" Although the results then were not complementary to this clause of the First Amendment, the actions made then opened the floodgates for redresses of grievances against the United States government. The validity and effectiveness of the First Amendment as well as all other amendments of the United States Constitution can be determined through various tests in time. Fortunately, the First Amendment stood steadfast and changed various facets of American lives throughout the centuries. But despite all these, the First Amendment, and even the whole American Constitution and Bill of Rights for that matter, cannot be deemed as perfect because any case brought to test it will have results that are both acceptable to some and unacceptable also. This is what makes for a great democracy like the United States when its laws are not taken at face value but rather there will be challenges to the applicability thereto. In the case of the religious freedom provision of the First Amendment, "back in 1990, the Supreme Court upheld an Oregon law forbidding the use of peyote, a drug used in Native American religious rituals. Faith groups worried that the precedent could lead to more laws that infringed on religious practices, so Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) (Hinkle, 2011)." Although the RFRA may seem broad in contents, the importance of the actions leading to the promulgation of the act is that the foundation of religious freedom saw protection from the Legislative Branch of the American government.

In the Information Age, the biggest challenge faced by the First Amendment is with the Internet. The reason being is the lack of geographical boundary and clear delineation of scope of cyberspace. Aside from this, the Internet has become the ultimate venue of freedom of expression albeit sometimes too much freedom. The result of is that "since 1996, every Congressional session has passed at least one piece of legislation attempting to censor the Internet, almost always in the name of protecting the youth of America. The first such attempt...

Exon's Communication's Decency Act (CDA), passed as an amendment to the Telecommunications Act of 1996. (Cybertelecom, 2011)" By the same token, there have been challenges to these legislations and the First Amendment once again is being put to the tests. Then again, this simply means that the amendment is alive and well and is there to ensure that the fundamental rights contained in the provision thereto are protected or will always be protected. Thus, there is no doubt that this amendment will always be at the forefront of what defines American democracy and American citizens now and in the future will always be there to enjoy the benefits provided by the First Amendment. In a recent study conducted by the John S. And James L. Knight Foundation (2010), the study "suggests that First Amendment values can be taught - that the more students are exposed to news media and to the First Amendment, the greater their understanding of the rights of American citizens." Indeed, this only shows that the First Amendment is truly a vital part of American democracy and without it, the American nation cannot be truly defined as a nation that embraces democracy to the fullest.
Bibliography:

American Civil Liberties Union. Freedom of Expression: ACLU Briefing Paper Number 10. The 'Lectric Law Library. 2011. 14 Aug. 2011. .

Anti-Defamation League. Separation of Church and State: A First Amendment Primer. 2001. 14 Aug. 2011. .

Cybertelecom. Free Speech and Internet Censorship. 10 Aug. 2011. 14 Aug. 2011. .

Hinkle, A. Barton. Fundamentalists vs. The First Amendment. Richmond Times-Dispatch. 19 Jul. 2011. 14 Aug. 2011. .

John S. And James L. Knight Foundation. Future of the First Amendment. 05 Feb. 2010. 14 Aug. 2011. .

Klukowski, Ken. First Amendment Protects prayer, Not Obscene Violence. The Examiner. 05 Jun. 2011. 14 Aug. 2011. .

United States Senate. The Constitution of the United States: First Amendment -- Religion and Expression. 01 Nov. 1996. 14 Aug. 2011. .