Doesn't our Constitution give us the right to be free from other people's religious beliefs?

Question

In that we have the right NOT to have to join a church or lie that we believe the things they believe in order to survive?

Reap, I don't understand what you are saying. How can you say that we don't have the right 'NOT' to worship? That's a fool's thinking. Can you read my mind and see if I'm praying or not? The only way you could enforce that is to make me go to church, and if that happened, I'm sure GOD would destroy it. And if I practice my religion in my own way, there's not a thing you or anyone else can do about it except to punish me by taking my citizen's rights away. And then you'll have a full-fledged civil war going and you're no better than the taliban.

Answer 1

Yes.

Answer 2

The Constitution gives us the right to believe and practice whatever religion we choose. The Constitution also requires that any government agency or representative shall not promote or hinder any religion. However, our religious rights end there.

It sounds like you're referring to something specific, though, and so I cannot say whether you are constitutionally protected. For example, if you are a minor and your parents insist that you attend church, then you are not protected by the constitution. If you're in a drug store and the owner has a christmas tree or menorah behind the counter as a decoration, you are not protected by the constitution. If you're walking down the sidewalk and someone is shouting at you and demanding that you come into the nearby church and pray with them, you are not constitutionally protected, although you may have a legal claim against that person for civil harassment if it's a regular occurrence.

Answer 3

That's not what I understand. As I understand it, the U.S. Constitution gives us freedom to worship according to the convictions of our hearts, and has nothing to do with whether we choose to be offended at exposure to others' religious beliefs. I understand that the Constitution gives us the right *to* worship, not a right *not* to worship, and it prohibits the government from establishing a church whose belief system all must endorse and join, or risk criminal punishment. It's interesting to see how differently we interpret the Constitutional authors' intents, isn't it?

Answer 4

No, it says that the GOVERNMENT is not permitted to establish or INTERFERE WITH religion. It does NOT say that the government is required to interfere with religion in order to keep others "free from" those beliefs. The Constitution does NOT govern private interactions, no matter how much nasty little fascists would twist it towards that direction.

Answer 5

Yes, I believe so. This is why I support the removal of Religious program from TV. Only exception is, if they allow all religions equal access. We all know this will never happen. LOL

Answer 6

Yep and that is the only way we can really have freedom to belong to the Church of our choice as well. Too bad the funduhmentalists do not read the Bill of Rights.

Answer 7

Define "be free from." If I'm your next door neighbor and I put a cross in my lawn, are you allowed to sue me for that? NOPE.

If you're my co-worker and you ask me "how was your weekend" and I say "I went to a great couples Christian retreat" are you going to accuse me of forcing my religion down your throat?

Your rights end where mine begin.

Answer 8

Yes it does, but the religious right is trying to make this a country ruled by and for religion. We all see how well that works for the Muslims.

Answer 9

Yep.

You'd think that the six states that still prohibit atheists from taking public office would bear that in mind, but it's not looking good.

Answer 10

Yep.

Last time I checked it was not mandatory to attend church...

The constitution gives you freedom of religion, it does not give you freedom to censor followers of religion.