‘Great Matters of Law Leave Children in Lurch’

I read O’Reilly’s article with interest. Although he makes a case for his student, Jose, I believe the court’s decision to stop even that small support of church schools is the right one. In the long run it will even benefit O’Reilly’s school.

First, separation of church and state are essential. Even a cursory study of history will show that when they are not separate, suppression and persecution result. This has occurred in Protestant and Catholic countries alike. When the church and state form a union, one serves the other, and it is usually the church that ends up as the servant. As has been truly said, he who pays the piper calls the tune. O’Reilly should not think that those paying for his program would not eventually want to call the tune at his school. The court’s decision thus protects his school and allows the church to follow its convictions without interference.

Secondly, as O’Reilly has noted, Jose’s family had a choice. They could continue to receive the generous welcome that America had given to Jose by attending the classes and remedial English at the public school that Americans had paid for, or they could enroll in the Catholic church school. The education he would receive there might not be as good, the facility not as up to date, and the teachers not as skilled, but the choice would show Jose where his parents’ and his church’s values lie, and he would be made a stronger church member for it.

The court’s decision makes, in this indirect way, Reilly’s students better Catholics because of the hard choices they have had to face. Many students who have attended apparently poorly equipped church schools have been taught moral values that have been invaluable to themselves and to society as a whole.

Those who value religion have always had to pay for it with sacrifice. O’Reilly cannot expect others to make that sacrifice for him or for his flock. I do not recall Jesus asking the Roman government to help feed the 5,000, still the storm, or provide money to train his disciples. Perhaps O’Reilly could learn from that example.

ALLEN E. SHEPHERD JR.

Northridge