Freedom of Religion vs. Freedom from Religion

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The Framers, well aware of the history of religious intolerance in recent European history, believed that religion was often a source of political turmoil. Thus, they forbade government from supporting a particular religion, or, in the view of many scholars of the Constitution, from supporting religion generally (this is known as the "establishment clause"). Most of them were also devout men, and they knew that religious freedom was indispensable to citizens' liberty. As a result, they also prohibited government from interfering with citizens' right to worship in the faith of their choice or from inhibiting it (this is the "free exercise clause").

Freedom from religion has been especially controversial since the 1960s. In 1962, in the case of Engel v. Vitale, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that public schools could not require students to participate in a prayer as part of the school day. Many Americans were outraged by this decision, and many of them called for the Constitution to be amended in order to permit prayer in the schools. This issues at stake in this case exemplify the potential tension between the rights of the majority and the rights of the individual. In many areas of the U.S., where a majority of residents share a common faith, citizens believe that a daily prayer is unobjectionable. For those who do not share the faith of the majority, however, being forced to participate in such a prayer may be awkward or even offensive. And, even if students are not required to participate in the daily prayer, being singled out as having different religious beliefs may prove awkward as well. Finally, opponents of school prayer contend that the public schools, as government institutions, ought not to sanction any religion in any way. Recently, several states have passed voluntary moment of silence laws, which permit or require a daily minute of silence at the start of each school day, during which students are not required to pray, but may pray, think about their assignments, or perhaps simply daydream. It remains to be seen whether these moment of silence laws will be upheld or struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, although they have been upheld in federal courts.