Rick Garnett has an interesting posting on Prawfs Blog titled Government Statements About "True Religion". He focuses on Tony Blair's statements after the recent London bombings that the "true voice of Islam" has to be mobilized. He raises the difficult question of whether it is appropriate for government to declare what the true interpretation of a religion is. Of course, President Bush made very similar statements about the peaceful nature of true Islam after 9-11.
It seems to me that one of the core functions of the Establishment Clause-- one that is often overlooked-- is to prevent government from redefining or watering down religious doctrine. That was Roger Williams' position in 1644 when he wrote in The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, For Cause of Conscience: "When they have opened a gap in the hedge of or wall of separation between the garden of the church, and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broken down the wall itself. . . and made his garden a wilderness, as at this day. And that therefore if He will ever please to restore His garden and paradise again, it must of necessity be walled in peculiarly unto Himself from the world." -- By the way, this, and not Jefferson's Letter, is the origin of the famous "wall of separation" metaphor.
Government attempts to redefine religion in numerous subtle ways. One of my favorite examples is the seemingly innocuous issuance by the US Postal Service of the Hanukkah Stamp. This is a statement by government that the minor Jewish holiday of Hanukkah is really Judaism's important celebration. It is the one that deserves recognition. Never mind, for example, about Rosh Hashanah where there is a stronger tradition of sending greeting cards through the mail.
Those who see the Establishment Clause as a threat to religion should consider the prospect of a prayer book that has been written by Congress or a state legislature after hearings that result in all the political compromise found in most legislation.
