The First Amendment of the Constitution states that “congress shall may no law representing the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there of.” Interpreting these words and applying them is rather hard to do. Throughout a time of two hundred years the First Amendment has been referred to many other names. It is often referred to as the Establishment Clause. It has

“Sixty years ago teachers at the school of Union Hill made their students recite the Lords Prayer and know a verse from the Bible every morning,” according to JB Harris, my grandfather. So many of my grandfathers classmates were not given the chance to attend church on a normal basis so this give them knowledge about their religion. Most students that attend school in a small community may not know that this type of activity is illegal today, according to most school board policies. In Washington County, the county that my high school is in, most students were not aware that we were not “legally” allowed to pray before athletic events. To get more specific, according to school board policy 3.61, you are given the chance to have a moment of silence each morning but it may not exceed two minutes. On September 11th, my principal and his fellow co-workers put their jobs in geopardy when he led the entire school in prayer by the flagpole. Its sad to know that people in general turn their eyes to God and their country, but in the time of crisis are they ready to separate the thin line between school and religion?

“Congress shall make no law representing an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people to peacefully assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

First Amendment of the Constitution

The infamous statement “separation of church and state” are no where to be found in the First Amendment. Neither does it appear in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, nor any other official historical United States document. We have already seen that our founding fathers never believed in the separation of church and state, if that meant that religion should not mingle with politics, government, and education. So where did the phrase come from, and why are we under the illusion that the First Amendment teaches separation of church and state? What authority does congress and Supreme Court have to separate religious principal from education: none! “Congress shall make no law

Some topics in this essay:
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