Any union between church and state, no matter how remote, makes ultimately for the persecution of non-conforming religious minorities, Dr. Nelson Glueck, president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, warned today.
Addressing an institute on church-state relations sponsored by the Church and State Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Dr. Glueck traced the principle of separation historically from the promulgation of the Virginia Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the adoption of the first constitution of the State of New York in 1777.
Hailing the New York State constitution as “one of the great documents of all history.” Dr. Glueck said that it undoubtedly set an example for Virginia and prepared the way for the adoption of the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, a law which had a profound influence upon American and European political development.
“The American people have continued their traditional policy of a separation between church and state because they realize that any form of union between the two no matter how remote, makes ultimately for the persecution of non-conforming religious minorities,” Dr. Glueck stated.
“It is our belief that direct or indirect financial support of religious schools by the state can only result in the weakening and possibly the destruction of the American public school system,” he continued. “Any impairment of the influence of our public school system would be unfortunate in these days when unity is so necessary. Our school system is one of the strongest bonds to unite and hold together the American people.”
Pointing out that it is the duty of religions to strengthen themselves through their own organizations, Dr. Glueck declared: “It is a grievous error for any religious or church denomination to attempt to exploit or capture the public school system in order to strengthen itself. And a sectarian group that attempts to use the public schools as a club to beat down more vigorous or more aggressive religious rivals is sinning against our most sacred American tradition.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
