Way back in US History class, I learned about the separation of church and state, which was outlined in the first amendment to the US Constitution. The amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

In 1961, John F. Kennedy was the first non-Protestant President to be elected to the country’s highest office. He knew that Americans, in general, had always been skeptical of Catholic politicians, so Kennedy attempted to allay such incredulity during his 1960 presidential campaign with a formative statement on the separation of church and state to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association.

Kennedy said, “… Because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever been elected President, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured—perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible than this. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again—not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me—but what kind of America I believe in.” He also added that no religious body should impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general population or the public through acts of its officials.

Kennedy’s address was ground-breaking and reflects an ideal that we as a nation have yet to achieve, especially now with the threat to Roe vs. Wade.

In light of recent events, we should realize that there has never been a true separation of church and state in the US. For example, there are Bible verses in the Declaration of Independence, on all US currency we see “In God We Trust,” and then there’s the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, and Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.”

Every president who has been sworn into office uses the Bible and has thanked God during each inaugural address. We shouldn’t forget the photo-op of DJT holding the Bible (upside-down) in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church during the Washington DC BLM protests. And finally, we have yet to elect a president who is Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Shinto, Buddhist, or atheist.

In a nation founded on the separation of church and state, we have a Supreme Court on the brink of a decision that is based upon a theological view of abortion supported by a highly influential political group.

The court justices who signed onto the draft opinion that would dump Roe vs. Wade (and any ruling associated with it), are all members of the Federalist Society. The Federalist Society began as a discussion group for conservative and libertarian law students in the 1980s but has grown to become a very powerful right-leaning legal institution in the country. The central philosophy of the Federalist Society is that the Constitution is unchangeable, and should be interpreted as the original forefathers intended. 

Let’s not forget that the framers of the Constitution were white, Christian men of money and influence, many of which were slave-owners and considered themselves “custodians” of their wives and daughters. 

During the Reagan era, religious right leaders such as Paul Weyrich and Jerry Falwell sought an alliance with the Federalist Society. These “preachers” and other white evangelicals needed a way to advance their religious agenda on American politics and legislation, and the Society was their ticket. In order to implement their theological philosophy of Christian conservatism, they needed the influence and power of a court system outside the realm of democratic elections.

Under Trump, Mitch McConnell (also a member of the Federalist Society) and the GOP appointed more than 128 federal judges (who have lifetime appointments), 76% of whom were white men. During the “former guy’s” tenure, Republicans found success in remaking the federal judiciary more conservative, white, and male.

Former Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia served as the original faculty advisor to the Federalist Society at Yale. Scalia was a proponent of Constitution “originalism,” and believed that the Constitution is set in stone, and should be interpreted in the way the rich, white, Christian male framers originally intended. Let’s not forget that Scalia wanted to overturn Roe v Wade, voted against protecting equal pay, and wanted states to have the option to outlaw gay sex.

Six of our current Supreme Court Justices on the bench are members of the Federalist Society. And as mentioned above, members of the Federalist Society don’t see the Constitution as a document to protect the rights of women, LGBTQ+, minorities, or people of color because these groups were not in the room when the Consitution was originally drafted. That room was full of white, Christian men.

The leaked Supreme Court decision of last week, with its potential to enable the erosion of even more existing rights such as gay marriage and anti-discrimination laws, is a casualty of the collapse of the separation of church and state. How else would the definition of “life” unique to one flavor of Christian theology dominate the laws of a nation composed of millions of citizens of differing religions, philosophies, and personal beliefs? 

The looming shadow of the reversal of Roe vs Wade is an example of why secularism in government and the courts is so important.