The First by Stanley Fish;

The First by Stanley Fish;

Author:Stanley Fish;
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2019-11-05T00:00:00+00:00


When Is a Crèche a Crèche?

One form that effort takes is to de-religionize religious speech. Suppose you are walking past a county courthouse and see on the top of its staircase a Christmas tree adorned with a cross. What will you make of it? Will you think “Here is the state paying tribute to Christianity,” or will you think “What a nice tribute to the holiday season”? The question might seem odd—of course the state is here acknowledging the centrality of a religion and marking the birth of its founder. But what seems obvious in ordinary life is not so in Supreme Court cases. Consider Lynch v. Donnelly, a 1984 landmark case that exhibits much of the complexity and, indeed, oddity, of Religion Clause decisions.7 The question at the heart of the case is what, if anything, is being said by the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, when it annually mounts a Christmas display at the center of which is a crèche—a tableau consisting of the figures of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, various angels, shepherds and kings, and a collection of appropriately adoring animals. A number of Pawtucket residents brought a cause of action alleging that the crèche violates the Establishment Clause because it has the appearance of “affiliating the city with the Christian beliefs that the crèche represents.” A court of appeals affirmed the district court’s judgment in favor of those protesting the display, but the Supreme Court reversed. The Court admits that “the crèche may well have special meaning to those whose faith includes the celebration of religious Masses,” but argues that the main purpose of erecting it is to “serve commercial interests and benefit merchants and their employees.” The argument is that the crèche facilitates the flow of money into the city of Pawtucket. The religious significance it has for some persons is regarded as incidental and is subordinated to the goal of engendering a “friendly community spirit of good will in keeping with the season.” To be sure, the government speaks through the crèche, but it doesn’t say “Join us in worship”; rather it says “Join us in spending.” This judgment is delivered without irony, even though one city official explained that he favored the display of the crèche because it would further his interest in keeping Christ in Christmas.

Although the majority’s reasoning might seem strange and even bizarre, it will seem less so if it is read in the context of a history in which the separation of church and state, supposedly the official posture of the government, has been honored more in the breach than in the observance. As the Lynch majority reminds us, in the very week that Congress approved the Establishment Clause, “it enacted legislation providing for paid Chaplains of the House and the Senate,” and of course there are coins that bear the motto “In God We Trust” and, since 1954, a Pledge of Allegiance that includes the phrase “under God.” These official actions indicate an unwillingness to take the separation



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