Church and State

Term Paper # 100252

Law > Constitution
Political Science > U.S.
Religion and Theology

Church and State

This paper explores the separation of church and state as mandated by the United State Constitution.

2,179 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the establishment and free exercise clauses that state that government will not establish a national religion nor interfere with a citizen's practice of it. The paper explains that the first clause is said to be absolute, while the second has been interpreted in conflicting ways. The paper discusses how, without doubt, judicial battles will continue to be fought over how religious practices should be defined in the context of the First Amendment, for there never has been a widespread consensus on this issue and there probably never will be.

From the Paper:

"The separation of church and state as defined by the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of the First Amendment religion clause, especially the Establishment Clause, has been a source of increasingly heated debate in American society and politics. Many conservatives and religious activists are angry that lower state courts, federal district courts, and federal appeals courts have ruled that Ten Commandment displays violate Constitutionally mandated separation of church and state, and have been applying unprecedented pressure on the judiciary at every level."
Unfortunately, resolving what the Constitution is actually saying is not always easy, for the vague language and uncertain intent of some sections of the Constitution has enabled politicians and others with religious, social, economic, or political agendas to bypass intended constitutional restrictions. (Bovard 55) Despite the fact that James Madison, James Monroe, Alexander Hamilton, and the other Founding Fathers drafted the most explicitly self-limiting written constitution in all of human history, it consists primarily of legal language reliant upon correct interpretation."

Sample of Sources Used:

Bovard, James. Last Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.
Brooke, Allen. "Our Godless Constitution." The Nation, February 21, 2005.
Dionne, E. J., and Dilulio, John. What's God Got To Do with the American Experiment? Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 2000
Smolla, Roy. "Why the Commandments Make for Such Messy Law." First Amendment Center. Online. Available: http://de6.hccs.edu/SCRIPT/GOVT_ 2301_js 052sa/scripts/serve_home. 10 November 2006.
"United States Constitution." House.gov. Online. Available: http://www.house. gov/Constitution/Constitution.html. 8 November 2006.