Conscience and the Establishment Clause: The Courts Remake the Sacred

Abstract

In modern American society, the judicial system can be shown to be involved in remaking - or, perhaps better, redefining - the sacred. This has become especially apparent since the two conscientious objection cases in 1965 and 1970, in which the U.S. Supreme Court granted conscientious objector status to avowedly nonreligious persons. Conscience has become in the eyes of the law, then, the equivalent of religion. In matters of free exercise, this has meant a broadening of the sacred realm. In matters dealing with the Establishment Clause, however, the realm of the sacred is actually being redefined. How this happens generally is first analyzed then three illustrations - of abortion, euthanasia, and homosexuality - are offered.