I've spent the last week diving deep into the Bible in mid-20th c. U.S. Part of that is exploring the desire for/backlash against the RSV (old thread here:) 1/ https://twitter.com/drewjakeprof/status/1288574563039748098?s=20

It's also meant diving into the US Supreme Court case Abington v. Schempp (1963), which officially removed devotional Bible reading from U.S. classrooms (link to ruling). 2/ https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/374/203/

You can read a detailed (if slightly repetitive) account from legal scholar Stephen D. Solomon in ELLERY'S PROTEST (revd. 2010). Ellery (né Ellory) Schempp was the high schooler whose protest launched the famous case. 3/ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ellery_s_Protest/wpVFDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

At Ellery's high school, every morning 10 verses of the Bible were read over the (new!) loudspeaker (in older schools students took turns in each classroom reading verses). This was pursuant to a Pennsylvania law: 4/

... originally passed in 1913, one of a series of pro-Bible laws passed in the early 20th c. In 1949 it was slightly updated and printed in the state's education statute. 5/

Rules like this were meant to be a compromise, making sure children had biblical exposure without the "sectarian" viewpoints that commentary would add. In Ellery's school, they also recited the Lord's Prayer, which was also common. /6

In 1958, Ellery, who was a Unitarian, decided to make a stand against the practice. He borrowed a Qur'an from a friend's home library & when it was time to stand and hear the Bible verses he started reading to himself from the Qur'an instead. 7/

This was not well received by his homeroom teacher or the Vice Principal; his parents supported him and raised their own objections to the practice on the grounds that it violated the First Amendment's ban on religious establishment. 8/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

In 1947 the Supreme Court ruled that the 1st Amendment covered state as well as federal gov't action. A string of cases then popped up testing the new limits of state support of religion, esp. in schools. 9/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everson_v._Board_of_Education

At first Ellery's school let him "sit out" the morning Bible reading (although it was still broadcast over the loudspeaker). But the next school year they said he had to stand and respectfully pay attention. So Ellery wrote to the local ACLU. 10/

Eventually local lawyers agreed to take on the case pro bono. Since Ellery was likely to graduate before the case was resolved, they added his younger siblings as complainants. 11/

(oh and here's part of the letter Ellery wrote to the local chapter of the ACLU, reprinted in ELLERY'S PROTEST) 12/

They sued in federal court more or less ensuring the case would escalate to the US Supreme Court. Here's the front page headline and part of the story from the Philadelphia INQUIRER in August 1958: 13/

Since the Pennsylvania law didn't specify the Lord's Prayer, a lot of the "expert" testimony was about the Bible. (More from Philadelphia INQUIRER stories: here's the Solomon Grayzel testimony I tweeted about earlier this week): 14/

Grayzel was editor of the Jewish Publication Society and a scholar at Dropsie College in Philadelphia (now @katzcenterupenn). The editor of the RSV, Luther Weigle, testified for the school district. 15/

The 3-judge panel ruled for the Schempps, but allowed a stay of their decision. From 1958, when the Schempps filed their suit, until 1963, when the Supreme Court ruled, Bible reading continued at Abington schools. 16/

The school board decided to appeal to the Supreme Court, even though they knew a decision against them would have national consequences. They raised property taxes slightly to pay for it. 17/

Meanwhile, the state legislature amended the rule to allow for students to opt-out of the Bible reading, hoping this would obviate the lawsuit. 18/

The U.S. Supreme Court decided the revised statute required a new review by the district court. No dice, said the district court. 19/

So Abington v. Schempp went up the chain. It was actually preceded by a similar case in Baltimore brought by Madalyn Murray on behalf of her son and these were heard together by the justices. 20/

The justices heard the case in February/March 1963 and made their ruling in June. Although Murray's case came first, they focused their ruling on the Schempp's so the case bears their name. Reaction was fraught: 21/

As some had feared, the repercussions were national and immediate (although many states simply refused to comply). 22/

The case is often framed as being about "school prayer," but the reading of the Bible--without commentary--was the heart of the case. 23/

The 8-1 ruling (and the concurrent opinion drafted by Justice Brennan) emphasized that the Bible could be studied objectively, just not devotionally. This opened the path for religious studies as a discipline in state-funded schools. 24/

The Schempps, Murrays, and others who brought these suits were often vilified as "communists," since religion (Christianity) was so frequently plotted along Cold War axes in the 1950/60s. 25/

in ELLERY'S PROTEST, Solomon speculates that's why the Unitarian Schempps were emphasized rather than the atheist Murrays. 26/

From my perspective ( #GospelThrillers) what fascinates is the way the Bible as an object is held up as the mascot of U.S. religiosity in these cases, and how these legal challenges reinforced a sense of its power and vulnerability. /fin