US Constitution And Freedom Of Worship: A Comparative Analysis

James Madison and Thomas Jefferson are two of the seven key founding fathers of the United States. The motive of the founders of the U.S. was to establish religious freedom in the colonies; therefore, religion was of importance to them. When the policy of the separation of church and state was enacted by the founding fathers through the Constitution, it meant that under a secular government, religious freedom would always be protected. Issues such as the freedom to practice one’s religion arose in the earlier colonies and the separation of church and states prevents these issues from occurring again. The separation of church and state protects the rights of all and ensures religious freedom. This policy has proven to be nothing but a

The Texas Constitution and the United States Constitution have been essential in the governing of Texas and the United States, respectively. Both documents have set limits on what the governments can and cannot do and help both governments administer their respective constituents. The Texas Constitution and the US Constitution share similarities such as the separation of powers and checks and balances; however, because of their differing histories, they have many differences such as how the executive and the judiciary are elected. These similarities and differences have led to strengths and weaknesses in the two documents, and parts of the US Constitution can help the governing of Texas, and vice versa.

Recently, students were instructed to write an essay along with a pictorial representation of the person they considered to be their hero. Since one student chose Jesus as his hero and submitted a drawing of the Last Supper, possible legal complications need to be considered before grading and displaying the assignment. An examination of First Amendment legal issues that arise when a student submits an assignment of religious nature will provide insight into how the First Amendment applies in the classroom.

In the Texas Constitution it talks about information that just deals with Texas alone, that the U.S. Constitution doesn't have. For one, it talks about Education. Explaining how it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the state to establish and make suitable provisions for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools. The Texas Constitution also includes information about corporations, municipal and private. It has the Spanish and Mexican Land titles under it which no other state has in their constitution. And finally the Texas Constitution establishes rules concerning railroads.

Freedom of religion was first applied as a principle in the founding of the Maryland Colony in 1634. The Maryland Toleration Act, drafted by Lord Baltimore, provided:

The Texas constitution is very long and detailed. The Texas constitution is long and detailed because of provisions that specifically tells the government what they can or can’t do. Now with the Texas constitution the government does not have the option about interpreting it to their advantage or disadvantage. Instead any person with the power inside of the government, if they wish to act outside of laws stated in the Texas constitution must have to amend the constitution. Now for the United States constitution, it is very brief and broad which allows the government to interpret it any way they would like in a sense. By doing this they can claim their implied powers to meet any specific circumstances that must do with public policy. When it comes to civil liberties the United states constitution are listed as the bill of rights which are just amendments listed versus the Texas constitution which are also called bill of rights but are stated in the first

Our society lacks a moral compass today and we need to find a way to return to our country 's founding values. Is religion the answer? some may think so others may say keep church and state separate. The original statement was in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists Association. In his letter he says “American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State” (Jefferson 1802). After this letter was written it went unnoticed or used until the mid 1800’s when a group petitioned Congress to remove Christian principles and values from government. They claimed that there needed to be a “separation of church and state”. Again it was unused officially until 1947 when in the case of Everson verses the board of education the court wanted to build the wall high and impregnable. That wall was never supposed to be as it is now referred to. We need to have the religious freedoms free from government control. How can a private petition be taken out of text and used as a guide for our federal court? Our forefathers were influenced by important values when establishing this country. Also, there were a lot of other influences in our founders thought processes; own life experiences, education, and even self gratification. Just reading The Declaration of Independence you can see where their

In today’s society, the separation of church and state is a fundamentally important aspect of our government. Most any citizen would agree that the government should operate based on the law and the constitution, not on the individual 's religious beliefs, yet when the issue is Abortion, that stance is flipped. The debate over abortion rages on despite the supreme court giving women the right to abortion in 1973 with the ruling of Roe v Wade. Looking at both sides objectively, the pro-choice arguments lineup with facts, while the pro-life arguments are either supported by facts yet purposefully misinterpreted, or simply not factual at all. State governments pass laws that regulate abortions and abortion centers all in the attempt to close these centers down and stop women from getting abortions at all, including situations of rape or incest. Just as the government in Brave New World controls the bodies of women by keeping them on contraceptives and controlling their bodily functions through medication, the American government seeks the same control over what women do and don’t do with their body by denying them abortions and birth control.

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, ' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."5

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison cowrote "The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom" in 1786 in an effort to end state funded religion. The struffle was fought by religious leaders who requested a state tax to fund their institutions. They feared that without a state tax moral fabric of society would disintegrate. This bill ended the feud between religion and state, and created the precedent for religious freedom in the United States. "Conventional wisdom teaches that secularization was an essential ingredient in the cultural background for liberal democracy. To have liberal pluralistic democracy, it is said, we in the West first had to break away from the religious worldviews that were characteristic of pre-modern feudalism, aristocracy, and monarchy" (Mcconnell, 2003, p.943).

The First Amendment and Texas v. Johnson address the same concepts, so they are similar. The First Amendment states that a congress does not have the right to make laws abridging the freedom of speech along with the freedom of expression. Similarly, the Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson decides that Texas is not allowed to criminally punish Johnson, although he violated a Texas law banning flag desecration by burning the American flag, because flag burning is a form of expression and speech protected by the First Amendment. Furthermore, the rights and freedoms listed in the First Amendment essentially lets people know that they have to be tolerate of other people’s viewpoints since everyone has the right to freedom of speech and freedom of

According to First Amendment of US constitution, people have freedom in choosing their religion; any organization or laws cannot prohibit this right. Similarly, the section 6 Freedom of worship in Texas Constitution expressed the same concept; all men have the ability to worship the Almighty God, depend on their own concern. However, the First amendment and Section 6 have some differences. The First amendment contains 2 more freedom in human rights; freedom of speech and in the press. It means that no matter what situation people have power in publishing or talking anything they want. While the Freedom of Worship only contains the protection in religion. It stated that no one can control or interfere with one’s religion. Further, Legislature

I think there is a noticeable difference between the first amendment and the Freedom of worship section. The first amendment has more than just religious protection, it talks about the freedom of the press, the right to assemble, and to protest the government. While the freedom of worship section goes into more detail about religious protection from government and others. I agree with your assessment on what can happen when a state constitution does not match up with the United States Constitution. However, I disagree with you on whether states should be permitted to be inconsistent with the United States Constitution. For one reason, this can lead to separation of states from the federal government and the possibility of some states trying

Both of them have the ultimate goal of preserving free will and giving people choice into what they want to believe in. A main difference between the two is that as stated, “it shall be the duty of the Legislature to pass such laws as may be necessary to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship” (Article 1 Section 6). So there is more input by the Texas government, in comparison to the US Constitution which is much broader. If there is an inconsistency, according to the Supremacy Clause, “the federal government in exercising any of the powers enumerated in the constitution, must prevail over any conflicting or inconsistent state exercise of power” (Legal Dictionary). This means if a law

Sec. 3 Equal Rights is a civil liberty. The third section of the Texas Constitution is based on equal protection against government discrimination among men (sex, race, color, creed or national origin). In this case the government cannot take away citizens’ rights. The first amendment of the Bills of Rights gives people the right to practice any religion they chose to and government is prohibit to interfere in a person’s beliefs. In past court cases that freedom of religion was addressed dealing with the exclusion of prayers in public schools, the prohibition of polygamy, and the limitation of the use of drugs or snakes in religious rituals.