Isn the ACLU stance hostile to religion?
To the contrary, there is an abundance of religious freedom in this country precisely because we honor the separation between church and state and require government neutrality in religion. In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the Lemon v. Kurtzman decision, put forth a test for determining whether a law or government policy has breached the wall between church and state. The Lemon test lays a basic framework for the courts by asking whether the government’s action has a religious purpose; whether the primary effect of the government’s action is to advance or endorse religion; and whether the government’s action fosters excessive government “entanglement” with religion. As the Supreme court put it, the principle consideration is whether or not the government is “endorsing” religion.
