The Supreme Court is about to hear a challenge from a former divinity student who was denied a state scholarship because he wanted to study for ministry. The Court appears deeply divided over the case of Joshua Davey, who lost a state merit scholarship when he declared theology as his major.
The Supreme Court is split. At least four justices seem to agree that the state of Washington was within its rights to deny the money to Davey. The other four seemed, according to legal experts, to side with Davey. The swing vote is Sandra Day O’Connor, as is often the case.
The Davey case is critical, since the high court ruled last year that it is constitutional to allow parents to use public money to send their children to private religious schools. So, in this case, the question isn’t whether the government can use public money to underwrite religious education. The Court has already decided it can.
What the Court has to decide now is whether or not, when the money is available, it is available equally.
The case began in 1999, when Davey qualified for a Promise Scholarship, a state-funded program for high-achieving students of modest means. The scholarship of about $3,000 never came through, because Davey decided to study for the ministry at Northwest College in Kirkland, Wash.
U.S. Solicitor General Olson told the Court that “the clear and unmistakable message is that religion and preparation for a career in the ministry is disfavored and discouraged.” He added that “the person who wants to believe in God or wants to have a position of religious leadership is the one that’s singled out for discriminatory treatment.”
Justice O’Connor is apparently confused on the issue. She asked Davey’s attorney: “How does this violate the student’s right to free exercise of religion?” She went on, “Maybe it’s more expensive to go to school, but why does that violate his free exercise of religion?”
It seems very obvious to me – and I never went to law school. Davey won the scholarship by the standards set up by the state. Once it was awarded, it was taken away for the single reason that he wanted to use it to study for the ministry. It is so clear that it makes me wonder if there is not a deeply ingrained bias against religion held by five members of the Supreme Court.
If the “free exercise of his religion” means he lost a scholarship – which he won fair and square – because he wants to use it to study for the ministry, then he is clearly being penalized for that particular choice. There is nothing in the Constitution that says a person should be penalized for choosing to study for the Christian ministry.
In fact, there is a clear pattern of precedent established by multiple Supreme Court decisions in past times that would favor such an individual choice. Schools like Harvard University and Princeton University were originally founded to prepare young men for Christian ministry. It is only in recent times that the U.S. government has developed such a bias against Christianity in particular.
Although the state argues that funding Davey’s scholarship amounts to a government endorsement of religion, it isn’t really “religion” the state is objecting to. It’s Christianity. There is always plenty of federal money to promote Islam, Satanism, witchcraft or any other “religion.”
Here is a case in point: In California, high-school students at the Byron Unified School District were forced to take a mandatory course in Islam. The course mandates that seventh-graders learn the tenets of Islam, study the important figures of the faith, wear an Arab type robe, adopt a Muslim name and stage their own jihad.
Nancy Castro, principal of the Intermediate-Excelsior School of Byron, claims the course “is not religion, but ancient culture and history. We do not endorse any religion – we just make students aware.” All it takes is a reading of the course curriculum to confirm that Castro’s denial is absolutely false.
The textbook used for the Islamic course, “Across The Centuries,” is published by Houghton-Mifflin and has been adopted by the California school system.
This is a much more flagrant case of government endorsement of a religion than the issue of Davey using a scholarship he won to study for the ministry, wouldn’t you say?
The real point is this: It isn’t religion in general that is under fire in America. There are all kinds of religions that are untouchable. Government-funded schools allow students to study whatever religion they wish – just as long as it isn’t Christianity.
The Bible predicts that in the “last days” the world will be very religious. In fact, all religions will merge into one and unite with a one-world government. Then this “unholy union” will go all out to wipe Christianity from the face of the Earth. We are in the “last days,” and this scenario is rapidly developing.
The sad thing is, Christians are sitting back and doing nothing to stop it.
