* Hybrid Meeting: In person at Friends Meeting House and online by Zoom * -

Thomas Jefferson referred to the First Amendment as creating a “wall of separation” between church and state, and the Supreme Court stated in 1947 that “the wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.” In fact, the wall always had some cracks. In recent years, however, it appears to be crumbling as increased emphasis is being given to governmental accommodation of religious beliefs. When does such accommodation weaken the wall separating church and state? More generally, what is the appropriate role of religion in the public arena?