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The Importance Of The First Amendment

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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.
The First Amendment ensures citizens a measure of freedom of expression, especially in the area of religion. The Establishment Clause, prohibits the government from creating a national religion.
Neither a state nor a federal government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force... a person to go to or remain away from church against his …show more content…

It reflected the framers’ desire to ensure that the religious persecution suffered under British rule would not be tolerated in this new government. Puritans limited Protestants’ religious freedom in Massachusetts (1684), so King James II temporarily revoked their royal charter. This is an early example of belief in religious freedom. Forrest Church, author of The Separation of Church and State, asserts that religious liberty was mostly due to two things; Enlightenment values and “Christian imperatives.” Christian imperatives were a set of goals that were supposed to guide your life. The Enlightenment values were a set of shared principles instead of a religious-type belief system. Many important people of the time believed in the Enlightenment values including John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James

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