The Significance of the First Amendment



The Significance of the First Amendment

Introduction

It all started when Tomas Jefferson, the founding Father of America, realized that the citizen of United States of America should exercise the concept of free will in its truest of forms. The campaign then evolved. It was due to the efforts of James Madison that the idea took the form of a bill, known as U.S Bill of rights, and it was ratified in 1791. The bill comprised of 10 very important amendments of which the most known and respected, The First Amendment enjoys the importance of bringing the much needed revolution in the constitution of United States.

First Amendment

The first amendment covers four most important rights that are to be granted to the citizens of United States of America. These include:

1-Churches and the state are to be considered as two separate entities. One should not be dominant over the other. Every citizen in U.S.A is free to practice whatever religion they believe in, and no one shall face discrimination in different aspects of life on the basis of one's faith.

2-Freedom of speech of every individual is to be respected and protected by the government. Also, the Press should be free1.

3-The right of individuals to protest against any act of the government on a collective basis shall not be discouraged. Hence the right of peaceful protest campaigns against the government or any of its policy shall not be denied.

Religion, church and state

Named as “the wall of separation” by Thomas Jefferson, the basic aim of this clause is to help build a state where intervention of the government and the churches into each other's matter will be strongly condemned. For example, the state shall not give extra attention, publicity and funds to religious schools and organizations and similarly no religious scholar or group, no matter highly respected, shall not in any way interfere or tend to interfere in state's policies and matters. Therefore, the people of United States of America are free to pursue, practice and belief whatever religion they wish. Moreover, the state shall not intervene, intimidate or threat if anyone converts into any another religion. The state shall let the non-Christian citizens go to their respective worship places and shall allow them to celebrate their religious festivals. Also, the minorities shall be given equal job opportunities, health facilities and other basic and secondary rights, and such rights shall not be denied on the basis of religion2.

The beauty of such a fair and unprejudiced society is the gift it enjoys in the form of peace and harmony amongst the inhabitants irrespective of from what religion they belong to. The tolerance for people from different faiths will allow citizens to ignore all the insignificant difference and work together for the betterment of the United States of America.

Freedom of Expression, Speech and Press

Though the first amendment has certainly emphasized on the right of individuals to express and speak freely. However, these are the secondary steps in the freedom ...