Freedom of religion is the right of a person to believe in and practice whatever faith he or she chooses. It also includes the right of an individual to have no religious beliefs at all.
Like most rights, freedom of religion is not absolute. Most countries prohibit religious practices that injure people or that are thought to threaten to destroy society. For example, most governments forbid human sacrifice and polygamy, the practice of having more than one wife or husband at the same time.
Throughout most of history, many people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. The denial of religious liberty probably stems from two major sources—personal and political. Religion touches the deepest feelings of many people. Strong religious views have led to intolerance among various faiths. Some governments have close ties to one religion and consider people of other faiths to be a threat to political authority. A government also may regard religion as politically dangerous because religions may place allegiance to God above obedience to the state.
The question of morality has caused many conflicts between church and state. Both religion and government are concerned with morality. They work together if the moral goals desired by the state are the same as those sought by the church. But discord may result if they have different views about morality. An example is the disagreement of many religious people with governments that allow abortion. See Church and state .
In the United States.
The desire for religious freedom was a major reason Europeans settled in America. The Puritans and many other groups came to the New World to escape religious persecution in Europe.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof … .” This provision originally protected religious groups from unfair treatment by the federal government only. Until the mid-1800’s, New Hampshire and other states had laws that prohibited non-Protestants from holding public office. Several states, including Connecticut and Massachusetts, even had official churches. Since the 1940’s, however, the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that all the states must uphold the First Amendment’s guarantees of religious freedom.
Today, freedom of religion remains an issue in the United States. Various court rulings have interpreted the First Amendment to mean that the government may not promote or give special treatment to any religion. However, the government may deny certain economic benefits to individuals who violate state or federal laws for religious reasons. The Supreme Court has also allowed the government to give some forms of financial aid to students of religious schools. The courts have also ruled unconstitutional a number of programs to teach the Bible or recite prayers in public schools. These rulings are highly controversial. See Religious education ; School prayer.
But church and state are not completely separated in the United States. The nation’s motto is In God We Trust. Sessions of Congress open with prayers, and court witnesses swear oaths on the Bible. Several court decisions support such practices. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that some religious displays on public property are constitutional but others are not.
Christian moral views have had a predominant influence on U.S. laws because most of the nation’s people are Christians. In 1878, for example, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law against polygamy, even though this law restricted the religious freedom of one Christian group, the Mormons. At that time, the Mormon faith included belief in polygamy. But the laws and the courts agreed with the view of most Americans that polygamy is harmful to society.
In other countries.
Religion has been discouraged or even forbidden in countries ruled by dictators. Before the 1980’s, for example, the Communist governments of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries persecuted religion on a large scale. A person’s highest allegiance, they believed, belonged to Communism, not to a Supreme Being. Although they did not forbid religion entirely, they made it difficult for people to practice any faith. Beginning in 1989, the Communist governments of many Eastern European countries were replaced with reform governments that permitted more religious freedom. In 1990, Soviet leaders passed a law that restored religious freedom in the Soviet Union. In 1991, the Communist Party lost control of the Soviet government, and later that year the Soviet Union was dissolved.
In some countries that have an official state church, or where most of the people belong to one church, other faiths do not have religious freedom. For example, many Muslim nations discriminate against Christians and Jews.
Other countries, including Denmark and Norway, have state churches. But the governments of these nations grant freedom of worship to other religious groups. In some countries, the government provides equal support for all religions.
History.
Many ancient peoples permitted broad religious freedom. These peoples worshiped many gods and readily accepted groups with new gods. Jews and, later, Christians could not do so because they worshiped only one God. They also believed that allegiance to God was higher than allegiance to any ruler or state. Some ancient peoples did not accept these beliefs, and they persecuted Christians and Jews.
During the Middle Ages, from about the A.D. 400’s through the 1400’s, the Roman Catholic Church dominated Europe and permitted little religious freedom. The Catholic Church persecuted Jews and Muslims. The church also punished people for any serious disagreement with its teachings. In 1415, the Bohemian religious reformer John Hus was burned at the stake for challenging the authority of the pope.
The Reformation , a religious movement of the 1500’s, gave birth to Protestantism. The Catholic Church and Catholic rulers persecuted Protestant groups (see Counter Reformation ). Many Protestant denominations persecuted Catholics and other Protestant groups as well.
However, by the 1700’s and 1800’s the variety of religions that resulted from the Reformation had led to increased tolerance in many countries. These countries included the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. But intolerance remained strong in some countries. Poland and Russia, for example, severely persecuted Jews. One of the most savage religious persecutions in history occurred in the 1930’s and 1940’s, when Nazi Germany killed about 6 million Jews (see Holocaust ).
