ABSTRACT
Accommodationism is a school of thought that rejects the use of the “wall of separation” metaphor to interpret the Establishment Clause. The Accommodationists argue that the Clause, when understood in its proper historical context, permits governments to take affirmative steps to accommodate and advance religion. Chief Justice Rehnquist founded his critique of past Establishment Clause adjudication on his understanding of the original meaning of the Clause. The true meaning of the Establishment Clause can only be seen in its history. Similarly, the historian-attorney Leo Pfeffer argues that [t]he draftsmen of the First Amendment regarded freedom of religion as incompatible with an establishment. Accommodationists argue that the founders’ actual practices provide the definitive guide to interpreting the meaning of the Establishment Clause. After examining the practices followed during the founding generation, Chief Justice Rehnquist concludes that the Establishment Clause was designed to proscribe only two limited practices.
