VOA慢速英语--“政教分离”意味着什么?

What 'Separation Between Church and State' Means

One of the things the United States is known for is a separation between church and state. But those exact words do not appear in the U.S. Constitution.

Instead, Americans point to a line in the First Amendment¹ that says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” In other words, the U.S. government is not permitted to declare and support a national religion.

In 1971, the Supreme² Court sought to clarify this idea in a case called Lemon versus³ Kurtzman.

Alton Lemon was a teacher in the state of Pennsylvania. David Kurtzman was a top school official there.

Lemon objected to the state giving money to teachers in Catholic schools, even though those people were teaching non-religious subjects, such as math.

Lemon objected because, in this country, taxpayers⁴ support only public schools. Parents who want their children to go to religious schools pay for that education themselves.

A majority of Supreme Court justices agreed with Lemon. But their reasoning surprised many people. The aim was not to punish religious schools. Instead, the justices wanted to protect them from government intervention⁵. They worried that state officials could influence the teachers or the classes they taught. The price of state funding, the justices said, was just too high to pay.

Words in This Story

clarify - v. to make something clear or clearer

1 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。