The Influence of Religion on the First Amendment Research Paper

The Influence of Religion on the First Amendment - Research Paper Example It is sufficiently practical to start this research work by first understanding the indepth meaning of some of the vital concepts that will form the basis of this paper. Democracy is one key concept that will be used and its definition is as follows: It is a system integrated into governance/governments where citizens come in unison to determine the appropriate public policies, laws, and more so, what the deem fit and justifiable in regard to their states’ actions . In observation, democracy can be termed as the degree to which a given government system comes close to achieving this idealistic foundation. A political system that comes close or in approximation internalizes the ideal democracy is termed to as ‘a democracy’. While there exists no unanimously acknowledged description of the concept ‘democracy’, free will and fairness have been widely acknowledged as imperative and unique characteristics of democracy. These doctrines are mirrored in the g eneral populace being equal in the eyes of the established laws and boast equal admittance to related governmental processes. For instance, the types of freedom enjoyed by the populace are protected by the widely recognized and legitimized liberties and rights which are by and large constitutionally protected. (Alexis de Tocqueville, 1999). Religion is a concept defined as an anthology of cultural arrangements, convictional structures, and accepted worldviews that institute symbols that link up spirituality to humankind and in most instances, to values considered moral. The word religion varies from personal conviction because it portrays public aspect (Dahl, 1998). Religions have structured manners and structures that include clerical command and leadership chains which amount to constitution of adhering members, laity congregations, and standardized meetings of worship and rituals. The Establishment Clause constitutes the American constitution’s First Amendment and affirms that the American congress shall in no manner make law or decree relating to religion institution (Somer, 2000). The establishment clause has in the main been taken to mean prohibition of: 1). the institution/formation of a nationally binding religion by the American congress serving at any given time, or 2). the inclination by the any serving American government to prefer any kind of religion over others/another (Farish, 1998). The former approach/interpretation is called the ‘no aid’ or ‘separation" interpretation. The latter interpretation/approach is labeled the ‘accommodation’ or the ‘non-preferential’ interpretation. Jointly, with the Religious Freedom Clause, (Free Exercise Clause), the two constitute the First Amendment’ religion clauses. The accommodation constitutional interpretation forbids any sitting American Congress from fancying one religious establishment over others (Cohen, 1998). It however does not bar the exist ing government's admission into the religious sphere to craft adjustments with the purposeful aim of achieving the rationale of the related Free Exercise Clause. The Free Exercise Clause disallows any sitting government’s intrusion into religion even if the meddling is utterly unpremeditated (Inglehart, 1997). In case the interference is deemed deliberate, the accommodation law will definitely conflict with the Religious Freedom Clause/Free Exercise Clause. In case the intrusion is inadvertent, the law will be steadily upheld provided that the law