The religion and state chapter provides information on the relations between the government and the religion. A couple of social problems exist between the church and the state and the government is in a dilemma to grant a legal status to the religious forces. One problem is when the churches protest for the reliability of the citizens and the other problem is the where the religious beliefs motivate the citizens to violate the laws established by the state. These problems are known as the “boundary”, or the “wall of separation”, or “free exercise” problem as it these exist between the conflicts of two different institutions, the church and state.
An example that exemplifies the church state conflict is the case of Rebecca Corneau in which there was clash between the teachings of the church and the state as both these institutions wanted to be authoritative in setting rules for human behavior. An example of the boundary problem can be seen in the case of Daniel Walz who used to hand over pencils to the children that had religious statements engraved on it. The boundary and free exercise problems originated from the beliefs of American founders who promoted religion to enhance as well as demoralize the political strength of the country. None of the founders appeared to believe government must ignore religious feeling in its official actions (Wald, Calhoun, 75). They trusted that politics would make a bad religion and hence needed the government to protect it.
The first amendment religion clause was passed only after the alliance between the founders and the free churches in the prerevolutionary period. The protestant advocates and the founders forced the congress to accept the clause and disestablish churches in every state. The clause means that neither the government nor the state can establish a church, or pass laws on religions, or force an individual to go to church.
There have been numerous cases settled in court that were related to conflicts between the understanding of religion by the church and the law. In the seperationist period the court ensured to come up with a rule to include religious expressions in public schools. Court wanted to avoid favoritism and the appearance that government endorsed religion (Wald, Calhoun, 87). There were major changes in the clauses in the Accommodationist era. The accommodationists supported the equal treatment and nondiscrimination policy. Overall the chapter provides information about the state of the family, gay rights, and multiple legal disputes that arise from religion.
Works Cited
Wald, Kenneth D., Calhoun-brown, Allison. Religion And Politics in the United States, 5th Edition, Illustrated. Rowman & Littlefield (2007). Print.
