I think there is a noticeable difference between the first amendment and the Freedom of worship section. The first amendment has more than just religious protection, it talks about the freedom of the press, the right to assemble, and to protest the government. While the freedom of worship section goes into more detail about religious protection from government and others. I agree with your assessment on what can happen when a state constitution does not match up with the United States Constitution. However, I disagree with you on whether states should be permitted to be inconsistent with the United States Constitution. For one reason, this can lead to separation of states from the federal government and the possibility of some states trying
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.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion or impeding the free exercise of religion. Adopted on 15 December 1791, it is one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.
The First Amendments is a blessing that the United States is fortunate enough to have. First and foremost, First Amendment protects the right to freedom of religion and expression, without any government interference ("First Amendment" n.p.). The freedom of expression includes the right to free speech, press, assembly, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances ("First Amendment" n.p.). Redress of grievances guarantees people the right to ask the government to provide relief for a wrong through courts or other governmental action ("First Amendment" n.p.). People are allowed to practice their own religions and do not have to conform to one religion, all because of the First Amendment. People's rights are protected with no government interference.
Some Religious activists try to extricate the concept of separation between church and State by claiming that those words do not occur in the Constitution. Indeed they do not, but neither does it exactly say "freedom of religion," yet the First Amendment implies both.
A very popular constitutional issue in America is the First Amendment. The First Amendment is meant to protect, but in today’s society it is being questioned that the argument is being overly used. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference (Esmaili). Freedom of religion created the separation of church and state. It prohibits the government from interfering with a person's practice of their religion. The right to freedom of speech allows individuals to express themselves without government interference or regulation. The right of freedom of expression gives the right to assemble and gather for peaceful and lawful purposes. It was adopted into the Bill of Rights in 1791. The Court later interpreted the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as protecting the rights in the First Amendment from interference by state governments. Putting this is layman’s term, you can pretty much say what you want without being penalized.
Being that The Supreme Court declares what is or is not constitutional, they didn’t view this to be an issue. If states decided to misuse its power. For instance, the First Amendment declares “Congress” that cannot make regulations restricting freedom of speech. However, states were unrestricted to make such laws; nothing was present in the constitution that required the states to shield rights established in the constitution. The Supreme Court would have to subject to the states in way because individuals are granted new civil liberties in The Constitution supported by the federal government and not the state.
The first part of that amendment is the result of the Founding Fathers’ experience with the long history of religious strife in Europe such as the French Wars of Religion, the Thirty Years’ War, and the Crusades. They realized that religious disagreement can be counterproductive and create setbacks in politics. It would be even worse if one religious group was favored. So, they ensured that the federal government cannot interfere in the citizen's personal
The First Amendment is about the freedom of religion and being able for anyone to express what they believe if the government was forced to remove ‘under God’ from the Pledge of Allegiance it would violate the freedom of religion of those who do believe in God. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (“First”). If congress did make a law restricting the use of ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance it would be a breach in the rights of American citizens. Included in that is the complication of the fact of freedom of speech which in addition to freedom of religion is a part in the Amendment. “It [the First Amendment] guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely” (“First”). By not allowing citizens to say the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance would be breaking the inalienable rights of all American
The free exercise of religion, the freedom of speech, and the freedom of assembly are each absolutely essential for the health of our Republic. That is why the Founding Fathers enshrined them all in the First Amendment. While some people up hold the first amendment and respect its meaning. Unfortunately, these freedoms are currently under assault by the government, state officials and communities.
The suggested separation between church and state in contemporary America is not what the framers of our constitution and our country had in mind as they wrote the words “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” After deconstructing the words, the most insignificant adjective “an,” tells us that the framers wanted to restrain Congress from installing any one religion as the official religion of the state. Those immortal words say nothing about religion informing congress or society on policy, education, or progress. I maintain that the first amendment’s establishment clause regarding religion was to protect citizens’ free exercise of religion from state interests and
The United States Constitution is the founding document of the United States of America. It represents not only the liberty of the country, but also the principles and beliefs that this country was founded upon. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a ratified correction to that document stating “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.” (U.S. Const. Amend. I) In the very first portion of the First Amendment, the framers of the Constitution wrote the Old English equivalent to “Congress cannot pass any laws promoting or demoting any religion.” The United States Government has been very diligent about staying within the reach of the Constitution until it offered churches the opportunity to become tax exempt and began ignoring the First Amendment.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution and the Freedom of Worship section in the Texas Constitution are similar in that they both allow all people the right to follow a religion or not freely without any law infringing on these rights. This allows people protection from government involvement in religion, and also protects all any people from being persecute by religion. However, the difference between them is that the First Amendment also included more rights such a freedom speech, freedom of press, freedom of assembly that cannot be prohibited by government law. When a state’s constitution interferes with the US Constitution the US Constitution will be held over the State Constitution because of the Supremacy Clause. Thus the federal
The constitution was written in 1787 and in 1789 the bill of rights were ratified. The first amendment specifically states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” (KSS, pg 199, n.d.). When the constitution was written it was reticent about religion because many of the delegates were committed federalists (Library of Congress, n.d.). It was the belief that the power to make laws on religion reside with the state and not the national government. Another reason for the first amendment is because delegates foresaw the tactical mistake of introducing such politically controversial issues into the constitution.
This amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, hindering the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. Originally, the First Amendment applied only to laws enacted by Congress. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies the First Amendment to each state, including any local government.
The First Amendment clearly establishes that there exists "a wall of separation between the church and state" (Leinwand 296A). A loose interpretation that would permit cracks in this "wall" cannot be tolerated. Any attempt of the government to either favor or discourage a religion should be found unconstitutional by the court system.