Americans United has been saying all along that while these classes can be objective in theory, in practice they are often not – and that many of the legislators pushing them don’t really want objective instruction about the Bible; they want Sunday School lessons that reflect biblical literalism.

Kennedy’s announcement that he is retiring is cause for sadness and alarm – mainly because Trump gets to replace him. While Kennedy was often wrong on separation of church and state, he was right just enough to make him an important swing vote on some occasions.