The American Constitution: Religious Freedom Essay Example

does not separate religion from people lives but separates religion from the government. On the issue of marriage equality, the right to same-sex marriage is not a restraint on religious beliefs or practices. The 1st Amendment guarantees that churches, mosques, synagogues are free to decide which marriage they want to recognize (Bridge, 2014). Some religious establishments will sanction same-sex marriages while others will not. There is no church that can be obliged to pass a policy contrary to the beliefs of its believers since believers would be free to join the church whose opinions are amiable. The gay marriage debate is not about private religious practices but about the government’s responsibility in issuing marriage licenses. Believers should not be concerned that religious establishments will lose government benefits if they do not conduct or identify gay marriages.

Legislatures can as well as religious grant exclusions. For instance, Catholic institutions are not denied charitable status simply because they decline to conduct abortions, although courts have held that abortion rights are constitutionally safeguarded. Moreover, Muslim temples are as well not denied government benefits because they restrict their women from involving in certain pursuits (Grasso, 2016). Federalism permits states to choose whether to recognize same-sex as well as conventional marriages or to assign a dissimilar label. However, federalism does not excuse fulfillment with the Equal Protection Clause. According to the 14th Amendment on marriage equality, it necessitates a state to certify a marriage between two personnel of the same sex and to identify a marriage between two individuals of the same sex when their union is lawfully licensed as well as conducted out of state (Grasso, 2016).

Negative impact of federalism

on religious freedom

One negative impact of federalism on religious freedom is giving room for many denominations to be formed in the name of people claiming to be permitted the right to religion. The constitution has to differentiate between denominations in the body of Christ as well as non-Christian cults and false religions. Some denominations such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons are examples of cults that claim to be Christian but deny the essentials of the Christian faith (Grasso, 2016). Religion makes only one direct as well as an obvious appearance in the original constitution that appears to point to a desire for some degree of religious freedom. The clause that “no religious test should ever be needed as a qualification to any office or public trust under the U.S. this clause denotes that no public position can be needed to be held by anyone of any religious denomination.

Therefore, since the 1st amendment depicts that the congress shall not make laws relating to an establishment of religion (Russo, 2016). The Establishment Clause sets up a line of separation between the functions and operations of the institutions of religion as well as government in the society. There has been much debate concerning the term establishment of religion. The term according to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, have argued that the term was intended to forbid only the institution of a sole national church or the predilection of one religious sect over others (Russo, 2016). On the contrary, others believe that the term forbids the government from promoting religion in general and the preference of one religion over others. As a result of the laws passed in the 1st

Amendment, federalism has no obligation to the formation of several diverse religious sects in the United States. It has no power to make any law that can denounce people from making a decision of forming as many different churches as they want. Furthermore, as a result of these, many groups claiming to be Christian have been formed in the name of cults that are luring people to death since they do not have the Christian morals in them and neither do they practice (Grasso, 2016).

Evaluation and reasons for evaluation

The most significant impact is the positive impact regarding marriage equality. Supreme Court rulings such as Obergefell v. Hodges in a 5_4 decision passed the basic right for people to have same-sex marriage (Russo, 2016). The court ruled that states should not ban same-sex marriages hence requiring all the states to issue licenses to couples of same sex marriage. The reason as to why this impact is important is because even without no provision of the U.S constitution regarding marriage, the debate about allowing same-sex marriage that had been tolerated for long was accepted for same-sex couples. Moreover, the essence of this impact is that the discrimination that has been experienced before against same-sex marriage symbolizes the next major growth of individual rights and freedoms (Grasso, 2016). Same sex people want to get married for similar reasons as their opposite-sex counterparts, and that is why this federalism debate concerning this issue has been there for long.

Conclusion

Historically, the Establishment Clause of the 1st amendment was proposed to avert Congress from intervening with the states and their attempts to contain religion. The framers of both the 1st amendment as

well as of the 14th amendment of the U.S constitution were atheist's regarding the desirability of religious establishments among the states and only sought to uphold state autonomy for religion.

References

1. Bridge, D. (2014). Religious Freedom or Libertarianism: What Explains State Enactments of Religious Freedom Restoration Act Laws. Journal Of Church & State, 56(2), 347-369.
2. Grasso, K. L. (2016). Religious freedom in the dock. Modern Age, (1), 46. Russo, C. J. (2016).
3. Religious Freedom In Faith-Based Educational Institutions In The Wake Of Obergefell V. Hodges: Believers Beware. Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal, (2), 263-308.