school district of abington township, pennsylvania v. schempp (1963)

As Justice Stewart Potter said in his dissent to the Court’s 1963 decision in School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. From his remarks today:įrom the 1962 school prayer decision on, there has been a decisive break with the essentially religious nature of historic American civilization. Gingrich is particularly fond of going after “activist judges” who, in his reading, have banished religion from the public square. (Religious freedom for American Muslims? Not so much.) For the past five or six years, including his 2006 book Rediscovering God in America, Gingrich has taken up the cause of religious freedom for Christians in America. Gingrich’s speech fit neatly within this theme, as he delivered an extended infomercial for the film he and wife Callista produced about the late Pope’s 1979 visit to Poland, “Nine Days That Changed the World.”īut Gingrich’s detour into one of his favorite topics–the idea that secularists are taking over America–was met with a lukewarm response and indicated that this recent convert may not know his Catholic audience as well as he thinks. Much of the breakfast was focused on the biggest news in the Catholic world this week–the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II this Sunday.

Follow Gingrich was a featured speaker at this morning’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, an annual event in Washington that traditionally draws (Republican) politicians looking to court conservative Catholics.

School district of abington township, pennsylvania v. schempp (1963)