Maroń Grzegorz, The secular aims of public authorities in making references to God based on the example of ceremonial deism. A study of U.S. case law

The term „ceremonial deism” was begun by a former dean of the Yale Law School, Eugene Rostow. He used it in 1962 during his academic lecture at the Brown University to determine the actions of public authorities referring to God or religion, the constitutionality of which arises from their „conventional and uncontroversial character”.

Ceremonial deism is not uniformly interpreted. It is usually pointed, that it contains non-coercive, passive, symbolic, ritualistic, supported by long-term tradition, general references to God with a minimal religious content or with none of it at all – despite their religious language – serving secular aims . The understanding of deism in the scope of ceremonial deism concept abstracts from its theological purport.

There is no consensus among legal scholars and judges regarding what qualifies as ceremonial deism acts. Jurisprudence and case law do not deliver clear rules to determine which government's practice belongs to ceremonial deism and they do not...