The First Amendment was created to guarantee the separation of church and state. This fundamental freedom is a major reason why the U.S. has managed to avoid a lot of the religious conflicts that have torn so many other nations apart.
The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits government from encouraging or promoting ("establishing") religion in any way. This means that the government may not give financial support to any religion. That's why many school voucher programs violate the Establishment Clause -- because they give taxpayers' money to schools that promote religion.
The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment gives you the right to worship or not as you choose. The government can't penalize you because of your religious beliefs.
HOW DO YOU KNOW THE GOVERNMENT IS "ESTABLISHING RELIGION"?
In 1971, the Supreme Court decided Lemon v. Kurtzman which created three tests for determining whether a particular government act or policy unconstitutionally promotes religion.
The Lemon test says that in order to be constitutional, a policy must:
Have a non-religious purpose;
Not end up promoting or favoring any set of religious beliefs; and
Not overly involve the government with religion.
IS IT CONSTITUTIONAL TO TEACH RELIGION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
No. The public schools are run by the government. Therefore, they must obey the First Amendment. This means that while they can teach about the influences of religion in history, literature, and philosophy -- they can't promote religious beliefs or practices as part of the curriculum. Since private and parochial schools aren't run by the government, the First Amendment doesn't apply to them.
CAN MY TEACHER START THE DAY OR A MEETING WITH PRAYER?
No. Prayers, scriptural readings, and loudspeaker devotionals violate the First Amendment because they promote religion. This is true even if the prayer is "non-denominational" (not of any particular religion.) Moments of silence might be unconstitutional -- it depends on whether or not the real reason they're being held is to encourage prayer.
IS IT EVER OK TO PRAY IN SCHOOL?
Sure. Individual students have the right to pray whenever they want to, as long as they don't disrupt classroom instruction or other educational activities -- or try to force others to pray along with them. If a school official has told you that you can't pray at all during the school day, your right to exercise your religion is being violated. Contact your local ACLU for help.
IS IT OK TO CELEBRATE RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
It depends. Making Christmas stockings, Easter eggs or Hannukah dreidels is probably okay because, over the years, these have become secular customs that people of many different backgrounds enjoy. But a Nativity pageant, which is full of religious meaning, could be considered unconstitutional.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
-- First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
WHAT IF WE PUT IT TO A VOTE?
That doesn't change anything. In the United States, each individual has certain fundamental freedoms -- including freedom of religion. These can't be taken away, even by "majority rule."
Think about your friends who have different faiths or no religious beliefs at all. They'd still feel excluded from their own graduation exercises. Or worse, they'd feel like the school thought your religion was better than theirs. Put the shoe on the other foot for a second and think about how that would make you feel!
...is an introductory look into atheism/anti-theism and uses quotes, scriptures and a dash of humor to help the nonbeliever and believer alike understand what it is to be a person who is against religion.
It gives the reader a clear understanding of the differences between a theist, deist, atheist, agnostic, and an anti-theist then it discusses numerous topics including the treatment of women in religion, the sheer ridiculousness of the ancient text these belief systems are based on and the charlatans who use it as a weapon to prey on the weak and helpless.
Why would atheist want to take God out of your courthouses, off your money, ban it from public practice or display and, heaven forbid, ban you from teaching it to your children?
Why would someone want to do that? If you read the book you'll find out.
If you're a religious person you could see this as a 'Know thy enemy' moment. Study up on us devil worshiping, baby eating anti-theists and see why we think you're the crazy ones.
This book makes very interesting reading and is quite an eye opener for all who think the bible is such a holy book. I found myself giggling aloud at some of the passages, his comments are quite hilarious. I think that the part of the Rabbi sucking the blood of the infant during circumcision is a load of balderdash, though. Christians especially should be made to read this book. R. Bingham
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