A Policy Statement of the National Council of the

As Christians we acknowledge God as the ground and source and confirmer of truth, whose Spirit is ever ready to respond to men's and children's search for understanding by correcting their fumbling misapprehensions and leading them into larger and fuller truth. Teaching and learning at their highest are pursued within this recognition. As Americans we are firmly committed to the right of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, that is, the freedom of each citizen in the determination of his religious allegiance, and the freedom of religious groups and institutions in the exercise and declaration of their beliefs.

The American tradition with respect to the relations of government and religion, often described as "separation of church and state" does not mean that the state is hostile toward, or indifferent to, religion. On the contrary, governments-national, state and local-have prevailingly acknowledged the importance as well as the autonomy of religion and have given expression to this principle in many ways.

In present-day American society, with its diversity of religious conviction and affiliations, the place of religion in public education must be worked out within this recognition of the prevailingly positive attitude of the American people as a whole toward religion and safeguarding of religious liberty.

As Christians we believe that every individual has a right to an education aimed at the full development of his capacities as a human being created by God, his character as well as his intellect. We are impelled by the love of neighbor to seek maximum educational op portunities for each individual in order that he may prepare himself for responsible participation in the common life.

CONCERN FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

We reaffirm our support of the system of public education in the United States of America. It provides a In this document the terms "pul ie elucation" and "put lle schools" are taken to mean the system of public elementary and secondary eduracion in the United States

context in which all individuals may share in an education which contributes to the full development of their capacities. It serves as a major cohesive force in our pluralistic society. We also recognize that significant value derives from the fact that this system is financed by public funds, is responsive to the community as a whole, and is open to all without distinctions as to race, creed, national origin, or economic status. DEFINITION OF ROLES

Religious ideas, beliefs, values, and the contributions of churches are an integral part of our cultural heritage as a people. The public schools have an obligation to help individuals develop an intelligent understanding and appreciation of the role of religion in the life of the people of this nation. Teaching for religious commitment is the responsibility of the home and the commu. nity of faith (such as the church or synagogue) rather than the public schools.

We support the right of religious groups to establish and maintain schools at their own expense provided they meet prescribed educational standards.

We support also the right of parents to decide whether their children shall attend public or non-public schools. The parent who chooses to send his children to a non-public school is not excused from the responsibility of the citizen to support and seek to improve the public schools.

Neither the church nor the state should use the public school to compel acceptance of any creed or conformity to any specific religious practice.

It is an essential task of the churches to provide ade. quate religious instruction through every means at their disposal. These include both those activities which individual churches provide within their own walls and also various joint ventures of chinches involving cooperation with the public schools. Christian nurture and the development and practice of Christian worship are inescapable obligations of the congregation and the family. We warn the churches against the all-too-human tendency to look to the state and its agencies for sup

port in fulfilling the churches' mission. Such a tendency endangers both true religion and civil liberties. At the same time, we call the churches to renewed worship, study, work and sacrifice to fulfill their mission as God's people in the world.

PLACE OF RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

No person is truly educated for life in the modern world who is not aware of the vital part played by religion in the shaping of our history and culture, and of its contemporary expressions. Information about religion is an essential part of many school subjects such as social studies, literature and the arts. The contributions of religious leaders, movements, and ideas should be treated objectively and broadly in any presentation of these subjects. Public school administrators and textbook producers are to be commended for the progress made to date in including objective information about religion in various subject matter fields. Teachers should be trained to deal with the history, practices, and characteristics of the various religious groups with competence and respect for diverse religious convictions. Their greatest influence will be through the life and attitudes they reflect in the classroom. They should be free as persons to express their own convictions in answer to direct questions from pupils when appropriate to the subject matter under study.

The full treatment of some regular school subjects requires the use of the Bible as a source book. In such studies-including those related to character development-the use of the Bible has a valid educational purpose. But neither true religion nor good education is dependent upon the devotional use of the Bible in the public school program.

The Supreme Court of the United States in the Regents' Prayer case has ruled that "in this country it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as part of a religious program carried on by the government." We recognize the wisdom as well as the authority of this ruling. But whether prayers may be offered at special occasions in the public schools may well be left to the judgment of the board responsible for the program of the public schools in the local community.

While both our tradition and the present temper of our nation reflect a preponderant belief in God as our Source and our Destiny, nevertheless attempts to estab lish a "common core" of religious beliefs to be taught in public schools have usually proven unrealistic and unwise. Major faith groups have not agreed on a formulation of religious beliefs common to all. Even if they had done so, such a body of religious doctrine would tend to become a substitute for the more demanding commitments of historic faiths.

Some religious holidays have become so much a part of American culture that the public school can scarcely

ignore them. Any recognition of such holidays in the public schools should contribute to better community understanding and should in no way divert the attention of pupils and the community from the celebration of these holidays in synagogues and churches.

We express the conviction that the First Amendment to our Constitution in its present wording has provided the framework within which responsible citizens and our courts have been able to afford maximum protection for the religious liberty of all our citizens.

CHURCH SUPPORT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS

American public education should have the full and conscientious support of Christians and Christian churches. Therefore, we urge our constituency to continue efforts to strengthen and improve the American system of public education through positive steps such as the following:

1. Providing intelligent appraisal and responsible criticism of programs of public education;

2. Keeping informed about the needs of the public schools and studying issues related to public education as a basis for intelligent action as citizens;

3. Supporting able candidates for boards of education and being willing to serve as members of such boards;

4. Working at local, state, and national levels for improved legislative and financial support of public schools;

5. Emphasizing to prospective and present teachers the profession of public school teaching as a vocation that is worthy of the best service a Christian can give; 6. Exploring cooperative arrangements of the churches and schools whereby the church's teaching of religion may be improved.

In American education, there is a substantial inter-relation between primary, secondary and higher education.

It needs to be stressed that, in a substantial majority of publicly-maintained institutions of Higher Education, provision is offered for the voluntary election of courses in religion on a parity with all other subjects of the curriculum, and not infrequently for publiclysupported chaplains and other services of religion.

The question should be explored whether these arrangements through which religious instruction and services are provided within state institutions of Higher Education without infringement of law or offense to individual conscience may not offer suggestion for more adequate provision within the public schools of opportunities for the study of religion where desired, fully within the constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience and of religious expression.

65 FOR, 1 AGAINST, 1 ABSTENTION

The General Board of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. reaffirms its support of religious freedom for all people and, being aware of proposals currently agitated for an amendment to the Constitution of the United States intending to declare that the United States is a Christian nation, sets forth the following concerns for the consideration of the churches and the nation.

(1) A constitutional amendment of this purport confuses the nature and function of the nation-state with the nature and function of churches. It would increase the present difficulties of citizens in comprehending and in continuing healthy separation and sound relations between church and state. These reflections are set forth with full awareness that this nation and all other nations stand constantly under the judgment and the sovereign authority of God.

(2) Previous attempts to maintain "Christian states," in earlier centuries as well as in our own, have been fraught with great problems and have failed in disillusion. They have frequently denied general liberty, and religious liberty in particular, to all who did not belong to the dominant body of Christians. In the American scene of today, a constitutional sanction for Christianity would tend to weaken the rights and liberties of citizens and others who are not Christians, to lessen respect for their distinctive concerns, and to accentuate divisions within the body politic.

(3) The intended amendment would strengthen the hands of those who desire financial and other privileges for Christian churches ready and able to secure

them such as support of school and welfare institutions, extended tax privileges for property and enterprises under Christian names.

(4) The proposed amendment would embarrass our ecumenical relations and our missionary enterprises and also general international relations as viewed by Christians and by the world majority of non-Christians, through officially attaching the Christian name to military, economic, and other acts and policies of the Government of the United States.

(5) To declare the United States a Christian nation in the churchman's sense of "Christian," is to assert less of truth than of pretension. That term rightly belongs to significant religion, with biblical and theological meaning and simply is not applicable to the American nation as a whole. Moreover, the proposal in question, if given an aura of validity by incorporation in the Constitution, would tempt many unthinking church members to complacent hypocrisy in their outlook upon society, national and international. In fine, it is perilous, even sacrilegious, to turn to the political forum for practical determination of the public meaning of the great word, “Christian." The church cannot share this word, central and peculiar to its character, with the nation-state.

In the light of these considerations the National Commeil of Churches records its opposition to the proposal for an amendment to the Constitution of the United States intending to declare the United States to be a Christian nation.

59 FOR. 1 AGAINST, 0 ABSTENTIONS