James Dobson did a lot of his usual shtick at “Justice Sunday,” railing against the judiciary, lambasting the culture that’s made him wealthy, demanding better results from the Republican Party, etc. But there was one comment from the weekend stood out for me.
“Five black-robed justices on the Supreme Court can tell us how it’s gonna be,” Dobson said. “They’re not gods. They don’t do everything right…. For 43 years, the court has been on a campaign to limit religious liberty.”
This sounds like a pretty generic rant for Dobson, but notice the specificity. He didn’t say, “For decades” the court has been a problem; he said “for 43 years.” And what, exactly, happened 43 years ago? I’m glad you asked.
In 1962, as Dobson is no doubt aware, the Supreme Court heard a case called Engel v. Vitale, which dealt with the constitutionality of a prayer written by a New York education board and recited daily in public schools. Local families — some Christian, some Jewish — argued that mandatory state-sponsored devotions conflicted with their rights as parents to teach their children religion as they see fit.
Someone else notices...
The 43-year-old precedent the far right wants to change
April 27, 2005
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/4077.html
Posted 1:35 pm | Printer Friendly
James Dobson did a lot of his usual shtick at “Justice Sunday,” railing against the judiciary, lambasting the culture that’s made him wealthy, demanding better results from the Republican Party, etc. But there was one comment from the weekend stood out for me.
“Five black-robed justices on the Supreme Court can tell us how it’s gonna be,” Dobson said. “They’re not gods. They don’t do everything right…. For 43 years, the court has been on a campaign to limit religious liberty.”
This sounds like a pretty generic rant for Dobson, but notice the specificity. He didn’t say, “For decades” the court has been a problem; he said “for 43 years.” And what, exactly, happened 43 years ago? I’m glad you asked.
In 1962, as Dobson is no doubt aware, the Supreme Court heard a case called Engel v. Vitale, which dealt with the constitutionality of a prayer written by a New York education board and recited daily in public schools. Local families — some Christian, some Jewish — argued that mandatory state-sponsored devotions conflicted with their rights as parents to teach their children religion as they see fit.
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