Religious Freedom Of The United States

One of the main reasons that the settlers came and founded America was for religious freedom. Colonist made the long and dangerous journey for other reasons as well, but a major factor was the search for religious freedom. Coming to America alone did not solve this problem; the journey to religious freedom was just that, a journey. Everyone had a slightly different idea of what this new nation’s ‘religious freedom’ should look like and it took many years to come to a compromise.

Recently, students were instructed to write an essay along with a pictorial representation of the person they considered to be their hero. Since one student chose Jesus as his hero and submitted a drawing of the Last Supper, possible legal complications need to be considered before grading and displaying the assignment. An examination of First Amendment legal issues that arise when a student submits an assignment of religious nature will provide insight into how the First Amendment applies in the classroom.

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, ' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."5

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

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison cowrote "The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom" in 1786 in an effort to end state funded religion. The struffle was fought by religious leaders who requested a state tax to fund their institutions. They feared that without a state tax moral fabric of society would disintegrate. This bill ended the feud between religion and state, and created the precedent for religious freedom in the United States. "Conventional wisdom teaches that secularization was an essential ingredient in the cultural background for liberal democracy. To have liberal pluralistic democracy, it is said, we in the West first had to break away from the religious worldviews that were characteristic of pre-modern feudalism, aristocracy, and monarchy" (Mcconnell, 2003, p.943).

The fight for religious freedom in America is tough for people who do not participate in the religion known as Christianity. Since America is a large and culturally diverse land, the United States of America’s government has to be religiously tolerant to every belief system. Throughout America's lifespan, the subject matter “Freedom of Religion” has increasingly gained attention from the American Act. Thecitizens. In order to protect the religious liberties of American citizens the government has put into place a free exercise clause in the year of 1878, this allowed American citizens to practice religion freely in America. However, many issues have risen and promoted the creation of America's Religious Freedom Act.The largest issue surrounding religious freedom in

First, a short recap on American history. During the 17th century, in England the official religion was Anglican, there were few who opposed his majesty and practiced other religions as there were punishments to these actions. Later on, these religious groups were given the opportunity to practice their faith in the New World as colonies of England. Finally, the pilgrims, puritans, Lutherans, and even Catholics had escaped religious persecution they faced in England; in the new found land they could freely practice their beliefs. Therefore, when declaring independence from England, the founding fathers wrote “freedom of religion” in the Bill of Rights and implemented a separation of church and state in order to avoid the government to influence the country based on religious convictions. In an article by Doug Weaver, Weaver references a book by Frank Lambert entitled “Separation of Church and State:

Even when the Constitution establishes a separation between church and state, traces of religion can still be found in public and government environments, such as the Pledge of Allegiance containing the words ‘under God’, American currency having ‘In God we trust’ and other such events and places. Consequently, this prevalence of Christian ideology violates all Americans’ first amendment right to freedom of and from religion and has a negative impact all citizens as it conflicts with their individual beliefs, religious or not.

When the Pilgrims settled into Massachusetts in 1620, they dreamed of a better life, a life away from the persecution they experienced in England from King George. They never would have dreamed that their small colony of Plymouth would blossom to be one of the largest countries in the world. And yet, nearly four hundred years later, it has become apparent to many, that America is in a downward spiral. It has come to a time where, the fate of our country could fall into the hands of one of the many people who believe it is right to persecute those of a specific religion because the actions of a small group of religious extremists. The unalienable First Amendment right of freedom of religion would be denied to more than 2.6 million people, based on uneducated assumptions. In addition to this, America has come to the point where more than forty-five million people live in poverty. Likewise, statistics show approximately 48.1 million people are in the uncomfortable position where they are insecure about their next, if not current, meal. In addition to this, our famous government, our renowned democracy, has become belittled by assumptions of political corruption. Furthermore, the morals in America have started to disappear, not only in our government, but also in our society. More kids are getting bullied and more people agree that we should rely less on faith, the very reason we built and expanded our country in the first place. Our once thriving nation

“The words "under God" were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 to show the world the stark contrast between the United States of America and the Communist regime.” The words show the relationship between our country and our social system. This also shows that more than half of the country approved adding in the words “under god.” “The men who created our government were men of strong faith.” The men who created the government understood the rights that we inherit from God. Although our freedom does not come from government but, being a Christian in the government must of helped America get its freedom. In 1954, 80% of the country supported having “Under God” in the pledge, so it should

"In God We Trust" should be removed from United States' currency. The mention of God, which is a religious belief, misrepresents those United States citizens who do not hold this belief. In Source D, Jon Murray, President of the non-profit organization American Atheists, argues that the motto "In God We Trust" inscribed on the mint violates the Free Speech, Free Exercise, and Establishment clauses of the First Amendment. It violates Free Speech by the inability to erase or eliminate the inscription by making it illegal by criminal law that "[w]hoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States' shall be fined under this title or

To begin with the role of religion in America’s founding, let us start with the first amendment. It is written thusly:

The act of defining religion has been a contentious issue in a wide variety of situations, particularly in the United States. The US is a nation that prides itself on religious inclusivity and freedom. There are consequences to this belief and tenant. Through the social, legal and moral structures of the United States, defining religion has become imperative. In The Impossibility of Religious Freedom, Winifred Sullivan outlines the legal implications of defining religion in the United States. In order for religious freedom to be protected by the American state, religion must be clearly defined. As a result, religious theory must be used to maintain some semblance of religious freedom in the United States. Likewise, Josh Dubler’s Down in

In 1639, the founding fathers who were puritans held two views which they wanted to establish in colonial America. They wanted to establish America as a haven of religious freedom as well as a Christian Nation. But in the centuries that followed there was a shift in the wording of the constitution. 150 years later George Washington swore to preserve the constitution which had been amended and there was no mention of God or divine Providence. America does not want to tell the world that it is Christian Republic but that it is a secular nation. (http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i7500.html)

Freedom of religion has been a right guaranteed to individuals in society. However, it is ultimately just an idea put in place that is disregarded as something insignificant. The workplaces of many people choose to deny employees the right to express their religion freely, for fear it may leave a bad image for the company. It is apparent that freedom of religion is not a strong right as many people may have originally thought it was. The limits of this right have been tested for decades and continue to be an issue for people today. Freedom of religion may go on to exist as a right in society, but when investigating deeper into this privilege, it is evident that it is merely an idea taken for granted.