The First Ammendment and Dealing with the Separation of Church and State
Is it unconstitutional for local, state or federal governments to favor one religion over
another? Government can show favoritism toward religion by displaying religious
symbols in public places at taxpayer expense, by sponsoring events like Christmas
concerts, caroling, by supporting the teaching of religious ideas, or even by supporting
the teaching of creationism in public schools. It appears the United States government
has had a history of favoring Christianity.
The United States government's favoritism of Christianity is a clear violation of
the First Amendment. This amendment states that "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." There is
another reference to religion in Article 6, Section 3. This clause states "the United States
and the several States shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution,
but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust
under the United States"
(http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html). For the purpose
of this paper I am going to focus on the establishment of religion above mentioned in the
First Amendment.
The influence of religion on humankind can be traced back to the first records of
history. Ever since colonial times, the protection of personal freedoms in the United
States has been significantly important (Klinker, 1991: 109). The original Constitution
did not contain a bill of rights because the convention delegates felt that individual rights
were in no danger and would be protected by the states. However, the lack...
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... is still the driving force behind our government. American's idea of
rights are shaped daily by the Bill of Rights and the acts that Congress is prohibited to
amend.
Bibliography:
Bibliography
Grunes, Rodney A. (Autumn 1989). "Creationism, the Courts, and the First
Amendment," in Journal of Church and State, 456-86
Klinker, Philip A. (1991). The American Heritage History of the Bill of Rights. Silver
Burdett Press.
Rawle, William. http://www.constitution.org/wr/rawle_10.htm
Ruse, Michael. (1988). But Is It Science? Buffalo, New York:
Prometheus Books.
Scott, Eugenie C. (July 1994). The Struggle for the Schools. Natural History
10-13.
Witt, Elder (1988). The Supreme Court and Individual Rights. Washington D.C.:
Second Edition, Congressional Quarterly Inc.
www.house.gov/Constitution/Ammend.html
The United States Bill of Rights came into being as a result of a promise made by the Fathers of Confederation to the states during the struggle for ratification of the Constitution in 1787-88. A great number of the states made as a condition for their ratification, the addition of amendments, which would guarantee citizens protection of their rights against the central government. Thus, we have a rather interesting situation in which the entrenchment of a bill of rights in the American Constitution was done by the virtual demand of the states, they themselves fearing a central government which was not legally constrained and restricted as far as its powers were concerned.
After the preamble the second part of the Constitution is the seven articles which describe the elements of the Constitution. One of the articles gives the legislativ...
Story, J. (1987). Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press.
middle of paper ... ... In James Madison’s introduction of the Bill of Rights, he is pressing for the amendments to be placed in the Constitution, not as separate amendments. As in all government documents, great debate takes place and concessions made to pass a document through the system. Perhaps this is why the specific individual rights were left out of the Constitution.
...T AMENDMENT BECAUSE THE PRAYERS GIVEN BEFORE EACH MEETING SHOWED ENDORSEMENT AND COERCION OF A PARTICULAR FAITH.
Throughout this essay I will demonstrate how religion has played a role in the lives of humans as well as explicate the reasoning behind the true nature of the creation of religion by a psychopath.
xvii[xvii] “The Constitution of the United States of America” from American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999) pgs 566-572. Article I, Section 2, Clause 1.
Amendment I 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.
Schultz, David, and John R. Vile. The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America. 710-712. Gale Virtual Reference Library -. Gale Virtual Reference Library, n.d. Web.
Religion is considered as a pervasive force in this world. It shapes people as to how they behave and interact with almost everything present in the society. Influencing behavior, character formations, ideals, policies, standards are just among the dimensions and societal perspectives affected and impacted by religion. Because of these applications and implications in human lives and existence, religion should be understood deeply, particularly, on how it affects the world. Looking at the American perspective of the term "religion," it could be simply
[4] Hickok, Eugene Jr., ed. The Bill of Rights: Original Meaning and Current Understanding. Virginia: University Press of Virginia, 1991
"Declaration of the Rights of Man - 1789." The Avalon Project. Yale Law School, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
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. (First Amendment, Bill of Rights)
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
For thousands of years, religion has exerted a great influence over economic and political life. Even today religion is called upon to support rulers, contacts and other legal procedures.