The First Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1791, contains guarantees of freedom of religion. Why did the Founders think freedom of religion was so important? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an institution of religion.” It also prohibits the government from favoring one religion over another and from preferring religion to non-religion or vice versa. “The government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian religion.” -John Adams. Adams believed that government should not be based on any religion and explicitly stated that the government of the United States was not based on any religion. The Free Exercise Clause states that American citizens have the right to accept any religious beliefs and to engage in religious rituals. It not only protects religious beliefs but also actions taken in the name of those beliefs. The difference between these two clauses is the fact that the Establishment Clause prevents the government from mandating a specific type of religion while the Free Exercise Clause gives Americans permission to be proactive in whatever religion they choose. The Establishment Clause protects the rights of citizens so that they are not forced to believe in a specific religion, and free exercise merely supports the Establishment Clause to ensure that any gaps are filled and promote Americans' right to their religion(i ). believe that limitations should not be imposed on the free exercise of one's religious beliefs, but in some cases restrictions are necessary. For example, if a person had a religion that it is okay to kill people, there should be a limit on how much of that religion the person can exercise. Although the Free Exercise Clause states that citizens have the right to practice their religion, if killing someone is part of that religion, it takes away another person's right to life, declared in the Declaration of Independence as an unalienable right. Limitations should be placed on religion when the religion in question is of concern to the public. Church and state should be kept separate. The Church should have no significant impact on the State, and the State should have no significant effect on the Church. The line should be drawn when the Church or State begins to overstep their mutual boundaries. For example, in the case Lemon v. Kurtzman, 91 S. Ct. 2105 (1971), the Supreme Court established a three-part test to determine whether a government action violates the First Amendment's separation of church and state. The three rules are that, first, government action must have a secular purpose. Two, the primary goal must not be to inhibit or promote religion, and three, there must not be excessive involvement between government and religion. If these rules are not followed, the government has violated the First Amendment and its actions are unconstitutional. Another case involving the separation of church and state was Engel v. Vitale, 82 S. Ct. 1261 (1962). The result of this case was the Supreme Court's ruling that any prayer made by public school districts, even nondenominational prayer, is unconstitutional government sponsorship of religion. This is because public schools are owned and operated by the government, and praying in a public school violates the Establishment Clause. Please note: this is just an example. Get a document now.