If a person's religious beliefs conflict with the law or lead to bias against other groups, should the government protect the exercise of those beliefs? Why or why not?
The government should not protect a religious activity or belief that conflicts with the law or causes biases. The First Amendment allows people to assemble and practice religious freedoms without the intervention of any person or governmental agency. The same Amendment also provides for freedom of the press and free speech. The freedom, in this case, is conditional. When a religious act goes against the law or other religions, then it becomes unlawful. Congress should not support such activity because the First Amendment prevents it from any biased move against any religion.
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There should be no regulation that the congress shall introduce to restrict any religion or promote a single religious practice over others. This requirement in the First Amendment leads to the understanding that religious beliefs among people in the government should not make them biased against others. When the government chooses to support a religious view that opposes others or conflicts with the law, this may seem to be a partisan move (Beery, 2018). The situation may, therefore, result in the government disregarding the constitution. Amendment also offers the citizens an opportunity to petition a government that may behave in a manner that indicates biases or restrictions on other religions. In this case, other groups may represent religions that may petition the government that supports specific beliefs against them.
In general, the context enables an understanding of the First Amendment and why the government should not support religious beliefs against the law or other religious groups. The law allows citizens to exercise religious freedom; however, it prevents them from involving the government in taking favors that consider other religious groups to appear inferior. Such a situation may result in one citizen petitioning the government for violating the law. Therefore, any government in the United States should exercise neutrality to abide by the country's regulations.
Reference
Beery, B. (2018). Prophylactic free exercise: The First Amendment and religion in a post-Kennedy world. Alb. L. Rev. , 82 , 121. https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/albany82§ion=7
