Religious Tolerance: Was It In The Original Us Constitution?

The US Constitution's original approach to religious toleration was ambiguous. While it only mentioned religion once, in Article VI, it stated that no religious Test shall ever be required as Qualification for federal officeholders. This marked a break with European tradition, allowing people of any faith or no faith to serve in public office. However, the absence of a bill of rights disappointed many Americans, who wanted explicit protection of their rights, including freedom of religion. The First Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights, was later adopted to address this, establishing a separation of church and state and protecting the freedom of religion.

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The US Constitution and the First Amendment

The US Constitution, adopted on September 17, 1787, mentions religion only once, in Article VI, which states that "no religious Test shall ever be required as Qualification for federal office holders". This marked a break with European tradition, allowing people of any faith or no faith to serve in public office. However, the absence of a bill of rights that would explicitly enumerate the rights of citizens, including freedom of religion, troubled many Americans.

The First Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights, was drafted by James Madison and ratified in 1791. It established a separation of church and state, prohibiting the federal government from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion". It also prevents the government, in most cases, from interfering with a person's religious beliefs or practices. The exact wording is: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".

The First Amendment also protects other individual liberties, including freedom of speech and the press, and the right to assemble and petition the government. The amendment has been interpreted in various ways over the years, and the US Supreme Court has ruled inconsistently on matters of religious freedom. For example, in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the display of a six-foot monument of the Ten Commandments at the Texas State Capital was constitutional, but that two large, framed copies of the Ten Commandments in Kentucky courthouses violated the First Amendment.

The principle of religious freedom has been a part of the US since its earliest days. Many early immigrants travelled to North America to escape religious persecution in their homelands. The Colony of Rhode Island, founded by Roger Williams in 1636, was the first colony with no established church and the first to grant religious freedom to everyone. The Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776 established the "natural right of human beings to practice religion according to the dictates of their conscience". The Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom of 1786 prohibited any coercion to support any religious body.

Religious freedom in the US Constitution

The US Constitution, adopted on September 17, 1787, mentions religion only twice. Firstly, in Article VI, it states that "no religious Test shall ever be required as Qualification" for federal office holders. This marked a break with European tradition, allowing people of any faith or no faith to serve in public office. Secondly, the First Amendment to the Constitution, which was adopted on December 15, 1791, includes the Establishment Clause, which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". This clause enforces the separation of church and state, preventing the federal government from establishing a national religion or impeding the free exercise of religion for its citizens.

The inclusion of these clauses in the Constitution was influenced by the diverse religious landscape of the newly independent American states. Many early immigrants to North America had fled religious persecution in their homelands, and the physical persecution of religious dissenters had ended by 1776. The Constitutional Convention believed that a government-sanctioned religion would disrupt the newly formed union, and the First Amendment was designed to limit the authority of the government to civil matters, protecting individual liberty to worship without government interference.

However, it is important to note that the Constitution did not initially include a bill of rights that explicitly enumerated the rights of American citizens. James Madison, often called the "father of the Constitution", took the lead in steering the Bill of Rights through the First Federal Congress, which convened in the spring of 1789. On September 28, 1789, both houses of Congress voted to send twelve amendments to the states, and in December 1791, the first ten amendments, including the First Amendment, were ratified.

The US Supreme Court has ruled on several occasions regarding the display of religious symbols in government buildings and the applicability of the First Amendment to state governments. The extent of the separation of government and religion in the US continues to be debated, and controversies surrounding religious freedom in the US have included a range of issues, such as building places of worship, compulsory speech, and prohibited counseling.

Religious tests for public office

The U.S. Constitution, adopted on September 17, 1787, mentions religion only once, in Article VI, which states that "no religious Test shall ever be required as Qualification for federal office holders". This marked a break with European tradition, allowing people of any faith or no faith to serve in public office in the United States.

The United States has a long history of religious persecution and immigration as a result. Many early immigrants travelled to North America to escape religious persecution in their homelands. These included Puritans, who were Protestant Christians fleeing persecution from the Anglican King of England, and later Dissenters, such as Baptists. The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, however, did not tolerate opposing religious views, banning Catholics, Quakers, and other non-Puritans from the colony. In 1635, Roger Williams, a Puritan dissident, was himself banned from Massachusetts and went on to found Rhode Island, the first colony with no established church and the first to grant religious freedom to everyone, including Quakers and Jews.

The Constitutional Convention believed that a government-sanctioned religion would disrupt the newly formed union. George Washington wrote in a letter in 1790 that the government "gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance". Benjamin Franklin, in a famous speech delivered at a particularly contentious period, asserted that "God governs in the Affairs of Men".

The First Amendment to the Constitution, drafted by James Madison and adopted on December 15, 1791, established a separation of church and state, prohibiting the federal government from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion". It also prevents the government, in most cases, from interfering with a person's religious beliefs or practices. The Fourteenth Amendment extends these protections to state governments.

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Religious tolerance in the colonies

Maryland, founded by Cecilius Calvert in 1634 as a safe haven for Catholics, is a prime example of a colony that passed a law of religious toleration. However, this law was later repealed when Puritans took over the colony's assembly. The Puritans themselves, who were fleeing religious persecution in England, were often intolerant of other religious groups, exiling, whipping, and cropping the ears of those who dared to criticise them or proselytize.

As new colonies formed, greater freedom to worship was added into many official charters, and the most religiously strict colonies evolved to tolerate "dissenters". By the beginning of the 18th century, the descendants of the original settlers had not grown up under religious oppression, so the fiery religious spirit that led to the formation of the colonies dissipated. The rise of rational thinking also challenged the foundation of traditional religious beliefs.

The Great Awakening, a period of religious revival, helped to churn up a desire for spiritual equality, which in turn promoted the belief in political equality. This period of religious fervour led to a tolerance of differences that had not occurred before and ultimately encouraged the Revolutionary spirit.

The newly independent states crafted new constitutions, and these constitutions varied from state to state and region to region. Connecticut, for example, passed an act of toleration in 1784 but required dissenters to pay taxes to their churches. Massachusetts passed a Declaration of Rights in 1780, authorized support of Protestant churches, and mandated compulsory attendance on Sundays at some church. New Hampshire passed a Bill of Rights in 1784 that included religious freedom but still did not offer legal status to nonconformist churches and required religious taxes.

The struggle for religious freedom and against religious establishment in Virginia significantly influenced the role of religion in the drafting of the US Constitution. James Madison, often called the "father of the Constitution", introduced the original draft of the Bill of Rights, which was added to the Constitution in 1791. The Constitution itself, however, said little about religion, which troubled some Americans who wanted faith to play a larger role in the government, and others who feared that it would.

Religious clauses in the Bill of Rights

The US Constitution only mentions religion once, in Article VI, which states that "no religious Test shall ever be required as Qualification" for federal office holders. The Constitution's reserve on the topic of religion troubled two groups of Americans: those who wanted the new government to give faith a larger role, and those who feared that it would do so.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, provides constitutional protection for certain individual liberties, including freedom of religion. The First Amendment was adopted on 15 December 1791 and established a separation of church and state, prohibiting the federal government from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion". It also prevents the government from interfering with a person's religious beliefs or practices, and it protects the right to worship however one chooses, or not to worship at all.

The text of the First Amendment includes the following religious clauses:

• "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
• "...or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The "Establishment Clause" is generally interpreted to prohibit the federal government from establishing a national church or excessively involving itself in religion, particularly to the benefit of one religion over another. The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution further guarantees religious civil rights.

The inclusion of these religious clauses in the Bill of Rights reflects the struggle for religious freedom and against religious establishment in the newly independent American states. The Constitutional Convention believed that a government-sanctioned religion would disrupt the newly formed union, given the wide diversity of opinion on Christian theological matters.

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