Supreme Court strikes a blow against 19th century religious intolerance

As the broad agreement among justices of diverse views in this case makes clear, it's about time.

Justices Steven Breyer and Elena Kagan joined the court's conservative bloc in ruling against the state government of Missouri for its refusal of a grant to Trinity Lutheran Church on the sole basis of its religious identity.

The case involved, of all things, the resurfacing of a playground. The state had set up a grant program to promote recycling and child safety at the same time. Organizations that purchased safe rubber playground surfaces made of recycled tires could apply to the state for a reimbursement grant. Trinity Lutheran qualified for such a grant and under the rules of the program should have been reimbursed.

But its application was denied because of the so-called Blaine Amendment in Missouri's constitution.

The Blaine Amendment refers to an odious anti-Catholic provision that exists in 38 state constitutions and was nearly added to the U.S. Constitution as part of a xenophobic political campaign in the 19th century. It is named after James Blaine, the Republican House Speaker whose 1884 presidential candidacy was undone by his outspoken antipathy toward what one of his supporters fatefully described as "rum, Romanism, and rebellion."