First Amendment Definition

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause, together known as the Religion Clauses, established a wall of separation between the Church and State over two hundred years ago, and continue to uphold this wall as if ironclad to this day. It is interesting to note that there is no actual trace of the phrase “separation of Church and State” anywhere in the Constitution; rather, it was a term coined by Thomas Jefferson in an 1802 letter made after the fact of the Constitution’s ratification. However, the phrase’s absence from the Constitution does not mean that it is a less

The government is no more allowed to discriminate by inculcating the doctrines of a favored religion in its policies than to discriminate against beliefs and practices based on religion. This unprecedented provision eschewing an established state religion was penned by the Founding Fathers within the context of an America that widely accepted liberty of conscience at the time, a concept married to liberty of religion. The Fathers also considered historical examples of European governments meddling in religious affairs – religious establishment tended to complicate matters and foster malcontent and division within the people. To codify the values of liberty so important to the Fathers, to accommodate to a plurality of religions in a fledgling nation, and to avoid falling victim to history repeating itself, the provision for freedom of religion – and the wall of separation accompanying it – was included in the Constitution. Had the Fathers opted to create a more traditional relationship between church and state, religious belief and practice could not thrive as it does