Accommodationism in the United States is a judicial interpretation of accommodationism which espouses that "the government may support or endorse religious establishments as long as it treats all religions equally and does not show preferential treatment."[1] Accommodationists espouse the view that "religious individuals, and/or religious entities may be accommodated by government in regard to such things as free exercise rights, access to government programs and facilities, and religious expression."[2]
Accommodationists hold that religion "has beneficial consequences for human behavior; that is, religion provides a transcendent basis for morality and provides limits for the scope of political conflict".[3] They teach that religion "combines an objective, nonarbitrary basis for public morality with respect for the dignity and autonomy of each individual" and thus "balances the need for public order with a respect for individual liberty".[3]
The accommodationist perspective emphasizes rather that the First Amendment was clearly not intended to be antireligious--indeed, as already suggested, it was drafted precisely to protect the various religious practices of the states, including preferential establishments in some of them. Accommodationists therefore reinterpret the First Amendment to make of religious liberty a positive right, the exercise of which is to be encouraged by the government. By the same token, they believe that the First Amendment excludes only the direct establishment of, or preferential treatment for, a particular religion.[8]
The sects that exist in the United States are innumerable. They all differ in respect to the worship which is due to the Creator; but they all agree in respect to the duties which are due from man to man.... Moreover, all the sects of the United States are comprised within the great unity of Christianity, and Christian morality is everywhere the same.... Christianity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent; the consequence is ... that every principle of the moral world is fixed and determinate, although the political world is abandoned to the debates and experiments of men." (Tocqueville 1945, 314- 15; emphasis added).[3]
In light of this broad consensus, many political scientists have noted that religion legitimizes political authority.[3] Accommodationism also opines that "there is a common set of religiously based morals" with values such as "chastity, honesty, charity, and frugality [which are] ultimately regarded as having a religious basis, but are common to virtually all religious traditions".[9]
Richard John Neuhaus likewise stated that religion provides a "sacred canopy" under which political activity can occur, stating:[3]
Politics derives its directions from the ethos, from the cultural sensibilities that are the context of political action. The cultural context is shaped by our moral judgments and intuitions about how the world and how it ought to be. Again, for the great majority of Americans such moral judgments and intuitions are inseparable from religious belief. Perhaps this is true not just of the majority but of all of us, whether or not we call our ultimate values religious. In any event, whether it is called the Judeo-Christian ethic, or Christianity,... it is the dynamic of religion that holds the promise of binding together [religare] a nation in a way that may more nearly approximate civitas (1984, 60).[3]
In light of what accommodationists see as the ethical dimension of religion, especially that of the Judeo-Christian tradition, in the United States "accommodationists tend to take a very narrow view of the establishment clause, arguing that this clause only requires nonpreferentialism".[3]
Accommodationism advocates providing aid to parochial schools, school vouchers that provide tax credit for private/parochial schools, as well as nonsectarian school prayer, as long as these policies apply equally to all religious institutions and individuals.[3] In contrast to those advocating laicity, accommodationists view the expression of one's religious faith in the public sphere as a human right, such as the wearing of a cross necklace or headcovering, for example.[10][4]
In the United States, religious-based federal holidays and observances, including the National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving, as well as Christmas, exist based on accommodationist principles.[11] Accommodationism also is seen in the national anthem since 1931, in the Pledge of Allegiance since 1954, and in the official motto of the United States since 1956, In God We Trust, as well as in the judicial oath So help me God as early as 1789.[11]
When the state encourages religious instruction or cooperates with religious authorities by adjusting the schedule of public events to sectarian needs, it follows the best of our traditions. For it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to their spiritual needs.
In McGowan v. Maryland (1961) and Braunfeld v. Brown (1961) the Supreme Court did not accommodate the religious observance of Sabbatarians. They found that Sunday closing laws had a legitimate secular purpose despite their origin in Christian tradition. The secular interest in a common day of rest met the deferential standard of review applied to the legislation.[17] Two years after Braunfeld, the Court decided in Sherbert v. Verner (1963) that the Free Exercise Clause required accommodation for religious observances or practices when generally applicable laws imposed a penalty or burden on religious liberty absent a compelling state interest.[18]
Other cases relevant to the development of accommodationist jurisprudence are:
Nussbaum, Martha (11 July 2010). "Veiled Threats?". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2017. On the whole, the accommodationist position has been dominant in U. S. law and public culture ─ ever since George Washington wrote a famous letter to the Quakers explaining that he would not require them to serve in the military because the "conscientious scruples of all men" deserve the greatest "delicacy and tenderness."
Studies in Political Economy, Issues 19-21. Carleton University Graphic Services. 1986. p.97. Shortly after Independence, George Washington offered an influential statement of the accommodationist position in a letter he wrote to the Quakers, apropos of their refusal to perform military service (1789)...
Noll, Mark A.; Harlow, Luke E. (13 September 2007). Religion and American Politics: From the Colonial Period to the Present. Oxford University Press. p.82. ISBN9780198043164.
Drakeman, Donald L. (1 January 1991). Church-state Constitutional Issues: Making Sense of the Establishment Clause. Greenwood Press. ISBN9780313276637.
Wald, Kenneth D.; Calhoun-Brown, Allison (16 August 2010). Religion and Politics in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp.80–85. ISBN9781442201538.
Banks, Christopher P.; Blakeman, John C. (13 July 2012). The U.S. Supreme Court and New Federalism: From the Rehnquist to the Roberts Court. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p.176. ISBN9781442218581.