The United States is home to more than 370 religious bodies, according to the 2020 religion census.
The Constitution prohibits state-sponsored religion and guarantees the freedom to practice any faith a person chooses. But that doesn’t stop religion from influencing American politics — sometimes in ways that end up in front of the Supreme Court.
Rachel Laser is CEO and President of the nonpartisan nonprofit Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
“It's often called the first freedom, religious freedom, because it's actually protected in the first 16 words of the First Amendment,” Laser said.
Separation of church and state was a uniquely American ideal when it was introduced. And it was important to the framers, which is why they put it front and center in the First Amendment.
They had watched American colonists escape religious persecution by Europeans, and wanted to make sure that wasn't repeated.
Thomas Jefferson drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. It established the separation of church and state.
“He spoke about religious freedom having within its mantle the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian, the Mohammedan, the Hindu, and the infidel of every faith,” Laser said. “Just pause on that. He wrote about this, about the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, from the late 1700s. Imagine how radical that was for that era, and yet that is American history 101.”
Religious freedom is protected in multiple places in the Constitution. Article Six says there can’t be a religious test to run for public office, and there are two clauses in the First Amendment.
“One of them is the Free Exercise Clause that says we should all be able to freely exercise our religion,” Laser said. “And then there's the Establishment Clause that I like to describe as the non-Establishment Clause, because what that clause says is, but the government can't favor or disfavor one religion over any others, or religion over non-religion.”
Lawmakers have long used their faith to inform policy decisions, and that’s considered appropriate. It becomes a problem when those beliefs are forced onto others.
“You're allowed to freely exercise your religion, but not when you harm others, because when you harm others and the government lets you, the government is creating an America that favors one set of religious beliefs over others,” Laser said.
Religious themes have seeped into American civic life and bureaucracy throughout our history.
We have “God We Trust” on paper money and “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance from fighting “Godless communism” during the Cold War.
Several Republican-led states have raised eyebrows over the last few years for passing laws requiring classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.
Laser’s organization represents the plaintiff in five cases against the laws who say their religious freedoms are being infringed upon. Rulings had been in their favor until very recently, when a Texas circuit court narrowly ruled against them.
“They said that the poster was just a poster on a wall, which honestly should offend anyone who values the 10 Commandments,” Laser said. “[It] really shows the way that when you merge religion in the state, it sullies religion.”
The cases could end up before the Supreme Court. Laser said the body has historically been on the side of the challengers who want to keep religion separate.
“The Supreme Court has been very careful over time, including more conservative judges, to protect the religious freedom of school children, realizing that they're captive audiences, they have to go to school, and that they're impressionable,” Laser said.
Laser said the nation is at a crossroads for the separation of church and state. Between people, religious and not, who want to keep the country unaffiliated, and those who want religion and governing to be synonymous.
The country’s 250th anniversary, Laser said, could be the perfect opportunity to recommit to the founders' idea of separation.
