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Essay / Separation of Church and State and the Different Interpretations of the First Amendment
The First Amendment is an essential part of the ideals of liberty in American society. The First Amendment can be assumed to support the idea of separation of church and state because it protects people from coerced religious activity or participation in religious practices in all aspects of public life . Court cases ranging from state appeals to Supreme Court hearings have ruled in favor of the separation of church and state due to the constraints imposed by the First Amendment. The First Amendment protects the right to support or believe in religion or lack thereof while also preventing infringement of the ideological freedom of others. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay The judiciary sets the limits of constitutionality behind the separation of church and state through different interpretations of the former amendment. The separation of church and state implies that government and federal institutions are not influenced by or exert any influence over a certain belief or ideology. The origin of the ideas behind the separation of church and state comes from our founding fathers in their attempt to create a safe and tolerant environment for the general population of our newly formed nation. A common argument against the separation of church and state is that our nation was founded with the support of Christian beliefs, as evidenced by our national motto "In God We Trust" as well as commitment to our nation's flag including the phrase "One Nation Under God." Put into perspective, of course, the natural biases of our founding fathers' spiritual beliefs would show through the cracks of our country's founding, but the freedoms were clearly spelled out and granted to citizens in order to prevent America from becoming a oppressive federal force like the countries where many immigrants were welcomed. trying to escape their time. Even though the formation of our country was based on granting freedoms to everyone, the separation of church and state remains a great controversy in the field of education. The line is drawn by funding at the federal level to determine when separation or non-separation is deemed unconstitutional or not. Because public schools are federally funded, they are subject to ideals of separation of church and state and are more often criticized for being unconstitutional. However, private schools are privately funded and therefore have more freedom to include certain beliefs, as a "gray area" forms. The confusion behind the public versus private argument comes from the fact that the separation of church and state is founded and supported at the federal level, so private institutions have the right to have their beliefs equally protected in accordance with the constitution. Some court cases involving education focused on whether religious content could or should be taught, while others dealt with slightly biased religious vernacular or practices used in some schools. One court case in particular, Abington School District v. Schempp, denied state-sponsored school prayer, while another case, Wallace v. Jaffree, ruled that moments of silence were constitutional in public schools. Individual freedoms are always protected in public or private schools, regardless of the.