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Religion and Education
" A little still she strove, and much repented
Whispering 'I will ne'er consent,' -- consented."
Lord Byron
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Everson
v.
Board of Education
of the Township of Ewing
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Religion and Education
Justice Jackson Dissent
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February 10, 1947
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Excerpt:
I find myself, contrary to first impressions, unable to join in this
decision. I have a sympathy, though it is not ideological, with
Catholic citizens who are compelled by law to pay taxes for public
schools, and also feel constrained by conscience and discipline to
support other schools for their own children. Such relief to them as this case involves is not, in itself, a serious burden to
taxpayers, and I had assumed it to be as little serious in principle.
Study of this case convinces me otherwise. The Court's opinion marshals
every argument in favor of state aid, and puts the case in its most
favorable light, but much of its reasoning confirms my conclusions that
there are no good grounds upon which to support the present
legislation. In fact, the undertones of the opinion, advocating
complete and uncompromising separation of Church from State, seem
utterly discordant with its conclusion, yielding support to their
commingling in educational matters. The case which irresistibly comes to mind as the most fitting precedent is that of Julia who, according to Byron's reports, "whispering 'I will ne'er consent,' -- consented."
Poem excerpt:
 Byron
Oh Plato! Plato! you have paved the way,
With your confounded fantasies, to more
Immoral conduct by the fancied sway
Your system feigns o'er the controulless core
Of human hearts, than all the long array
Of poets and romancers: You're a bore,
A charlatan, a coxcomb and have been,
At best, no better than a go-between.
And Julia's voice was lost, except in sighs,
Until too late for useful conversation;
The tears were gushing from her gentle eyes,
I wish indeed they had not had occasion,
But who, alas! can love, and then be wise?
Not that remorse did not oppose temptation;
A little still she strove, and much repented
And whispering "I will ne'er consent" -- consented.
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