Religion and School Prayer in Public Schools Essays

Since before the United States was founded, the ideals of Christianity have been integrated into the government in some way, shape, or form. In the early days of the Colonies, Christianity was the centerfold for all government affairs; however, after the constitution was ratified and deemed effective in the United States, the First Amendment was born. The first amendment states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (source). In the early life of the United States, the

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution founded the concrete belief that government and faith-based institutions must and will remain separate from one another. This section of the first amendment disavows the U.S. government to establish or sanction any system of organized faiths or religions upon the people or to outlaw or disgrace any systems of organized faiths as well. But the line discerning the legitimacy of a faith and the true extent of the government's power over faith-based organizations has only remained to become muddled over the past 240 years of its establishment. Over the years, the ideology and true intent of the founding fathers had remained in question, where some believe the amendment addresses to the general

The Founding Fathers tried to protect citizen’s rights to religious choice and attempted to keep the government form religious interference. The purpose was not to disallow religion but to give the people a choice of whom and where to worship. Today, the views are not the same. Freedom of religion is being interpreted as freedom of religion as long as it is acceptable with everyone else. The Founding Fathers also wanted separation of church and state to protect the church from government interference. The concept has now become removal of religion from all aspects of government. The cases of Van Orden v. Perry and McCreary County v. ACLU are two prime examples, both with different results.

The First Amendment ensures that there is separation between Church and State. However, this disjunction is not absolute. As the United States has become a more multi-cultural society, certain rituals have become problematic. Some issues were traditions that put one religion at the forefront, violating of the Establishment Clause; other issues affected peoples’ right to free expression of their religion. Many times people do not realize the Judeo-Christian bias in our culture because it is so integrated into our way of life. This country needs to recognize these biases and address them as the United States become a more diverse population.

In 1962, Engel v. Vitale was an important Supreme Court Case in the United States that required a firm “wall of separation” between church and state. A group of families in New Hyde park, New York did not appreciate the implementation of a state prayer in their children’s schools. They families challenged the court about the constitutionality of this practice. The courts were in favor of the families as Justice Hugo

The first amendment deals with religion among other topics. The general meaning behind the amendment is that the government cannot interfere with religious matters; the government and religious views must be kept separate. This is an idea that rings true today and people feel comfortable with the fact that they will not be judged on their religious practices in a court of law or other political matter.

Originally, the separation of church and state stands for the principle that the American government must always keep up an unbiased attitude toward religion, as opposed to the English system which has an official state Church which it supports through taxes. Unlike what a majority people think, the isolation of the church and the government is not required by the first amendment, despite the fact that they kind of have the same final objective which is keeping the government from officially recognizing or

The First Amendment declares, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The fundamental ideas behind the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause are both involved in the literature of this statement. Both of these clauses support the separation of government involvement in religious affairs. Nonetheless, the Establishment Clause is distinct from the former because it specifically “requires a degree of separation between church and state” (Rossum, 281).

America was founded by people who possessed a deeply held belief in the idea of a fundamental right to freedom of religion and freedom of speech. These fundamental beliefs were traced back to the traditions of the English Common Law and the English Constitution. After the American Revolution the first amendment took the form of a collection of fundamental rights contained within State Constitutions. In response to a lack of national power and unity the form of U.S. Government was altered. The newly ratified U.S. Constitution created a form of government of with three branches with stronger enumerated powers. While the new structure a Supreme Court it but did not expressly protect personal liberties like freedom of religion or freedom of speech. In order to ease antifederalist fears of federal encroachments on person freedom, the first ten amendments were added to the Constitution know as the the Bill of Rights. This altered the new form of government by providing federal restrictions. However during Reconstruction the addition of the14th amendment altered the form of government by requiring due process and equal protection for all citizens. Consequently the Supreme Court in the 1920’s changed the form of U.S. government through Judicial activism by applying the protections of the Bill of Rights like the first amendment to include prohibition of infringements States laws. This opened the gateway for further Judicial activism to define the scope and limitations of these

The First Amendment was created to keep the state and church separate. Which in turn gives all religions freedom to worship and practice their faith without state interference or funding. In the 1960s, two cases changed the state funded school systems drastically. They tested the interpretation of the First Amendment and how it protects the minority religions in America.

In the United States, religious neutrality appears throughout society as an attempt to respect majority and minority religions, which seems implausible due to the complicated relationship between religion and government. When the government makes legal decisions involving religion, the ideal of neutrality seemingly dissipates when one faith appears to garner more respect over another in earning the majority decision in the Courts. This impossibility of state neutrality is apparent when balancing citizens’ freedom to practice their religion with the government choosing one religious value over another. This idea of balance originates in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which declares, “Congress shall make no law

The United States is a place where different types of people live together and gradually create one community. Within these communities are those who hold different faiths and beliefs. Right from the start of time we have begun as an assembly of societies that understood our religious differences. Spiritual acceptance among Americans is as strong now as it was once the Declaration of Independence was written by our forefathers. Nevertheless, the concepts of religion and government that they put in place by means of the Constitution of the United States and its Amendments no longer provides the freedoms of religion that they had in mind. The concern of our forefathers was to allow individuals to worship as they desire. The First Amendment of the United States addressed how our new government and religion would work stating: “Congress shall

The American system of government and society has been one aimed at the promotion of individualism and an overarching protection of values since its original establishment. In many ways, this was reflected in the aims of the original settlers who traveled from England to escape religious and political persecution. Upon establishing independence from Britain and creating a new nation, the founding fathers cemented this focus on individual freedom in their creation of the Constitution and, in particular, the accompanying Bill of Rights. The First Amendment in particular provides a strong protection of individual liberties by guaranteeing such core rights as freedom of speech, assembly, and press. However, perhaps the most significant—and most debated—element of the First Amendment is the clause that establishes separation of church and state.

In 1791, ten amendments were made to the U.S. constitution: The Bill of Rights. The first of these rights given to the citizens of America is the right to freedom of religion and freedom of the press. Countless court cases have brought the issue of the separation of church and state to light. Legal battles and administrative actions in the government have led to conversations about how much religion should be involved in schools and what power the state has over religion.

America existed on the basic idea of freedom; in the United States there are different types of religion; Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and others. If religion and state is separate that freedom that is aimed by every individual is reached. The first amendment does not necessarily state that the constitution and religion should be separate but it stated that congress have no right to judge or make any law that interfere with an individual religious rights. This makes sense because in America there are different religions and not all have the same view; it will not be easily to create the free country, America with these different views. The founder fathers themselves may have been from a slightly different background and made a constitution that knew no history of any individual but as a country that counts to hold everyone.