SCOTUS rejects scholarships for divinity students

[CShine 0]

The Supreme Court, in a new rendering on separation of church and state, voted Wednesday to let states withhold scholarships from students studying theology.

The court's 7-2 ruling held that the state of Washington was within its rights to deny a taxpayer-funded scholarship to a college student who was studying to be a minister. That holding applies even when money is available to students studying anything else.

"Training someone to lead a congregation is an essentially religious endeavor," Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court majority. "Indeed, majoring in devotional theology is akin to a religious calling as well as an academic pursuit."

http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/33...p-2997699c.html

[Tiger Al 0]

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.

No surprises there.

[TitanTiger 21,241]

But I suppose that taxpayers can't object to their tax dollars going toward scholarships in fields that offend their religious beliefs. Seems like a double standard to me.

[CarolinaTiger 0]

that's interesting...i'd have predicted it to go the other way.

i think the interpretation of this ruling may have ramifications beyond just the case in question.

ct

[Tiger Al 0]

But I suppose that taxpayers can't object to their tax dollars going toward scholarships in fields that offend their religious beliefs.  Seems like a double standard to me.

Like paying for ROTC scholarships because they would offend Quakers, Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites who pay taxes?

[CarolinaTiger 0]

i've always thought that the 'separation of church & state' thing was really just a fantasy anyway. one of the institutions has to have "trump" power, and it's the government.

on another note:

do you think that this means theology students can be denied a government-sponsored student loan at an interest rate lower than a commercial loan because of the same reasoning? just wondering.

[TitanTiger 21,241]

Like paying for ROTC scholarships because they would offend Quakers, Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites who pay taxes? 

Yes. It just seems unfair to me to single out this particular course of study. The guy lives in the state. His tax dollars to to support a public school system that often teaches subjects in ways that are contrary to his beliefs, but he can't opt out of paying them. His tax dollars probably help pay for scholarships that go toward areas of study that are the same way.

Seems to me that him being able to receive scholarship money to pursue whatever course of study he chooses is only fair. The tax dollars paying for his scholarship is no more an "establishment of religion" by the state than paying for scholarships for, say, a radical feminist type of major would be an endorsement of those views by the state. It's the individual who chooses the course of study, not the state so I fail to see the establishment part.

[CarolinaTiger 0]

i agree, TT:

one could argue that the court has done exactly what it thinks it is avoiding (which is upholding the separation of church & state) by treating different degrees differently.

on a somewhat lighthearted note, isn't it great we have such a conservative supreme court? :roll: