Lesson 10 - The Bill of Rights
Reading Further - What Is Religious Freedom?
Freedom of religion is the first right listed in the Bill of Rights. founders of our nation took this freedom very
seriously. Yet, despite its prominent place in the First Amendment, religious freedom is a hotly debated
issue. The struggle to define and protect this right continues even today.
September 3, 1999, was a big day in Santa Fe, Texas, a small town just south of Houston. It was the first day of the
high school football season. But there was more happening that day than just a football game.
Marian Ward, a student at the school, was going to read a prayer over the loudspeaker before the game. This was a
common custom in towns across Texas. But a U.S. district court had recently said that public prayer on school
grounds violated religious freedom under the First Amendment. This decision angered many people in Santa Fe,
who believed they had a right to hear prayers at football games.
Marian, the daughter of a Baptist minister, defied the court that night and delivered her prayer anyway. “God, thank
you for this evening,” she began. “Thank you for all the prayers that were lifted up this week for me. I pray that you’ll
bless each and every person here tonight.” When she was done, the crowd erupted in applause.
Not everyone applauded, though. Amanda Bruce, another student, objected that the prayer could be offensive to
“every other faith that does not pray to Jesus or God. People need to think about the person sitting next to them who
may not be a Christian.”
Amanda, who is Catholic, helped to organize a protest before the homecoming game a month later. She and other
students carried signs that read, “Prayer is Private.” The football game prayers continued through that season,
though. The following year, the Supreme Court declared the practice unconstitutional throughout the nation.
The dispute over public prayer at football games highlights a deeper question: What is religious freedom? In theory,
it is the right to worship as one pleases, or not to worship at all, without interference from others. But it is not quite
that simple. In fact, religious freedom means different things to different people. Most Americans believe strongly in
the principle of religious freedom. But they don’t always agree on how this right should be defined and protected.
Religious Liberty in the Colonies
The issue of religious freedom has been debated since the earliest days of the American colonies. Many colonists
came to America seeking religious freedom. But that does not mean they extended that liberty to people who held
different beliefs. For the most part, their attitude seemed to be “religious freedom for me but not for you.” Most
colonies set up a government-sponsored church and insisted that people attend services. People who practiced a
different faith could be punished. They might be fined, jailed, or even whipped.
Gradually, however, things began to change. As more colonists arrived, the variety of religious faiths increased. This
made it more difficult to impose any one faith on a colony. Another factor was the growing influence of
Enlightenment beliefs. Leading thinkers, such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, believed that people had a
natural right to equality. This meant that no religion or church should be favored over any other. To do so, they
argued, would deny equal rights to all.
Jefferson’s Law
In Jefferson’s view, in fact, government should not support or oppose any church or religion. All religious matters
should be left to the individual. In other words, there should be a clear separation between church and state. In
1776, Jefferson began to promote religious reform in the Virginia Assembly. Three years later, as governor, he
proposed a bill to make religious freedom the law in Virginia.
Jefferson’s bill aroused great opposition. Some members of the assembly thought it was too radical. They wanted
the state to support the Christian religion. While Jefferson was away in France, Madison fought for the bill’s
passage. Finally, in 1786, it became law.
Jefferson’s law, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, said that no one could be forced to attend or support
“any religious worship, place, or ministry.” It also said that no one should be made to suffer for “his religious opinions
or belief.” All people, it said, should be free to express “their opinions in matters of religion.” Jefferson considered
this law one the most important achievements of his life. It laid the foundation for religious freedom in the First
Amendment.
The Religion Clause of the First Amendment
Like Jefferson, James Madison was committed to religious liberty. In his proposal for the Bill of Rights, he made
sure it contained a clause on religious freedom. In fact, that clause is the first right listed in the First Amendment.
During the months that Congress debated the Bill of Rights, the religion clause was revised several times. Finally,
Congress approved the final version, which reads,
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
This sentence may have seemed clear at the time. But it has led to some confusion over the years. First, it mentions
Congress but says nothing about the states. Madison tried to include words that would prevent states from limiting
religious freedom, but the Senate blocked his efforts.
A second source of confusion is the phrase “an establishment of religion.” To some people, this simply means that
the government cannot create an official religion or support a particular church. Others argue that the phrase means
more than that.They say it forbids all government involvement in religion. To support this view, they cite a letter
Jefferson wrote in 1802. In it, he said that the First Amendment builds “a wall of separation between church and
state.”
The Issue Moves to the Courts
For 150 years after the Bill of Rights was written, there was little debate over religious freedom. The courts—and
most Americans—seemed to agree on what it meant.
In the 1940s, however, that sense of agreement came to an end. The Supreme Court began to hear cases that
involved possible violations of religious freedom at the state level. The Court based its actions on the Fourteenth
Amendment, which was ratified in 1868. This amendment guarantees equal protection of the laws to all citizens,
wherever they live. This means that First Amendment rights, including religious freedom, apply to the states.
One of the Court’s first important cases was Everson v. Board of Education of the Township of Ewing (1947). This
case involved the use of tax money in New Jersey to fund bus transport for students at Catholic schools. A man
named Arch Everson claimed that this use of public money represented government support for religion. In its
decision, the Court agreed that the First Amendment does not allow public funds to be used for religious activities,
including religious education. It said that government must remain “neutral” in religious matters. It cannot promote or
oppose any church or religion.
In this case, however, the Court did not agree that the use of tax money violated the First Amendment. It said that
providing basic services, such as bus transport, does not qualify as support for religion. It said that students have a
right to basic services no matter where they went to school. The Court’s decision affirmed the separation of church
and state. But it also showed that the details of a case matter. The issue is not always clear-cut.
Since that time, the Court has heard many cases involving religious freedom. School prayer has been a key
issue. In Engel v.Vitale (1962), the Court struck down the use of an official prayer in New York public schools. In Lee
v. Weisman, the Court banned school-sponsored prayer at graduation ceremonies. And in Santa Fe Independent
School District v. Doe (2000)—the football-prayer case—the Court said that schools cannot sponsor a prayer before
football games.
These decisions sparked angry protests. Some people claimed that religion belongs in public schools. They said the
Court was violating their religious freedom by prohibiting prayer and other religious activities in schools. Some
justices on the Court disagreed with the majority decisions. They argued that the Court was opposing religion. For
most justices, however, the decisions reflected a neutral position, neither for nor against religion.
Clearly, the issue of religious freedom arouses strong feelings. What seems like a right to some people may not
seem like a right to others. These disputes are not resolved easily. In fact, they may never be settled
completely. The effort to ensure religious freedom for all remains an ongoing challenge.