Freedom of Religion?

The Madisonian Model was framed by James Madison in the Constitution as a way to organize the government to prevent tyranny. This is accomplished through a system of checks and balances between the three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. The Bill of Rights is an extension of the Constitution and is also in place as an insurance against an overbalance of power, particularly in the government. Freedom of religion, a civil liberty, outlined in the Bill of Rights, is in place to balance power, to insure that no one religion can overpower any other. This idea being carried out through the separation of church and state.

At the time that The Bill of Rights was formed there was strong religious persecution in the United States. An example, individuals were being executed for the crime of not belonging to whatever the dominate religion was in that region (Waldman). Note that citizens of the United States currently have much more freedom to practice the religion of their choice compared with other nations of the world, and compared with early colonists of America. However, there is still much needed growth within the culture of America to embrace the true idea of freedom of religion. The separation of church and state, culturally, must move beyond a belief or disbelief of Christianity if we are to have true freedom of religion. Protestant Christianity is overrepresented in the government, and subsequently the culture of America. Minority religious are exceedingly underrepresented, presenting imbalance of power between the religions in our society. The theory behind the separation of church and state does not translate adequately within the actual practice of the theory.

The American culture is flawed when it comes to the idea of separation of church and state within the government. Because our culture has strong roots in Protestantism many people are blind to the fact that other religions such as Judaism, Buddhism, Paganism, and Muslim are not only underrepresented, but at times discriminated against in both subtle and obvious ways. For example, in the most recent census data there were 33 different types of Christian religions to choose from, as compared to 11 of all other religions and five of a non-religion status (United States Census, 2012). That means that there are over twice as many options to choose from within the frame of Christianity than there are for every other form of worship or lack there of. This example brings light to the idea that other beliefs are much more limited in there choices to identify themselves as outlined by the government. If one is Christian they can chose from a plethora of choices as to what specific branch of Christianity they practice. Other religions, who in many cases are equally diverse, do not. Minority religious groups are not only limited in their identity. They are also limited in there right to practice.

A clear example of how discrimination is more direct due to the over representation of Christianity can be found in the prison system, particularly the state prisons. State prisons are subject to more religious persecution because there is a larger separation of the influence of the national government. Much like state laws, state prison differ from state to state and are influenced more directly by the populous and the culture within that region (McCollum).

Although convicted criminals have less civil liberties allotted to them, the whole concept of the prison system steams from the idea of rehabilitation primarily through religion, therefore inmates have have a greater access to religious practice (McCollum). However, the religious accommodations that they are provided are framed from the Christian religion. These individuals have access to the Bible, they have Sunday off, they are provided a pastor, they have time on the chapel calender, the list goes on. An inmate that is Christian will have no issue, no interruption in there worship once in prison. Other religions are not provided the appropriate times of to worship, they are not provided religious material, in fact some are even not allowed to properly perform their ceremonies, because of ignorance to the fact that these ceremonies pose no threat to security. An example of this is Wiccans not being allowed to worship in a circle, as is customary in their faith, because of the Protestant understanding of sitting forward in a pew (McCollum). If the concept of rehabilitation through religious practice is to truly be embraced coupled with the idea to have freedom of religion, drastic changes need to happen.

The core of this issue is planted in ignorance. In many situations people do not intentionally discriminate against one right to belief as they see fit. A huge population of the United States is Christian, so naturally there would be a large representation of that religion if we are to of a democracy. However, we find that people who are of different faiths are limited and discriminated against due to policies outlined by our government. This is contradictory to the idea of freedom of religion. The solution is in education. If there was a much stronger degree of education in diversity of religion in public education at a more primary level then unintentional discrimination would minimize. The lack of religious education at a more primary level is actually promoting discrimination of religion through ignorance. But then we are faced with the concern of the separation of church and state as it is understood now. Teaching a comparative religions class especially coupled with critical thinking at a more primary level of education than college would not violate the idea of the separation of church and state. In fact, it would help the future of America to be more progressive and open mined to other schools of thought.

Although our Country is founded and framed on the idea of checks and balances, it is seriously lacking in this practice in regard to religion. Because the United States was founded by people who were primarily Protestant, our culture, which dictates how we operate in society, is also primary Protestant. This over representation leaves minority religions wanting. However, if we begin to encourage a secular education of different faiths in school we may be able to better embrace freedom of religion and the separation of church and state more adequately. It's at that point that we would be able to avoid the imbalance of representation and accommodation between Christianity and every other religion in our government.

Works Cited

McCollum, Patrick, Rev. Interview by Margot Adler. The Right to Prison Rites. 
Justice Talking, 2 June 2008. Web. 24 June 2012. 
<http://www.justicetalking.org/ShowPage.aspx?ShowID=666>.

"Population: Religion." United States Census Bureau. U.S. Census Bureau, 
Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012, 2012. Web. 25 June 2012. 
<http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0075.pdf>.

Waldman, Steven. Interview by Margot Adler. Founding Faith. Justice 
Talking, 2 June 2008. Web. 23 June 2012. <http://www.justicetalking.org/ 
ShowPage.aspx?ShowID=666>.