In the United States, freedom of religion is a constitutionally protected right provided in the First Amendment religious clauses. Freedom of religion is also closely linked to the separation of church and state, a concept advocated by the Colonial founders such as Dr. John Clarke, Roger Williams, William Penn, and founding fathers like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.
Video Freedom of religion in the United States
Legal and public bases
The United States Constitution addresses the issue of religion in two places: in the First Amendment, and the prohibition of Article VI on religious tests as a condition for holding public office. The First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws "respecting the establishment of religion, or forbidding free practice thereof". This provision was then extended to state and local governments, through the Fourteent Amendment Unification.
Colonial precedents
The 10th of October 1645, the Flushing Charter, Queens, New York, allowed "freedom of conscience, in accordance with Dutch customs and practices without the persecution or interference of any ecclesiastical judge or minister." However, New Hampshire Director General Peter Stuyvesant issued a decree banning the hiding of Quaker. On December 27, 1657, the Flushing resident approved a protest known as The Flushing Remonstrance. It contains religious arguments even mentioning freedom for "Jews, Turks, and Egyptians," but ends with a strong declaration that any violation of the city charter will not be tolerated.
Freedom of religion was first applied as a principle in the establishment of the colony of Maryland, also founded by Lord Baltimore Catholic, in 1634. Fifteen years later (1649), the imposition of religious freedom, Maryland Tolerance Act, drafted by Lord Baltimore, gave: person or person... from then on it will be a problematic waies, harassed or discounted for or in connection with religion or in free practice. " The Maryland Toleration Act is repealed with the help of Protestant parliamentarians and a new law that forbids Catholics from practicing their religion publicly endorsed. In 1657, Lord Baltimore regained control after making a deal with the Protestant colony, and in 1658, the Act was ratified again by the colonial assembly. This time, it will last more than thirty years, until 1692, when after the Protestant Revolution of Maryland in 1689, religious freedom was again canceled. In addition, in 1704, a law was passed "to prevent the growth of Feed in the Province", preventing Catholics from holding political office. Full religious tolerance will not be restored in Maryland until the American Revolution, when Charles Carroll of Carrollton of Maryland signed the Declaration of American Independence.
Rhode Island (1636), Connecticut (1636), New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (1682), founded by Baptist Roger Williams, Congregationalist Thomas Hooker, and Quaker William Penn respectively, established religious freedom in their colonies in direct opposition to theocratic. the Separatist government of Congregationalists (Pilgrim Fathers) and Puritans were enacted in the Plymouth Colony (1620) and the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628). After escaping from their own religious persecution in Britain, Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colony leaders restricted their franchise to only members of their church, strictly imposing their own interpretations of theological law and removing free thinkers such as Roger Williams, who was literally expelled from Salem. as well as banning Quakers and Anabaptists. These colonies became a safe haven for persecuted religious minorities. Catholics and Jews also have full citizenship and free practice of their religion. Williams, Hooker, Penn, and their friends firmly believe that democracy and freedom of conscience are God's will. Williams gives the ultimate theological reason: Because faith is a gift of the Holy Ghost, it can not be imposed upon anyone. Therefore, strict separation of church and state must be maintained. Pennsylvania is the only colony that retains unlimited freedom of religion to the foundation of the United States. The inseparable relationship of democracy, freedom of religion, and other forms of freedom form the basis of the politics and law of the new nation. In particular, Baptists and Presbyterians have insisted on demanding and successful demolition of Anglican church churches and congregations that have existed in most colonies since the seventeenth century.
First Amendment
In the United States, religious civil liberties are guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States:
Congress will not make laws respecting religious establishment, or prohibiting free exercise thereof; or summarize free speech, or press; or peaceful peoples' rights to gather, and to petition the Government for damages.
The "Establishment Clause," which states that "Congress will not make laws respecting the formation of religion," is usually read to prohibit the Federal government from forming a national church ("religion") or excessively involving itself in religion, especially for its sake. one religion over another. After the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and through the doctrine of incorporation, this restriction also applies to state governments.
The "Free Exercise Clause" states that Congress can not "ban free practice" from religious practice. However, the United States Supreme Court has consistently maintained that the right to freedom of religion is not absolute. For example, in the nineteenth century, some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have traditionally practiced polygamy, but in Reynolds v. United States of America (1879), the Supreme Court upheld the criminal conviction of one of these members under federal law prohibiting polygamy. The court reasoned that to do otherwise would set a precedent for various religious beliefs including the extreme such as human sacrifice. The court stated that " Laws are made for government action, and while they can not interfere only religious beliefs and opinions, they may be by practice." For example, if a person is part of a religion that believes in vampires, the First Amendment will protect one's faith in vampires, but not practice. Fourteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the civil rights of religion. While the First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of the religion, the first part of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits discrimination, including on the basis of religion, by securing "equal legal protection" for everyone:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to jurisdiction therein, are citizens of the United States and the State in which they live. No State shall make or enforce any law which will bring down the privileges or immunities of US citizens; nor shall any State remove any person from soul, liberty or property, without due process of law; or deny to anyone within its jurisdiction the same legal protection.
Religious test
The affirmation or rejection of certain religious beliefs, in the past, has been made into a qualification for public office; However, the Constitution of the United States states that the inauguration of a President may include "affirmation" of the execution of his faithful duties rather than "oath" to that effect - this provision is included to respect the religious prerogatives of Quaker, Protestant Christian denominations that reject oath oaths. The US Constitution also states that "No religious tests will be required as Office Qualification or Public Belief under the United States." Some countries have a language that is included in their constitution which requires the holders of state offices to have certain religious beliefs. These include Arkansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Some of these beliefs (or oaths) are historically required by judges and witnesses in court. Although they are still in the books, this provision has been enacted unenforceable by the decision of the US Supreme Court.
With reference to the use of animals, the decision of the US Supreme Court in the case of the Church Lukumi Babalu Aye v. The city of Hialeah in 1993 upheld the Santeria's right to an animal-sacrificial ritual with Justice Anthony Kennedy stating in the decision, "religious beliefs need not be accepted, logical, consistent or understood by others for the protection of the First Amendment." (cited by Justice Kennedy of opinion by Justice Burger at Thomas v. Indiana Employment Safety Division Review Board 450 US 707 (1981)) Similarly in Texas in 2009, issues related to animal sacrifice and animal rights were brought to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Jose Merced, President of Templo Yoruba Omo Orisha Texas, Inc., v. Euless Town. The court ruled that the free practice of religion was meritorious and applicable and that Merced was entitled under the Texas Religious Freedom and Recovery Act (TRFRA) for an order that prevented the city of Euless, Texas from enforcing its regulations that burdened its religious practice related to the use of animals.
Religious freedom does not prohibit state or federal government from banning or regulating certain behaviors; namely, prostitution, gambling, alcohol, and certain drugs, although some libertarians interpret religious freedom to extend this behavior. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the right to privacy or the right of due process of law prevents the government from banning adult access to birth control, pornography, and prohibiting sodomy between adults and early trimester abortion.
"split wall"
Thomas Jefferson writes that the First Amendment founded the "dividing wall between church and state" is likely to borrow the language of Roger Williams, founder of First Baptist Church in America and Rhode Island Colony, who used this phrase in his 1644 book, The Bloent Tenent of Persecution . James Madison, often regarded as the "Father of the Bill of Rights", also often writes about "perfect separation", "dividing line", "closely guarded as the separation of religion and government in the Constitution of the United States.", And "the total separation of the church from country ". Controversy raged in the United States between those who wanted to restrict government involvement with religious institutions and remove religious references from government institutions and property, and those who wanted to loosen the ban. Proponents for a stronger separation of church and state emphasize the plurality of beliefs and non-beliefs in the country, and what they see as the broad guarantees of the federal Constitution. Their opponents emphasize what they see as largely Christian heritage and the history of the nation (often citing references to the "God Nature" and "Creator" of man in the Declaration of Independence). Some more socially conservative Christian sects, such as the Christian Reconstructionist movement, oppose the concept of the "dividing wall" and prefer a closer relationship between church and state.
Problems also arise in US public schools on teaching and the display of religious issues. In many areas, school choice and school vouchers have been proposed as a solution to accommodate various beliefs and religious freedoms, allowing individual school boards to choose between secular, religious or multi-religious calls, and allow parents to choose freely between them. schools. Critics of American voucher programs claim that they are taking funds from public schools, and that the amount of funds provided by vouchers is not enough to help many middle-class and worker parents.
US judges often order alcohol defendants to attend Alcoholics Anonymous or face imprisonment. However, in 1999, the federal appellate court ruled unconstitutional due to A.A. the program relies on submission to the "Higher Power".
Thomas Jefferson also played a major role in the establishment of religious freedom. He created the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which has since been incorporated into the Virginia State Constitution.
Another statement
The inseparable rights
The United States was founded on the basic principles by the Declaration of Independence:
We hold this truth to be clear: That all men are created equal; that they are blessed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among them is life, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, taking their power only from the governed consent; (based on Thomas Jefferson's design.)
Religious institutions
In 1944, a joint committee of the Federal Council of Christ Churches in America and the Foreign Missions Conference formulated the "Statement of Religious Freedom"
Freedom of religion is interpreted to include freedom of worship according to the conscience and rearing of children in the faith of their parents; freedom for individuals to change their religion; freedom to preach, educate, publish, and perform missionary activities; and the freedom to organize with others, and to acquire and maintain property, for this purpose.
Freedom of religion restoration
After increasing government involvement in religious matters, Congress passed the Freedom of Religion Religion Act of 1993. A number of countries then issued appropriate action (eg, Missouri passed the Law on the Restoration of Religious Freedom).
Tripoli Treaty
Signed on November 4, 1796, the Tripoli Agreement is a document that includes the following statements:
As the Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on Christianity; because it itself does not have the character of enmity against law, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslim]; and since these countries have never entered war or hostile acts against the Mahometan state [Mohammedan], declared by the parties that no excuse arising from religious opinion will ever result in harmony of harmony between the two countries.
This agreement was submitted to the Senate and ratified unanimously on June 7, 1797, and subsequently signed by President John Adams on 10 June 1797. Pursuant to Article VI of the Constitution, on that date the treaty became included as part of the "Supreme Law of the Land".
Maps Freedom of religion in the United States
Supreme Court Decision
Jehovah's Witnesses
Since the 1940s, Jehovah's Witnesses often use the clause of the First Amendment religious clause to protect their ability to engage in da'wah (or sermons) that are important to their faith. This series of litigation has helped define civil liberties law cases in the United States and Canada.
In the United States and other countries, the legal struggle of Jehovah's Witnesses has produced some of the most important court decisions on religious freedom, the press and speaking. In the United States, many of the Supreme Court cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses are now an important decision of the First Amendment law. Of the 72 cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses who have been brought to the US Supreme Court, the Court has decided to support them 47 times. Even the cases that discontinued Jehovah's Witnesses helped the US to more clearly define the boundaries of First Amendment rights. Former Supreme Court Justice Harlan Stone jokingly suggested, "Jehovah's Witnesses should have a contribution because of the assistance they provide in solving civil liberties law issues." "Like it or not," says US author and editor, Irving Dilliard, "Jehovah's Witnesses have done more to help preserve our freedom than any other religious group."
Professor C. S. Braden writes: "They have done a signal service for democracy with their struggle to defend their civil rights, because in their struggle they have done little to secure their rights for every minority group in America."
"Cases involving Witnesses to form the basis of protection of the First Amendment for all citizens," said Paul Polidoro, a lawyer who presented the Watchtower case before the Supreme Court in February 2002. "These cases are good for courts to deal with the protection that freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion should be freed. In addition, cases mark the emergence of individual rights as a problem in the US court system.
Before Jehovah's Witnesses brought several dozen cases before the US Supreme Court during the 1930s and 1940s, the Court has dealt with several cases that oppose laws that restrict freedom of speech and religious freedom. Until then, the First Amendment was only applied to Congress and the federal government.
However, cases brought before the Court by Jehovah's Witnesses enable the Court to consider various issues: respect for the mandatory flag, incitement, freedom of speech, literary distribution and military draft law. These cases proved to be important moments in the formation of constitutional law. The triumph of Jehovah's Witnesses trials has strengthened rights including the protection of religious behavior from federal and state intervention, the right to distance themselves from patriotic rituals and military service and the right to engage in public discourse.
During the era of World War II, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jehovah's Witnesses in several important cases that helped pave the way for the modern civil rights movement. Overall, Jehovah's Witnesses brought 23 separate First Amendment acts before the US Supreme Court between 1938 and 1946.
Lemon test
The Supreme Court has consistently upheld the strict rule of separation of church and state when prayer issues are involved. In Engel v. Vitale (1962) The Court ruled that the non-denominational prayer of government imposed on public schools was unconstitutional. In Lee v. Weisman (1992), the Court ruled that the prayers set by the principal on high school graduation are also unconstitutional, and in Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe (2000) decides that school officials can not directly impose student-led prayer during high school soccer games or make the process of selecting students officially for the purpose of indirectly building such prayers. The difference between government power and individual freedom is the basis of such cases. Each case limits actions by governments designed to build prayer while explicitly or implicitly asserting individual students' freedom to pray.
Therefore the Court tries to determine how to deal with church/state questions. In Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), the Court created a three-part test for law relating to the establishment of religion. It establishes that the law is constitutional if:
- Have a secular destination
- Both advanced and obstructed religions
- Does not foster excessive government attachment to religion.
Some examples where the preventing religion has been beaten:
- In Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263 (1981), the Court ruled that Missouri laws that prohibit religious groups from using state university land and buildings for religious worship are unconstitutional. As a result, the Congress ruled in 1984 that this should apply to secondary and elementary schools as well, by passing the Equal Access Act, which prevents public schools from discriminating against students based on "religion, politics, philosophy or other content of such speeches meeting ". In Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 496 US 226, 236 (1990), the Court upheld this law when it was decided that the school board's refusal to allow Christian Bible clubs to meet in a public school classroom violated the act.
- At Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U.S. 98 (2001), the Court ruled that religious groups should be allowed to use public schools after working hours if equal access is given to other community groups.
- In Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitor of the University of Virginia, 515 U.S 819 (1995), the Supreme Court found that the University of Virginia was unconstitutional withholding funds from the magazines of religious students.
Country Constitution
Under the Founding doctrine, the first amendment has been made applicable to the state. Therefore, states must guarantee freedom of religion in the same way as the federal government.
Many countries have religious freedom set out in their constitution, although the precise legal consequences of this right vary for historical and cultural reasons. Most countries interpret "freedom of religion" as including the long standing freedoms of the religious community to remain intact and not destroyed. With expansion, democracy interprets "freedom of religion" as the right of every individual to freely choose to convert from one religion to another, mix religion, or leave religion altogether.
In the office and at work
Requirements for holding public office
There is no religious test clause from the US constitution stating that "no religious test will be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the United States." Although it has become a tradition for US presidents to end their Presidential Oath with "so help me God", this is not required by the Constitution. The same applies to the Vice-President, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Cabinet members, and all other civil and military officers and federal employees, who can make an affirmation or end the oath by "help me God."
Some state constitutions in the US require trust in God or Supreme as a prerequisite for holding public office or witness in court. This applies to Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, where the terms were challenged and canceled at Voswinkel v. Hunt (1979), South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, is arguable. The decision of the US Supreme Court in 1961 at Torcaso v. Watkins states that the First Amendment and Fourteen of the federal Constitution override the requirements of this country, so it is not enforced.
Workplace issues
Problems sometimes arise in the workplace of religious observance when a private company issues an employee for failing to report to do what the employee considers to be a holy day or a day of rest. In the United States, the prevailing view is that dismissal for any cause generally leaves the former employee ineligible for unemployment compensation, but that this no longer occurs if the 'cause' is religious, especially the unwillingness of employees to work during the Jewish Shabbat, Christian Sabbath, or Muslim jumu'ah.
After a report in August 2010 that soldiers who refused to attend a Christian band concert at Virginia military base were basically punished by being thrown into their barracks and told to clean them, an Army spokesman said that an investigation was underway and "If something like that has happened , it would be against the Army policy. "
Minority group situation
The situation of Catholics
John Higham describes anti-Catholicism as "the most luxurious and resilient paranoid agitation tradition in American history". Prominent anti-Catholics in the UK are exported to the United States. Two types of anti-Catholic rhetoric exist in colonial society. The first, derived from the heritage of the Protestant Reformation and the religious war of the sixteenth century, consisted of varieties of "Anti-Christ" and "Babel of Babel" and dominated Anti-Catholic thinking until the end of the 17th century. The second is a more secular variation that focuses on the intrigue expected of Catholics to expand medieval despotism around the world.
Historian Arthur Schlesinger Sr. has called Anti-Catholic "the deepest bias in American history."
Because many British colonizers, such as Puritans and Congregationalists, fled from the persecution of religion by the Church of England, many early American religious cultures demonstrated a more extreme anti-Catholic bias than this Protestant denomination. Monsignor John Tracy Ellis writes that "universal anti-Catholic bias was brought to Jamestown in 1607 and cultivated strongly in all thirteen colonies from Massachusetts to Georgia." Charter and colonial law contains a special ban on Roman Catholics. Monsignor Ellis notes that the general hatred of the Roman Catholic Church can unite Anglican clergy and Puritan ministers irrespective of their differences and conflicts.
Some American Founding Fathers hold anti-religious beliefs. For example, in 1788, John Jay urged the New York legislature to ask the holder of office to renounce the foreign authority "in all ecclesiastical and civil matters." Thomas Jefferson writes: "History, I believe, completes no example of those who become priests who maintain free civilian government," and, "In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to freedom. unjust, conspiring with his harassment in exchange for his own protection. "
Some countries have devised an oath of allegiance designed to exclude Catholics from state and local offices. Public support for American independence and the First Amendment of the US Constitution by prominent American Catholics such as Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only signatory to the Catholic Declaration of Independence, and second cousin Bishop John Carroll and Daniel Carroll allow Roman Catholics to be included in the constitutional protection of civil liberties and religion.
The anti-Catholic animus in the United States reached its peak in the nineteenth century when the Protestant population became concerned with the influx of Catholic immigrants. Some American Protestants, who have an increasing interest in prophecy about the end times, claim that the Catholic Church is a Babylonian Prostitute in the Book of Revelation. The resulting "indigenous" movement, which reached fame in the 1840s, was whipped into an anti-Catholic madness that caused mass violence, the burning of Catholic property, and the killing of Catholics. This violence is fed by the claim that Catholics are destroying the culture of the United States. The nativist movement found expression in a national political movement called the Know-Not Party in the 1850s, which (unsuccessfully) ran former president Millard Fillmore as a presidential candidate in 1856.
Founder of the Know-Not movement, Lewis C. Levin, basing his political career entirely on anti-Catholicism, and served three terms in the US House (1845-1851), after which he campaigned for Fillmore and other "nativisis" candidates.
After 1875 many countries passed a constitutional provision, called the "Blaine Amendment, forbidding the tax money to be used to finance parish schools." In 2002, the United States Supreme Court partially weakened this amendment, when they decided that the coupon was constitutional if a tax dollar was followed by a children for school, even if it's a religion.
Anti-Catholicism was widespread in the 1920s; anti-Catholics, including the Ku Klux Klan, believe that Catholicism is incompatible with democracy and that parochial schools encourage separatism and make Catholics a faithful American. Catholics respond to such prejudices by repeatedly asserting their rights as American citizens and by stating that they, not the natives (anti-Catholics), are true patriots because they believe in the right to religious freedom.
The 1928 presidential campaign from Al Smith is a gathering point for the Klan and the anti-Catholic wave in the US. The Catholic Church Small Flower Church was first built in 1925 in Royal Oak, Michigan, a large part of Protestant territory. Two weeks after it was opened, the Ku Klux Klan burned the cross in front of the church. The church burned in flames in 1936. In response, the church built a fire-resistant crucifixion tower, as "a cross they could not burn".
In 1922, voters from Oregon ratified an initiative to amend Law Section Oregon 5259, the Compulsory Education Act. The law is unofficially known as Oregon School Law. Its citizens' initiative is primarily intended to exclude parish schools, including Catholic schools. The law caused religious Catholics to organize locally and nationally for the right to send their children to Catholic schools. In Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), the United States Supreme Court declared the Oregon Compulsory Education Act unconstitutional in a verdict called "Magna Carta of the parochial school system".
In 1928, Al Smith became the first Roman Catholic to win a major party nomination for the presidency, and his religion became an issue during the campaign. Many Protestants fear that Smith will receive orders from church leaders in Rome in making decisions that affect the country.
One of the key factors that hurt John F. Kennedy in his 1960 campaign for the presidency of the United States was the widespread prejudice against Roman Catholicism; some Protestants, including Norman Vincent Peale, believed that, if he was elected president, Kennedy had to accept orders from the pope in Rome. To address concerns that Roman Catholicism will influence his decision-making, John F. Kennedy famously told the Association of Foreign Ministers of Houston on September 12, 1960, "I am not a Catholic candidate for President." I am a Democratic candidate for President who also happens to be a Catholic. not speaking to my Church about public affairs - and the Church does not speak for me. "He promised to respect the separation of church and state and not allow Catholic officials to dictate public policy to him. Kennedy also raised the question of whether a quarter of Americans are degraded to second class citizenship simply because they are Catholic.
Kennedy then won a popular national voice over Richard Nixon with only a tenth of a percentage point (0.1%) - the closest popular voice margin of the 20th century. In college elections, Kennedy's victory is bigger, as he takes 303 electoral votes to Nixon 219 (269 needed to win). The New York Times, summarizing the discussion at the end of November, speaks of a "narrow consensus" among the experts that Kennedy has won more than was lost because of his Catholicism, when Catholics flocked to Kennedy to show their group's solidarity in demanding political equality.
In 2011, the United States Catholic Bishops Conference stated that the Obama Administration imposed undue burdens on Catholics and forced them to violate their right to religious freedom as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Situation of Latter-day Saint movement 1820-90
Historically, the Latter-day Saint movement, often called Mormonism, has been a victim of religious violence that began with a report by founder Joseph Smith soon after the First Vision of 1820 and continued as the movement grew and migrated from its inception in New York to the west. Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Violence culminated when Smith was killed by a mob of 200 people in Carthage Prison in 1844. Joseph Smith had surrendered himself earlier to the authorities, who failed to protect him. As a result of the violence they faced in the East, the Mormon pioneers, led by Brigham Young, migrated to the west and eventually established Salt Lake City, and many other communities along the Mormon Corridor.
Smith and his followers experienced relatively low levels of persecution in New York and Ohio, although one incident involved an extended and hairy church member. They will eventually move to Missouri, where some of the worst atrocities against Mormon will occur. Smith declared the area around Independence, Missouri to become the site of Zion, inspired the massive influx of Mormonian mormons. Locals, worried about rumors about a strange new religion (including rumors of polygamy), tried to get Mormon out. This resulted in the 1838 Mormon War, the Haun Mill Massacre, and the Missouri Executive Command 44 issue by Governor Lilburn Boggs, who ordered "... Mormon should be treated as an enemy, and must be destroyed or expelled from the country... ". The majority of Mormons will flee to Illinois, where they are received warmly by the village of Commerce, Illinois. Mormon quickly expanded the city and renamed it Nauvoo, which was one of the largest cities in Illinois at the time. The economic, political and religious dominance of the Mormons (Smith is city mayor and local militia commander, Nauvoo Legion) inspired the masses to attack the city, and Smith was arrested for ordering the destruction of the anti-Mormon newspaper, Nauvoo Expositor >, even though he acts with the approval of the city council. He was imprisoned, along with his brother Hyrum Smith, in Carthage Prison, where they were attacked by mobs and killed.
After the succession crisis, most Mormons united under Brigham Young, who organized evacuations from Nauvoo and from the United States alone after the federal government refused to protect Mormon. Young and eventually 50,000-70,000 will cross the Great Plains to settle in the Salt Lake Valley and the surrounding area. After the events of the Mexican-American War, the region became the territory of the United States. Young immediately petitioned for the addition of Deseret State, but the federal government refused. Conversely, Congress carved out much smaller Utah territory. Over the next 46 years, some federal government actions are directed at Mormons, in particular to limit the practice of polygamy and to reduce their political and economic power. These include the Utah War, the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, the Polish Act, the Edmunds Act, and the Edmunds-Tucker Act. In 1890, LDS Church president Wilford Woodruff published the Manifesto, ending polygamy.
With the concept of plural marriage, from 1830 to 1890 the Mormon faith allowed its members to practice polygamy; after 1843 it is limited to polygamy (one person can have multiple wives). The notion of polygamy is not generally underestimated by most of the Joseph Smith figures, it is also contrary to traditional Christian understanding of marriage. After 1844 the US government passed a law specifically aimed at the practice of Mormon polygamy until The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) officially abandoned it. In the case of Reynolds v. The United States, the US Supreme Court concluded that "religious duty" is not an appropriate defense of the indictment for polygamy; Therefore, the law against polygamy is not legally considered to discriminate against religions that support polygamy. When their appeals to the courts and lawmakers are exhausted and once the church leaders are satisfied that God has accepted what they see as their sacrifice for that principle, the prophet leader of the church announces that he has received the inspiration that God has accepted their obedience and cancels it. orders for plural marriage. In 1890, an official declaration was issued by the church that prohibited further marriage. Utah was accepted at Union on January 4, 1896.
The Native American Situation
In addition to the common problem of relations between Europeans and Native Americans since the early European colonization, there has been a historical crackdown on Native American religions as well as some allegations of current religious discrimination against Native Americans by the US government.
With American American Native American practices, Native American children are sent to Christian boarding schools where they are forced to worship when Christians and traditional customs are prohibited. Until the Freedom of Religion Act of 1978, "[Native American] spiritual leaders bear the risk of up to 30 years' imprisonment for practicing only their rituals." Traditional native Sun Dance is illegal since the 1880s (Canada) or 1904 (USA) through the 1980s.
The ongoing accusations against religious discrimination largely center on eagle fur laws, the use of peyote ceremonies, and the repatriation of the remains of native Americans and cultural and religious objects: The eagle's fur law, which governs the ownership and religious use of eagle's fur, was written with the intention of protecting the diminished eagle population on one side while still protecting the traditional American customs and Native religion, whereby the use of fur The eagle is the center, on the other hand. As a result, the ownership of eagle feathers is limited to ethnic Native Americans, a policy that is considered controversial for several reasons.
Atheistic situation
A 2006 study at the University of Minnesota showed atheists to be the least trusted minority among Americans. In the study, sociologist Penny Edgell, Joseph Gerties and Douglas Hartmann conducted a survey of American public opinion about attitudes toward different groups. 40% of respondents described atheists as a group that "totally disagreed with my vision of American society", put atheists well ahead of every other group, with the next highest Muslim (26%) and homosexual (23%). When the participants were asked if they agreed with the statement, "I will refuse if my son wants to marry a member of this group," atheists once again lead a minority, with 48% rejection, followed by Muslims (34%) and African-Americans (27% ). Joe Foley, co-chair of Ateis Campus and Secular Humanist, commented on the results, "I know atheists are not studied as much as sociological groups, but I think atheists are one of the last groups that are socially acceptable by hate." A University of British Columbia study conducted in the United States found that believers do not trust atheists as much as they do not trust rapists. The study also showed that atheists have lower job prospects.
Some private organizations, most notably the Boy Scouts of America, do not allow atheist members. However, this policy has been attacked by organizations that claim that the American Scouts do benefit from taxpayer money and thus can not be called a truly personal organization, and thus must recognize atheists, and others are currently barred from membership. An organization called Scouting for All, founded by Eagle Scout Steven Cozza, is at the forefront of this movement.
Court case
In the case of 1994 Kiryas Education Board Joel Village School District v. Grumet , Chief Justice David Souter wrote in his opinion to the Court that: "The government should not prefer one religion to another, or religion becomes non-religious". Everson v. The Education Council stipulates that "neither a country nor a Federal Government can issue laws that help one religion, help all religions, or prefer one religion over another". It applies the Incorporation Clause to the state as well as to the federal government. However, some state constitutions make the protection of people from religious discrimination depending on their acknowledgment of the existence of gods, making religious freedom in those countries does not apply to atheists. The country's constitutional clause has not been tested. Civil rights cases are usually brought to federal courts, so the provisions of such a state are especially important symbolically.
At Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow , after the atheist Michael Newdow challenged the phrase â € Å"under Godâ € in the United States Unity Pledge, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal found an unconstitutional phrase. Although the decision is pending the outcome of the appeal, there is the prospect that the pledge will cease to be valid by law without modification in schools in the western United States, where the Ninth Circuit has jurisdiction. This resulted in political furore, and both houses of Congress passed a resolution condemning the decision, unanimously. On June 26, a Republican-dominated group of 100-150 congressmen stood outside the capital and made a pledge, showing how disagreeing they were with the decision. The Supreme Court then reversed the decision, ruled that Newdow had no position to take its case, thereby throwing the case without passing the constitutionality of the pledge.
Case study
- The Eagle Feather Law, which regulates the ownership and religious use of eagle fur, was officially written to protect the eagle's populations are dwindling while still protecting traditional American customs and Native religions, where the use of eagles is central. The Eagle Feather Law then meets with allegations of promoting racial and religious discrimination because of the legal provisions that certify the ownership of feathered eagles to members of only one ethnic group, Native American, and forbidding Native Americans from including Native Americans in custom involving eagles. feathers - a common modern practice dating back to the early 16th century.
- Allegations of religious and racial discrimination have also been found in the education system. In a recent example, boarding policies at Boston University and The University of South Dakota were charged with racial and religious discrimination when they forbade a university resident from smudging when praying. Policies at The University of South Dakota were later changed to allow students to pray while living in university dormitories.
- In 2004, a case involving five Ohio prison inmates (two Asatru followers (a modern form of Norse paganism), a minister of the Christian Church of Jesus Christ, a Wiccan witch (neopaganism)), and a denial of Satanic protest access to goods ceremonies and opportunities for group worship were brought to the Supreme Court. The Boston Globe reports the 2005 decision Cutter v. Wilkinson that support the claimant as an important case. Among the objects that were rejected was the instruction to write the secrets requested by Asatruar. Prisoners from the "Intensive Management Unit" at the Washington State Correctional Institution who were Asatru followers in 2001 deprived their Hammer Thor medal. In 2007, a federal judge confirmed that Asatru adherents in US prisons have the right to have Thor Hammer pendants. A convict sued the Virginia Justice Department after he was rejected while other religious members were allowed to hold their medals.
See also
References
External links
- ACLU President Nadine Strossen on religious freedom
- Eugene Volokh (May 23, 2006). "FREEDOM OF EXPRESSIVE ASSOCIATION AND GOVERNMENT GOVERNMENT" (PDF) . Stanford Law Reviews . UCLA. 58 : 1919-1968. < span>
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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