The Constitution of the United States of America is fairly straightforward regarding freedom of religion and religious tests. This is especially true when you consider the fact that it was written over 200 years ago by men who had no idea what life in the USA would be like in 2016. Yet their words and Read More

What is the difference between civil hate and criminal hate? Other than the obvious types of penalties, these two forms of hatred are more similar than many people want to admit. Sure, a criminal action typically involves physical bodily harm to a person or their property, but are not a person’s mental and emotional well-being Read More

In order to fully understand the precarious nature of a situation, it is sometimes necessary to step back and view it from another perspective. In the context of constitutionally protected religious freedom in the United States, this perspective can be obtained by looking to other countries around the world. A recent development in Bangladesh’s constitutional Read More

There are few people who would deny that the first Europeans to travel to the land that would become the United States of America were fiercely religious. They believed so strongly that their way of life was the correct one that they fled persecution in their homelands to find ground where they could plant roots Read More

The United States has a complicated history when it comes to religion, despite its founders having strong ties to the religions of their forefathers.  When the first settlers came to what is now known as New England, they did so in part in an attempt to be free from religious persecution.  The Puritans, Huguenots, Mennonites, Read More

In a lawsuit that was filed over the summer, a religious group in Kentucky is claiming that the State owes it money that it had originally promised, but then rescinded. The questions that will be decided during the litigation will call into question one of the oldest disputes in our country’s history: Where is the Read More

The difference between a religious accommodation in the workplace, and the principles of religious freedom as protected by the U.S. Constitution are often lost on many individuals who confuse the two ideas.  It is important to be able to distinguish between these two principles before entering into any dialogue in the workplace. Religious Accommodations in Read More

There has been a lot of news coverage stemming from the Supreme Court’s most recent decision on marriage, and the lawsuits that have been filed in its wake.  Maybe it’s because it has been rare in the past few decades for an issue to arise that affects individuals on such a raw, personal area such Read More

The U.S. Constitution does not expressly mandate the “separation of church and state,” much to the surprise of many Americans. In fact, the clauses that reference religion in the Constitution are fairly silent as to any sort of separate religious and secular government functions. What the document does say, is that “no religious test” shall Read More

In the beginning, the answer was simple; there was almost no situation in which someone else’s actions were intended to be allowed to impede upon another citizen’s unalienable rights.  That guarantee came with a caveat, however, as the small print to this rule included exceptions for minorities, women and non-landholders.  In fact, when the Constitution Read More