Is there a difference between Government establishment of a religion and the freedom to worship?

Answer 1

In a theocratic government, there is never the freedom of faith. In most of the Islamic countries, no other religion than Islam can be freely practised.

Answer 2

You bet there is.

Freedom to worship is, well, the right we all have, to worship as we please. Or not to worship, in the case of atheists. The government can't tell us what to believe or not to believe, or even tell us to go to church. It can't do this because what we believe is in our minds and in our hearts. Even if the government were to somehow force us to church, it can't make us truly believe.

Therefore, it has been made illegal for the government to try and force us to worship in a way we don't believe as it violates our personal free will that nobody has the right to take away.

Government establishment of a religion(theocracy) is when a government takes a religion- any religion at all, be it Islam, Buddhism, etc- and makes it the state religion that everyone belonging to that country must worship. People who don't worship the state religion tend to suffer as disbelief in the state religion is often considered treason. It essentially boils down to a mentality of; "If you don't believe in our God(s), you don't believe in us."

This is forbidden in America because establishing a state religion in which those that don't believe have to either convert to a belief they don't truly believe in, leave a country that they may not be able to leave, or, well, face the consequences, which could range from arrest to torture to outright execution.

Seeing as how that's not something a free, democratic nation is about, obviously, it's been made illegal for the government to do. If it does, it violates the very principle it was set out to protect, which is each person's individual right to believe as they see fit.

So that's the difference. Freedom to worship is something all of us have, the right to believe, think, and feel as we wish, where government establishment of a religion violates that and amounts to the government telling us what we must believe, instead of leaving it up to us.

Answer 3

Yes. Government is forbidden by the Constituion to make a law regarding the establishment of a religion, and that includes atheism or secular humanism as a national religion to be imposed upon the people, who are free to worship as they please.

They are also free to express their religious beliefs, according to Freedom of Speech, also a part of the First Amendment.

The First Amendment was written to protect the rights of the people, and people should also be mindful that there is no such thing as a "separation of church and state" anywhere within the Constitution.

Cassandra below is a bit confused, and respectfully, she doesn't know what she's talking about. What she is not telling you is that she wants her belief system to be established as the national religion, imposed upon people with tyranny.

Answer 4

Yes because when government establishes a religion then they expect everyone to be a member of it and you have no freedom of religion anymore.

Answer 5

the difference is self-determination. if the govt displays the symbols of one religion, requires children to say the prayers selected by the state, taxes you to pay for churches, or if the govt bases its laws on religious bigotry (anti-gay marriage, earlier: anti-mixed-race-marriage), then it is establishing religion and this is wrong.

we are all free to worship as we choose. we are simply not free to compel our neighbor or his children to practice our religion or to stand by quietly while we practice our religion in public places with public funds on public time.

atheism/secular humanism are not religions. atheism specifically means - "a" - without "theism" religion - without religion!!!!!!!!!

if you say there is a great pumpkin and I say there is not, I do not have an anti-great-pumpkin religion..

Answer 6

If you live in a democracy then 'YES', if you live in a country that claims to be a democracy then 'NO'

Anyone think of an example?