FREEDOM OF RELIGION

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution

RELEVANT TEXT
Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion,

or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

MEANING
The first two clauses of the first amendment, namely the
establishment and the free exercise clause, prohibit a required
state religion and allow all religions to be practiced.
The government cannot say you cannot practice your
religion, nor can they force you to practice a certain religion.

TODAY
Today there are so many religions practiced in the US, with over
300 documented denominations. The first amendment allows all of
these religions to be practiced freely without government interference.
The freedom of religion has a few different interpretations: Some
say that you cannot stop the practice of religion at all, others say you
can stop it if the display would be seen as endorsed by the

government.

THE LEMON TEST

There are three criteria that should be used to assess
legislation: "First, the statute must have a secular legislative
purpose; second, its principal or primary effect must be one
that neither advances or inhibits religion; finally, the statute
must not foster and excessive government Entanglement with
religion."

LEE V. WIESMAN
A Jewish parent in Providence, Rhode Island challenged the local
school district's policy of including a prayer in its graduation
ceremonies.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the graduation
prayer violated the Establishment Clause.
This ruling extended the prohibition of school prayer to

graduation ceremonies.

G I L L E T T E V. U N I T E D S TAT E S
Gillette refused to report for induction but claimed that he would
participate in wars of national defense or United Nations peace-keeping
wars, but not Vietnam.

The Court decided 8-1 that Congress did not act unconstitutionally by
limiting conscientious objector status to those people who objected to all
wars.
People are now required to become religious pacifists if they wish to

be exempt from military service.