Religious Liberty and the US Constitution - Essay Example

Religious Liberty The US constitution is aptly regarded as the custodian of the individual and collective interests and rights of all members of society without any discrimination in respect of caste, clan, tribe, community, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. Consequently, the constitution offers the US citizens unconditional and unflinching protection of human rights in all activities at large provided these acts of them do not challenge, hurt or harm the rights of the fellow humans. The protection of human rights is not confined to one specific region or field only; rather, it is equally applicable to domestic, professional, financial and religious areas of the country. It is therefore, the very first amendment, introduced in the constitution in 1791, provides an absolute and unrestricted religious freedom to the masses, where the followers of all faiths are declared free to perform their religious practices without any prohibition, interference or restrictions from the state or government altogether. The first amendment in the US constitution states: 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...” Runquist (2007) observes that the first clause prohibits the government from establishing a religion (including preferring one religion over another or over no religion). The second clause guarantees the free exercise of religion. Father of the US nation, George Washington, hand-wrote in his own personal prayer book that it is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible (Judiciary House, 2011). Hence, the Americans are free to attend churches, mosques, synagogues and temples without any checks on their religious performances from the state as well as from their religious opponents and rival communities. Religion can rightly be stated as one of the most fundamental elements of human life. Though it is a diversified subject, and thousands of faiths exist in the world, yet belief in the supernatural and metaphysical powers is common in all cultures of the world. An overwhelming majority of the people at global scale maintain that some Supreme Being certainly exists in the universe, which could solve all their difficulties and problems, and can protect them from the disasters and calamities they themselves are unable to combat with. Consequently, people develop emotional attachments with the deity they adore, and do not allow any type of hindrance or obstacle that could stop them from displaying their sincere compliance, reverence and worship to the deity. History is replete with the examples of horrible wars fought in the name of religion, which resulted into heavy and irreparable losses in men and material. Adherence with the religious teachings is not confined to one single community or social class only; rather, it is equally popular among the rich and poor and the strong and weak. It is therefore, George W. Bush (2001) had declared the war of terrorism as the continuity of the crusade wars fought by the Christians against the Muslims in the medieval times. Judis (2005) submits to state that in putting forth his foreign policy, George W. Bush speaks of the United States having a calling or mission that has come from the Maker of Heaven. Thus, the religion is central in the life of the American people; it is therefore 79% of the population openly declares it as the follower of various Christian factions. Keeping in view all these facts and realities, along with the mental condition and sentimens of the people behind them, the founder-leaders of the USA decided to offer unrestricted religious liberty to the masses in order to avoid and escape any unpleasant state of affairs for the future years to come. It is therefore, the USA has never been a suitable battlefield for the individuals belonging to divergent faiths; on the other hand, the country made unabated progress and witnessed marvelous political stability and economic prosperity by dint of the hard efforts made by the US citizens collectively in order to win a respectable place for their motherland. On the one side, the US constitution provides a wide ranged religious liberty to the citizens without discrimination, and on the other side, the intellectuals, writers, jurists and scholars demonstrate their reservations in respect of determining and deciding the boundaries of the freedom the state intends to offer the religious groups of the country. The critics are of the opinion that although religious liberty appears to be tantamount to the noble principles of justice and equality, yet there must be introduced some limitations and boundary lines in order to keep an eye on these activities, due to the very reality that the people could get involved into the acts that undoubtedly comes under the definition of crime and offense against the statutes of the prevailing law of the country. It is a famous maxim that an open door may tempt even a saint, which simply means that the absence of checks and balances, and unabated freedom may also encourage the criminal-minded individuals to commit crimes against the followers of the rival faiths and hence may destroy the very peace of the country subsequently. Thus, the first and the foremost challenge faced by the US society include the determination of the definition and boundaries of the notion religious liberty in order to offer the same to them on the part of the government. The critics do not look for the discouragement of freedom of religion in the USA; nor do they appear to be determined for imposing any banishments or restrictions on any religious group on the basis of any doubts regarding their suspicious acts. On the contrary, they submit to state that the government must determine some boundaries deciding the limits of the freedom the people will enjoy in the name of religious practices. For instance, once considered an extremely challenging issue for the spiritual and moral values of Christianity, homosexual marriages were prohibited in the country. Somehow, during the second half of twentieth century, the US government allowed LGTB rights provided these are being observed with the free consent of the two or more parties involved into the same-sex relationships. However, free consent as well as the age of majority of the parties is regarded essential while entering into such type of physical and sexual relationships. Similarly, two adult people’s living together under one roof without marriage is no more a taboo in the country. Consequently, the statutes of law clearly determine the mode of relationship in order to protect the rights of the individuals. Thus, one thing acceptable and suitable during one particular era could be banned in future years in the best interest of the nation; the same is applied to the unrestricted religious liberty has been in vogue in America. Although the religious liberty offers the people to arrange and attend their religious functions and festivals on the basis of their belief, yet it does not mean that they get involved into the activities that may challenge the peace of society on the one hand, and put the interests or safety of the others in grave jeopardy. Taking the example of the terrorist organizations including the extremist Hindu organization Shev Sena, Deoband-led Al-Qaeda, Afghan-based terrorist group Taliban and Jewish fundamentalist group Kach, it becomes evident that the members and representatives of all these organizations are directly or indirectly involved into extremism and terrorism, where they appear to be working on some hidden agenda of killing and harming the people belonging to their opponent faiths and sects. These organizations, through their nefarious propaganda and condemnable advertising campaign, are projecting and promoting ethno-racial and sectarian hatred in the sacred name of religion. It is therefore Awad (2011) has sought the support of the Supreme Court in order to get the anti-Islamic campaign banned from the county being exercised and promoted by the narrow-minded Hindus and small faction consists of extremist Jews and Christians. The American Muslim community’s challenge is to prevent agenda-driven anti-Islam legislation from undermining America’s ideals of free religious expression and to minimize government intrusion into personal religious affairs (Saylor, 2012). It is a reality beyond suspicion that everyone considers his faith as righteous, and others as deviant ones in nature and scope, yet it does not mean that the people should turn such narrow-minded and narrow-sighted that they should start attacking on others or should start devising criminal schemes or destructive plans to harm the people that do not belong to the faith they have adopted. The phenomena of intolerance and clashes of civilization raised its ugly head in the aftermath of WWI, when some opportunist statesmen created such circumstances, which paved the way towards the bloody clashes between the Muslims and Jews, Muslims and Christians and the Jews and Christians. The horrible Armenian homicide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1915, and the massacre of the Turks by the Allies during 1915-18 aggravated the perturbed state of affairs among the adherents of various sects. Adolf Hitler also had his share by inflicting atrocities upon the Jews, because of the conspiracies made by few members of the entire community; somehow, the community en masse had to suffer the agonies at the hands of Nazis before and during WWII. Similarly, the establishment of a Jewish state at the heart of the Arab World in 1948 also instigated the conflicts between the civilizations. On the one side, the Jews were prohibited from performing their religious obligations in Germany and other parts of the globe, and on the other side, the Muslim Ottoman Empire was divided into fractions and several states, which resulted into an unending situation of clashes between the religions. Such an unpleasant state of affairs produced the extremist organizations in the Islamic World, which brought forth the gloomy 9/11 catastrophe in its aftermath, which gave birth to the US invasion in the Muslim states of Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The clashes between the religions is not the outcome of mere restrictions imposed upon the people; rather, absence or lack of check and balance system as well as unrestrained religious liberties also maintain their sizeable share in turning the world into the battlefield and inferno as well particularly for the followers of Abrahamic faiths including the Muslims, Christians and Jews. Since the European, Asian and African nations had not devised any plans to keep an insightful eye upon the activities of their subjects, the circumstances turned out to be favorable for the opportunists, criminals and offenders in exercising their nefarious designs all over the globe. The flames of extremism also reached the land of USA, which had to bear the heavy losses in men and material because of the terrorist attack on the then twin towers (present-day zero-ground). Had the authorities regulated the criminal activities of the people they had been launching in the name of religion, they would have not taken place any incident like 9/11 catastrophe, which could bring revolutionary alterations in the international politics at large. Works Cited Judis, John B. The Chosen Nation: The Influence of Religion on U.S. Foreign Policy 2005 Web Runquist, Lisa A. Constitutional Rights of Religious Organizations 2007 Web Saylor, Corey P. Securing Religious Liberty Council on American-Islamic Relations February 2012 Web State of Religious Liberty in the United States Hearing Before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives One Hundred Twelfth Congress Read More