The First Amendment

The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress

The significance of the phrase “separation of church and state” allow non-Christians to be able to voice their opinions without fear of not being heard, their right to pray in place of work is guaranteed. One of the biggest benefits of this statement is that it doesn’t force people of other religions to pray in the school or swear in the judicial system on the Bible.

The First Amendments is a blessing that the United States is fortunate enough to have. First and foremost, First Amendment protects the right to freedom of religion and expression, without any government interference ("First Amendment" n.p.). The freedom of expression includes the right to free speech, press, assembly, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances ("First Amendment" n.p.). Redress of grievances guarantees people the right to ask the government to provide relief for a wrong through courts or other governmental action ("First Amendment" n.p.). People are allowed to practice their own religions and do not have to conform to one religion, all because of the First Amendment. People's rights are protected with no government interference.

I agree with the outcome because the authorities did not have enough probable cause to force the suspect into giving up his passwords to the encrypted drives. The District Attorney attempted to circumvent the current laws in order to force decryption of the drives that would have violated the suspect’s rights against self incrimination which would have been a direct violation of the Fifth Amendment. If the authorities already had the same evidence they were asking for it would have served no purpose if the drives were decrypted. If the drives did in fact contain the content that the prosecutor claimed to be on the drives and that information would have been used as evidence against the suspect, so the suspect had every legal right to refuse tho give up the passwords. The fact that the suspect invoked his Fifth Amendment rights in which he refused to provide the drives encryption keys or refused to decrypted content is the sole reason why I agreed with the suspect. I also found what the prosecutor attempted to do to be unethical, if he wanted the information that bad with out having the evidence to support his suspicions, he should have followed the law and granted the suspect total, and unlimited immunity from prosecution.

A controversial issue I’ve seen pop up within the past few years, is that of the pledge of allegiance being said in classes. As with prayer in schools, the issue that people have is that they claim it is unconstitutional as the phrase “under god” violates the first amendment right to freedom of religion. The opposing view point argues that it is disrespectful and unpatriotic to not say the pledge, as people have died to protect us. Another point made against the view that it violates the first amendment, is that it only states “under god” not pointing to one specific religion. This debate has been going on since the early 2000’s. several appeals have been filed to the supreme court as seen in Newdow v. U.S. congress. Where Michael Newdow tried

Thomas Jefferson fought for separation of church and state, in Virginia. Jefferson fought so strongly for this because under British anarchy, they were persecuted for their religion. This document brought conflict with Jefferson and the Anglican Church, as the Anglican Church believed that Church and State should be one. The idea of Freedom of Religion carries into our government. President’s can swear in with a Bible during oath, though the book may differ on religion. The separation between church and state was one of the most important policies in the United States Constitution and was inputted in the first amendment. In the 1st Aamendment it states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The Virginia Statute For Religious Freedom has ensured Americans’ freedom to express whichever religion they choose, and it is a main part of why The United States of America is so

Church and State were set apart by the founding fathers for the sole reason that North America was colonized, by the English, to escape religious persecution. Consequently, America was a melting pot of people practicing their different faiths and beliefs. In the 1800’s, after the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the first amendment supported the idea of this separation by stating “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This acknowledged the religious freedom that the United States government bestowed on American citizens.

It is obvious that when the Founding Fathers were setting up the structure of American Government, they had God in the midst of their plans. Because there is no mention of the “separation of church and state” in any documents, it is clear that the Founding Fathers had no intention of the separation. Being men of faith and leaders of the country, they saw the relation between church and state as inseparable. They set up the government based on their faith and belief in God. Therefore, when God is taken out of the government, there is a missing link in its chain. Church and government are supposed to be directly linked to each other. It is the Christian’s duty to make sure that the responsibility of our government is handled well. This was illustrated well with the Biblical example of the parable of the talents.

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” This quote from Benjamin Franklin illustrates how an emphasis on safety can drastically reduce the freedoms enjoyed by citizens of the United States, especially the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which states that “...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” However, with active shooter situations such as Columbine; the Tucson, Arizona shootings, which nearly killed former Representative Gabrielle Giffords; and recent situations at Newtown, Connecticut; Los Angeles International Airport; and Westfield Garden State Plaza mall in New Jersey, the federal government has questioned this

Nowhere in the U.S constitution or any other official documents does it say that there must be strict “separation of church and state”.  This clause was used by Jefferson in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut on January 1, 1802 (Truthwalk 1).  After being revised six times by one of our founding fathers, James Madision, the first amendment now states that,  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." (Parsons 40).   Did the fore fathers intend the first amendment to keep religion out of government, or did they want to create a law that stated religion was a

At school or in special occasions like a spurs game or the super bowl we look up at the flag and we all recite the Pledge of Allegiance to show the small connection between church and state. “Under God” was put into the pledge of Allegiance until 1954 and “In God We Trust” was added later until 1956.The Treaty of Tripoli was between the North African Muslim nation and the United States in 1797. This Treaty states hat the government of the United States is not at all created on Christian religion. It was written under when Washington was president and was approved from the United States Senate under John Adams leadership. Because our nation was “not, in any sense, founded on Christian religion” we should not mix any type of Christian belief to our government. American citizens should not even expect the government to support Christian beliefs. There are a variety of religions in America. I have a friend who is Catholic. She is Buddhist. I have talked to her about her opinion of the separation of church and state. She really believes that there should be a great distance between the two because she does not want to be governed by laws she does not believe in

The first amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America states that all Americans have the right to religion. According to The Village Church, Thomas Jefferson created the phrase “Separation of Church and State.” In its original framework, this passage meant that the U.S. would not have an official “state Church” like England. The English government officially supported the Church of England, using taxes to support Anglicanism. The founding fathers, who promoted the Revolutionary War, did not want the same kind of church. Over the years, this phrase’s meaning was evolved into something it was not meant to be. Today, the phrase means that if something is related to the state, then conversation of religion is forbidden. Most political conversations now initiated, concerning the separation of church and state, claim that the separation they speak of is based upon the U.S. Constitution. Though this phrase is found nowhere in the Constitution and neither is their argument. The anti-freedom argument of separation of church and state contends that no reference, audible or visible, to any biblical or

The great battle cry of the Christian opponents is, “Separation of Church and State”, which in itself is not in the Constitution nor is it being used in the manner by which this phrase was given by Thomas Jefferson in 1802.

The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ... " (" Amendments"). While the amendment clearly protects the right of religious freedom, it also confirms that the Bible has no relevance in American law. Religion is not supposed to be the basis for our country 's laws. Nevertheless,

There has been a great deal of debate since the United States of America became a nation over whether America 's current motto, "In God We Trust", and the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance are considered a violation of the first amendment. The first amendment says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…" (U.S. Constitution, Retrieved from Cornell Law School) Over the years the phrase "separation of church and state" has been used as the interpretation of the first amendment, although none of the words from the phrase are used in the first amendment.