face as a nation. Before the revolution, many colonial governments, such as the Puritans,

established churches that had special powers and privileges denied to others. With the

independence and creation of America after the revolutionary war, a new concept of

church and state appeared. The idea of religious liberty and the separation of church and

state. The new concept allowed for much freedom and religious innovation among the

American people and, at the same time, created problems in defining the line that

separated the domain of government and public life from the domain of religion.

The central institution of our country which decides on this issue is the U.S.

Supreme Court. In the past hundred years there has been an increasing number of church

and state related cases that deal with the first amendment, which guarantees freedom of

religion. There have been more cases interpreting the First Amendment than all other

Yet the Supreme Court is only the last stop in the long process by which policy

becomes law, and church and state is defined. How others interpret this issue depends on

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