Abstract
Public school educators must navigate very complex intersections of the First Amendment’s Establishment, Free Exercise, and Free Speech clauses. The 6th Circuit’s ruling in Meriwether vs. Hartop created a slippery slope that could create a hostile learning environment and be discriminatory speech while trying to balance public-school educators’ sincerely held religious beliefs. This article examines the Meriwether case and court ruling while providing a background of U.S. Christian nationalism and its implications in American public education.
Highlights
Public school leaders and educators often must navigate the complex intersections of the First Amendment’s Establishment, Free Exercise, and Free Speech clauses of the U.S.Constitution
Clause to protect the “separation between church and state” (Berg 1995). These strategic efforts by certain special interest groups have been part of an effort to reintroduce prayer in public schools along with further promotion of a Christian norm (Gey 2000). These efforts are further supported by the recent ruling in Meriwether vs. Hartop (2021) where the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the university violated the professor’s free speech rights when they disciplined him for not complying with the university’s policy of addressing students using their preferred pronouns, which was at odds with his sincerely held religious belief that God made humans as men and women
Since this ruling creates a nuanced understanding of academic freedom as it collides with religious free exercise, we provide a socio-political background of Christian nationalism in the United States with implications for greater society and education systems to serve as a backdrop to this slippery slope
Summary
Public school leaders and educators often must navigate the complex intersections of the First Amendment’s Establishment, Free Exercise, and Free Speech clauses of the U.S. Clause to protect the “separation between church and state” (Berg 1995) These strategic efforts by certain special interest groups have been part of an effort to reintroduce prayer in public schools along with further promotion of a Christian norm (Gey 2000). These efforts are further supported by the recent ruling in Meriwether vs Hartop (2021) where the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the university violated the professor’s free speech rights when they disciplined him for not complying with the university’s policy of addressing students using their preferred pronouns, which was at odds with his sincerely held religious belief that God made humans as men and women. We conclude with some implications and recommendations for U.S educators
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