Activists like Barton focus on a few historical details to craft their case, like the fact that the phrase “separation of church and state” does not appear in the “free exercise” clause of the first amendment, which prohibits the state from establishing a religion.
“If you support LGBTQ equality, if you are for inclusive and thriving public schools, if you believe science should dominate during a public health crisis, if you are for fighting climate change in necessary ways for human survival, then you are for church-state separation,” said Rachel Laser, the president and CEO at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Barton’s claim that the separation of church and state is not a legal guarantee has been widely embraced by the Christian right.
The 1947 landmark case Everson v Board of Education of Ewing Township established that not only federal but also state and local governments were required to adhere to the establishment clause of the first amendment.
Schools pushed back, as did the Republican state attorney general, who said Walter had no authority to require students to watch it and that it ran contrary to “parents’ rights, local control and individual free-exercise rights”.
