“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”.Barnette (1943)Įxcerpt from Justice Robert H. Congress certainly cannot forbid all effort to change the mind of the country.” “It is only the present danger of immediate evil or an intent to bring it about that warrants Congress in setting a limit to the expression of opinion where private rights are not concerned.While that experiment is part of our system, I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country.” Every year, if not every day, we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge. It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment. That, at any rate, is the theory of our Constitution. But when men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas – that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. To allow opposition by speech seems to indicate that you think the speech impotent, as when a man says that he has squared the circle, or that you do not care wholeheartedly for the result, or that you doubt either your power or your premises. If you have no doubt of your premises or your power, and want a certain result with all your heart, you naturally express your wishes in law, and sweep away all opposition. “Persecution for the expression of opinions seems to me perfectly logical.The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.”Įxcerpt from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’s Dissenting Opinion: “he character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.Read notable quotations from Founding Fathers and U.S.This activity is part of Module 10: The First Amendment from the Constitution 101 CurriculumĮxcerpt from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’s Majority Opinion: Presidents demonstrate that our government is not based on any religion, and the founders intended a separation of church and state to ensure religious freedom. While it is true that the words "separation of church and state" do not appear in the Constitution, the writings of key Founding Fathers, other documents from the period, and statements by subsequent U.S. And others go farther - claiming that the Constitution and our nation's government are based on a particular faith or religious beliefs.īoth claims are false. Some claim that the First Amendment's Establishment Clause does not really require separation of religion and government because the phrase "separation of church and state" does not appear in the First Amendment. Largely because of the First Amendment's prohibition against government regulation or endorsement of religion, diverse faiths have flourished and thrived in America since the founding of the republic. Constitution's First Amendment from other forms of speech and observance - mandating strict separation of religion and government to ensure religious freedom for all individuals and faiths. Recognizing the unique and intimate nature of religion, the Founding Fathers wisely put religion on a different footing in the U.S. The right to freedom of religion is so central to American democracy that it was enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S.
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