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This lecture explores the First Amendment's provisions on religion, focusing on the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. It discusses how these two clauses, while complementary in protecting religious beliefs and actions, often conflict in practical scenarios. The lecture highlights the tension between government actions that may support religious freedom and those that might be seen as establishing a religion. Through specific examples, we examine how government policies can simultaneously advance and challenge these core principles of religious liberty.
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Constitutional Law Part 9: First Amendment: Religion Lecture 1: Introduction
Freedom of Religion • The First Amendment says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” • The first part of the sentence is referred to as the Establishment Clause, and the second part is called the Free Exercise Clause.
Tension Between the Clauses • In some ways, the two clause are complementary because both protect freedom of religious belief and actions and many government actions would simultaneously violate both provisions. • However, they also conflict because government actions to facilitate free exercise might be challenged as impermissible establishments, and government efforts to refrain from establishing religion might be objected to as denying the free exercise of religion. • For example, the government violates the establishment clause if its primary purpose is to advance religion, but any time the government acts to protect free exercise of religion, its primary purpose is to advance religion.
