The establishment of state religion means that a state will have a particular belief in which all members of the country would conform. On the other hand, freedom of exercise of morality dictates that all members of a specific state are entitled to practice their religion and belief without any interference from others whose religious beliefs might be different. These two models of faith narrow down to state institutions such as schools, which are analyzed under the topic of school prayers in this essay.
The First Amendment prohibits the establishment of a state religion that would interfere with individuals' faith. In such a situation, people who would like to practice Christianity will have their religious rights denied. This has brought debate between proponents who support prayer activity in schools and opponents of the same idea, and whether the introduction of state religion will allow this. Proponents argue that prayers in schools are essential to children's growth. At the same time, opponents have a conflicting idea on prayer, attributing the practice of prayers in schools as a way to offend other religious groups.
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Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right and should be preserved at all costs. A state can decide to establish its faith to be practiced as long as it is not mandatory and does not interfere with the religious beliefs of other individuals (Mohanty, Kirkland & Chattopadhyaya, 1993). A state should operate in such a way that people can still have their other faiths freely, even in the presence of the state religion. In as much as this may pose a significant challenge of discrimination between people with different beliefs from the state religion, the state should also enforce laws to protect those with different faiths. This should also ensure that institutions such as schools have freedom of religion, which accommodates everyone.
There are several reasons why a state should establish a state religion and, at the same time, allow individuals to exercise their faiths to help solve the conflict between these two ideologies. A state may allow schools and public institutions to draft school anthems based on their religion or based on the state religion without discrimination (Wilson, 2018). Another reason for having both state religion and individual religion is that there will be freedom of worship for all individuals in the country, whether one chooses to follow the state religion or their religion. The establishment of state and individual religion also builds and restores the trust between the ruling government and the citizens.
References
Mohanty, J., Kirkland, F., and Chattopadhyaya, D., 1993. Phenomenology, East and
West. Dordrecht [The Netherlands]: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Wilson, B., n., 2018. John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age.
