Constructing an outline and draft for the final paper

Federalism and Religious Freedoms: The Importance of and the Adherence to the Separation of Church and State in a Multicultural Environment

Although it is clear that many religious concepts were embedded into the original drafting of the Constriction and the Nation's laws, maintaining a separation of church and state in the official capacity allowed the country to prosper in many ways. Having civil laws that govern beyond religious controls allows for a level of stability that can accommodate many difference ideologies.

Federalism and Religious Freedoms

A Federalist design works to protect religion and religious leaders by allowing them to operate freely without any state intervention.

Main Point

• Although religions receive many protections, there are many issues that put the church and state at odds when the religious ideology conflicts with the secular freedoms which have been present since the founding in varying forms and degrees; obvious examples in today's society could be illustrated by abortion and stem-cell research.

• Contrary to a general misconception, however, the Puritans also made lasting contributions to America's tradition of religious liberty by disapproving of an ecclesiastical judiciary, and by cautiously differentiating between civil and religious control; for approximately four generations, the Puritans experienced an unmitigated independence to carry out their political and religious experiments (Elliot, 2002).

• Religious groups have been struggling to find the right balance between religion and civil law, however the underlying principles of the need for the separation have been a core component of the country's development.

• The balance between the powers of church and state can be complicated in many cases, the existence of the balance provides a level of stability.

Main Point 2: In today's society the tension between religion and civil rights is a salient as it has ever been.

• The constitution protects individuals from discrimination in the public sphere by guaranteeing a set of basic rights and freedoms.

• However, there are many religious groups that claim that their religious freedoms entitle them to have some discriminatory powers relative to individuals that are in opposition to their religious beliefs.

• U.S. Civil Rights Commission issued a report recently outlining some of the contemporary tensions in the balance between church and state (Davidson, 2016):

• "Religious exemptions to the protections of civil rights based upon classifications such as race, color, national origin, sex, disability status, sexual orientation, and gender identity, when they are permissible, significantly infringe upon these civil rights," the report said.

• Religious institutions and religious members have continued to come into conflict with some practices by some members of society in a manner that hinders their civil rights.

• Although having a separation of church and state has allowed the country to reach its current stage of development, the balance between these two concepts must be dynamic and evolve over time to tackle new challenges that manifest.

Main Point 3: Identify implications for civil liberties related to the topic.

• Civil liberties are largely considered to be neutral and are to be upheld by all members of society regardless of their religious preferences.

• However, the civil code may infringe on some religious beliefs and practices.

• For example, two members of the Native American Church who were fired from their jobs as drug counselors after using the illegal drug peyote in a religious ritual and were subsequently denied unemployment compensation by the state of Oregon and Justice Scalia wrote: "To permit this would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself (Dorner, 2013)".

• The balance between the church and state is continually being challenged from many different angles. However, civil liberties must be maintained at all times to provide a fabric for a diverse society to function at the most basic of levels.

Works Cited

Davidson, J. (2016, September 9). Civil rights or religious liberty -- what's on top? Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/09/09/commission-says-religious-liberty-should-not-top-civil-rights/

Dorner, J. (2013, December 12). Religous Liberty for All? Retrieved from American Progress: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/civil-liberties/report/2013/12/12/80968/religious-liberty-for-some-or-religious-liberty-for-all/

Elliot, C. (2002). Federalism and Religious Liberty. Retrieved from Law and Religion: http://lawandreligion.com/sites/lawandreligion.com/files/Elliott.pdf