Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment First Amendment to the US Constitution Bill of Rights: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Christianity used to justify American slavery Frederick Douglass response http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/people/frederick-douglass.html Black churches formed in the 19th century by free Blacks: American Methodist Episcopal, AME Zion, Baptist

The ‘Bible Belt’

The Influence of Religion in American Society A divisive factor: Who’s an American? Science Education in Public Schools Supreme Court Cases Politics & Elections Historical background discussion - secondary source: http://ww.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Americas- True-History-of-Religious-Tolerance.html http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_kkk.html http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_kkk.html

Americanism: anti-Black anti-Jewish, anti-immigrant Ku Klux Klan revived in Georgia in 1915, but grew in strength in the Midwest and West – Ohio, Indiana, Oregon – approx. 5 million members by 1925 Supported by anti-Catholic Fundamentalist ministers Organized boycotts of Catholic businesses Condemned Catholic politicians Attacked Catholic churches and priests Americanism: anti-Black anti-Jewish, anti-immigrant Hiram Evans – Imperial Wizard of the KKK 1926: « the Klan has come to speak for the great mass of old pioneer stock against the intellectually mongrelized Liberals » « an alien usually remains an alien, no matter what is done to him,what veneer of education he gets, what oaths he takes, nor what public attitudes he adopts »

Indiana 1920s

Indiana 1920s

Seattle 1920s Indiana 1922

“At the top of the list of enemies were Roman Catholics “At the top of the list of enemies were Roman Catholics. Centuries-old tales and prejudices revived under Klan propaganda, with emphasis on a foreign-led church intent on destroying Protestantism and American democracy. The foreign-born themselves constituted a second Klan enemy, for they too threatened Protestantism and democracy. Blacks were a third enemy, though less dangerous than Catholics, except in a few cities where their segregated neighborhoods were expanding. And the enemy included all those immoral and indecent Hoosiers who put the roar into the Roaring Twenties: adulterers, gamblers, prohibition violators, corrupt politicians, and undisciplined youth.”

Religion and Education: The Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial 1925 Tennessee ACLU = American Civil Liberties Union Clarence Darrow William Jennings Bryan Evangelical/Fundamentalist Protestants- literal interpretation of the Bible Attack on the teaching of Darwinian evolution in public schools http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/scopes/scopes-page1.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVD4TjxnJ0M Darrow & Bryan John Scopes

Charles Darwin 1809 - 1882 The Origin of Species 1859 Recent cases involving the teaching of evolution and creationism Including Kansas Board of Education 2005 http://www.pewforum.org/Science-and-Bioethics/Overview- The-Conflict-Between-Religion-and-Evolution.aspx

Religion and the Courts: Roe v. Wade Pro-Choice versus Pro-Life Abortion debate as a lightening rod for the rise of the religious right in the 1970s http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_roe.html

Religion and politics: 1960 presidential election- JFK’s speech to Protestant ministers in Houston “I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for president, who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me.”