knowingly” express “disagreement with Catholic faith and morals.” This includes a rule that “‘advocating for, or expressing same-sex attractions ... is not permitted’ for students,” and also a rule providing that a student who “reject[s] his or her own body” by beginning a gender transition “will be ‘choosing not to remain enrolled.’”

*snip*

[BOSSHOG]

1. Tear that wall down

And then turn loose the assessors. We will then find out what organized religion really values. The number one goal of the Catholic Church is to make money. The Pope will shit a brick when he sees the tax bill his greedy American bishops ran up.

[former9thward]

21. I am sure practicing Catholic Joe Biden will get right on that.

[BOSSHOG]

22. The separation and tax exemption go hand in hand

State stays out of Churchs business, Churchs stay out of state business. But Churchs don’t want that. They want to codify religious beliefs in to public law, spend tax exempt money to do it and maintain their tax exempt status. President Biden wants church and state both to abide for the benefit of both. But many Christian’s insisting this is a Christian nation makes such arrangement untenable.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. It's a Supreme Court that includes three improperly placed conservative judges.

Future generations will make it their mission to correct their decision.

[slightlv]

11. Not to mention being overwhelming conservative Catholics!

[Baitball Blogger]

14. How the hell did we get here?

I remember when there was a scurfuffle over electing a Catholic president. White protestants got over it apparently.

[slightlv]

17. I guess Leonard Leo is a staunch Catholic.

He seems to the one putting all the justices on the court these days. Funny how all these evangelicals are suddenly standing with arms around Catholics, when they were ready to burn them at the stake in earlier days for heresy and idolatry.

I don't know how to get out of this, legally. At this point, when it comes to what affects the nation as a whole, such as the SCOTUS, I'm ready to throw out legal and go extralegal, just because we have to do something to retain any semblance of what we once were as a nation from the time of the founding fathers.

Would it have hurt so bad to grow SCOTUS to encompass the growth of the United States and the federal court system? There were so many ways around it but we didn't seem to want to hurt anyone's feelings on the right. They sure didn't care about our feelings when Obama got his chance to have a pick scuttled. And yet McConnell's last appt, the Handmaiden, was approved totally without regard to election timing. McConnell will pay one of these days, is my sincere hope.

[PlutosHeart]

15. Just to remind people

that there is a designated extreme conservative Catholic Group now listed under terrorist groups spread in various parts of the country with the intentions of white supremacy and tearing down those separations.

[dem4decades]

3. This country is done. The Supreme Court is corrupt and there's nothing we can do about it.

It's going to be just like Russia, take it, go to jail, or drink till you die. Excuse me while I get another expresso martini. At least we have Costco so I can leave some money to my kids.

[Firestorm49]

4. This is absolutely nuts! TAX THE DAMN CHURCHES!

[OldBaldy1701E]

8. Hear Hear!

[Warpy]

12. With no wall of separation, THEY WILL BE TAXED

starting with all of their non church (meaning on building with the piews and pulpit) businesses.

Now that is what is going to make the RCC shit bricks.

[former9thward]

20. Are ALL of the hundreds of thousands of non-profits also going to be taxed?

Church businesses are almost always non-profit.

[dem4decades]

5. Why not refer to them as The Supreme Corrupt from here on in?

And refer to Clarence Thomas as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Corrupt?

It has a nice ring to it and nothing would be better if it caught on.

[Lonestarblue]

9. I sometimes refer to them as the Supreme Ecclesiastical Court.

[dem4decades]

19. People understand corrupt, Ecclesiastical is to esoteric.

[John1956PA]

6. This past term, Gorsuch lied about the facts in the high school football post-game prayer case.

He set the precedent for "tradition" (dubiously existing in that case) undermining the Establishment Clause.

[bluestarone]

7. Guess our best hope is to gain the house and senate and white house, then

Hope we decide to FIX this SC. Even if we gotta ADD judges! (Hope Joe decides to fix it)

[Brainfodder]

10. Virtual School? So not an actual school even, just an invention to test the courts?

[NowISeetheLight]

13. Tax and Deductions

Make the churches pay taxes like everyone else. Allow them to take deductions for actual "charity" stuff like food shelves and homeless care. But operating costs should be taxed like a regular corporation. Especially the "prosperity gospel" grifters.

[pansypoo53219]

16. they bitched about JFK + the pope + then the GOP stuffed the supreme court w/ catholics.

[elocs]

18. It may be a church, but it is no way "Christian" because they are neither followers of Jesus,

nor his New Testament teachings.