Status of religious freedom in the United States

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In the United States, The US Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of worship.

[edit] Legal Foundation

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, (first proposed in 1789, ratified in 1791), prohibits the federal government from "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" This provision was later expanded to state and local governments, through the Incorporation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The affirmation or denial of specific religious beliefs had in the past been made into qualifications for public office, however, the [[United States that the inauguration of a President was included in order to respect the religious prerogatives of the Quakers, a Protestant Christian denomination that declines the swearing of oaths. The U.S. Constitution also provides that "ever be required as a Qualification of any Office or public Trust under the United States." Currently, seven states, have language included in their of their constitutions that require state office-holders to have particular religious beliefs. These states are Texas, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Some of these these beliefs (or oaths) were historically required of jurors and witnesses in court. Even though they are still on the books, these provisions have been rendered unenforceable by U.S. Supreme Court decisions. ^[1]

[edit] Religious Institutions

The Christian flag displayed alongside the flag of the USA next to the pulpit in a church in California. Note the eagle and cross finials on the flag poles.

In 1944 a joint committee of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America and the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, formulated a “Statement on Religious Liberty”

“Religious Liberty shall be interpreted to include freedom to worship according to conscience and to bring up children in the faith of their parents; freedom for the individual to change his religion; freedom to preach, educate, publish and carry on missionary activities; and freedom to organise with others, and to acquire and hold property, for these purposes.”

[edit] The "Wall of Separation"

Thomas Jefferson wrote that the First Amendment erected a "wall of separation between church and state". Controversy rages in the United States between those who wish to restrict government involvement with religious institutions and remove religious references from government institutions and property, and those who wish to loosen such prohibitions. Advocates for stronger separation of church and state emphasize the plurality of faiths and non-faiths in the country, and what they see as broad guarantees of the federal Constitution. Their opponents emphasize what they see as the largely Christian heritage and history of the nation (often citing the references to "Nature's God" and the "Creator" of men in the Declaration of Independence). Some more socially conservative Christian sects, i.e. the Christian Reconstructionist movement, oppose the wall of separation between Church and State and actively seek to impose "God's law" onto everyone.

Problems also arise in USA public schools within the concerning teachings and display of religious issues. In various countries school choice and education vouchers have been put forward as solutions to accommodate variety in beliefs and freedom of religion, by allowing individual school boards to choose between a secular, religious or multi-faith vocation, and allowing parents free choice among these schools. Critics of American voucher programs claim that it takes funds away from public schools, and that the amount of funds given by vouchers are not enough to help many middle and working class parents.

U.S. judges often ordered alcoholic defendants to attend Alcoholics Anonymous or face imprisonment. However, in 1999 a federal appeals court ruled this unconstitutional because the A.A. program relies on submission to a "Higher Power".

[edit] The Workplace

Problems sometimes arise in the workplace concerning religious observance when a private employer discharges an employee for failure to report to work on what the employee considers a Holy day or a day of rest. In the United States, the view that has generally prevailed is that firing for any cause in general renders a former employee ineligible for unemployment compensation, but that this is no longer the case if the 'cause' is religious in nature, especially an employee's unwillingness to work on his or her sabbath.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.religioustolerance.org/texas.htm