A joint statement by the Synagogue Council of America and the National Community Relations Advisory Council, issued here over the week-end, declared that the two organizations “consider the New York State system of released time to the inconsistent with the American Principle of separation of church and state, and believe that system to have been invalidated by the recent United States Supreme Court decision in the McCollum case.”
The statement was issued; it was explained, to dispel any misconception that may have resulted from the action of the Greater New York Coordinating Committee on Released Time for Jews, Protestants and Catholics, in filing a brief upholding the constitutionality of New York State’s program of released time for religious instruction. The two groups reaffirm their opposition to the released time program, the statement added, pointing out that the viewpoint of organized Jewish groups is at variance with that of the Coordinating Committee.
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