The separation of the church and the state is usually very unclear. Some of the factors that lead to this confusion include the actions of the federal systems in religion. For instance, legislative acts, the media, and opinion polls all paint a different picture when it comes to the state’s involvement in religion. In the United States Constitution, people believe the clause of the First Amendment justifies the separation of the state and religion but the writers of the constitution never intended for it to be so (Williams, 2012). Nevertheless, the authority in religion has slowly shifted to the federal government from the states.
The federal government plays a critical role in religion. It can influence it either negatively or positively depending on the actions and policies it puts in place. One of the facets of religion that are affected by federalism is religious freedoms. This paper seeks to examine one positive impact of federalism on religious freedom and one negative impact of the same. It will then evaluate the two impacts to determine which is of the most significance and why it is so.
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Positive Impact of Federalism on Religious Freedom
Religion and the government might be different things, but they go hand in hand. Federalism can achieve positive impacts in religion if only it can protect and encourage religion (Sheridan, 2014). One of the positive impacts of federalism on religious freedom is its protection because it has specific important roles to play in the society. The federal government just like many other country governments in the world recognizes to some degree religious freedoms and strives to protect them. For instance, the federal government ensures the citizen’s rights to worship and protection while doing so are upheld.
Unlike in the past when religious freedom was limited, federalism allows people to worship depending on how their conscience dictates provided they are not breaking any other laws in the constitution. A government that protects the diverse religious beliefs of its people is often times seen as advanced and desirable. In addition to this, federalism sometimes applies some ethics and rules of religion in their policies and legislations. The federal government also oversees the activities of religious groups to ensure they are in accordance with the constitution. Sometimes the freedom of religion can be denied if the actions of the religious organizations go against the constitution. This has led to discovery and elimination of cultic religious movements that pose a danger to citizens and the members.
The protection of religious freedoms by the federal government has led to the formation of more religions that embodies the cultures of different people. The assurance of free worship has also motivated many to take up and change religions to their benefits. It should be noted that religions play an important role in the morals of any country. Its protection by federalism, therefore, does not only contribute to the overall growth of the country’s morality but also sees a reduction in illegal activities. The church is the government’s best friend, and the government should, therefore, strive to protect its freedoms.
Negative Impact of Federalism on Religious Freedom
There are some negative impacts on religious freedom due to the involvement of the federal government. One of these is the imposition of religion and other foreign religious values on unwilling individuals. When one is forced to abandon their religion and follow a new one, their freedom of religion is interfered with. Federal governments often times do not take into consideration the local conditions or preferences in the enforcement of religious laws. It would be better if the local governments were left with the mandate to manage religion in the respectful areas they manage. This is because the local governments are more conversant with the religion in that particular place than the federal governance.
There are numerous cases that have been presented in court challenging the role of federalism in religion. This is because the federal government at times may control religious freedoms which may not be favorable to some individuals. For instance, in one of the first landmark court cases on religion, Reynold v. United States, the ban on polygamy was upheld as a federal law. This meant the government despite not being able to regulate belief could still regulate some action in religion. In this case, the belief of polygamy which is rooted in some religions was banned thus being a hindrance to the freedom of religion.
Even though the federalism acts to regulate some religious actions positively, it can also lead to the regulations that undermine religious freedoms completely. As stated before, individual states or local governments should have the responsibility to control religious freedoms since different locations have difference religious cultures that they should be upheld. The involvement of the federal government should be minimal and only on national issues in religion (Requejo & Nagel, 2014).
Evaluation of the Most Significant Impact
The most significant impact from the above-discussed impacts is the negative impact. The reason for this is because federalism is causing more harm than good when it comes to regulation of religious freedoms. Freedom cannot be a freedom if it is constantly regulated by the federal government. The same government that claims to protect religious freedoms is the same government that defiles them when an issue arises. Federalism and its imposition have led to the corrosion of various critical religious freedoms.
Some of the federal laws governing religion are built on principles that do not take into consideration the cultural or moral values of religion. What this means is that important aspects of religion are sometimes abandoned due to the fear of litigation from the federals. The federal government may not understand individual needs in religion for various locations and just tries to implement the same universal law across all the facets of religion (Ryden, 2014). The effect of this is that law that persecutes some religious actions are implemented thus affecting the freedom of religion.
When one is forced to change their religious beliefs or modify their religion to satisfy federal laws, the importance of religion is diminished. An example of this is when countries got colonized, and new religions were imposed on them. The sanctity of their religions faded as they tried to adjust to the prevailing laws. Federalism achieves an almost similar effect; some religions are being phased out despite their values not being against any human rights or against any criminal laws.
This does not mean federalism does not have a positive impact on religious freedoms. There are federal laws that allow for religious freedom and protect individuals to practice their religions. The positive impact, however, cannot compensate for the magnitude of the negative impact. The involvement of the federal government should, therefore, be limited to the bare necessary. This is the only way that the positive implications of federalism can outweigh the negative ones.
In conclusion, the religious freedoms are affected both positively and negatively by federalism. One of the positive impacts of federalism on the religion is the protection of people freedom to religion. People are free to worship in line with their ideologies, and the federal government offers them protection from persecution. While the federals’ involvement is appreciated, it also comes with some negative impacts. For instance, one of the negative impacts, as discussed above, is the imposition of religion and other religious values on religion. This negatively affects the freedom of religion. While there are some inherent positive impacts, the negative impacts outweigh them.
References
Requejo, F., & Nagel, K. J. (2014). Politics of Religion and Nationalism: Federalism, Consociationalism and Secession (Vol. 62). Abingdon: Routledge .
Ryden, D. K. (2014). Regulating Religion: Bureaucracies, Faith-Based Organizations, and Constitutional Limits. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan: In Mediating Religion and Government (pp. 157-186).
Sheridan, S. O. (2014). The American Constitution and Religion by Richard J. Regan (review). The Jurist: Studies in Church Law and Ministry, 74(1), 131-133.
Williams, R. F. (2012). State Constitutional Religion Clauses: Lessons from the New Judicial Federalism. U. St. Thomas JL & Pub. Poly , 7, 192.
