The+First+Amendment

== The first amendment of the United States is found in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution out of about twenty seven amendments. The first amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” (Meyers, 2000) The founding fathers of the United States wrote the constitution in order to protect freedom and signed the bill of rights. The founding fathers of the United States included political leaders like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams; to name a few. These men did their best to protect us from being punished for what we believed in and that we cannot be criminalized for practicing different religions in public. The Establishment Clause and the free exercise Clause helped make up the first amendment. The establishment clause stated that “" [|Congress] shall make no [|law] respecting an establishment of [|religion] " and the free exercise clause finished the establishment clause by saying “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. (McConnell, 2002) These two are important because they both explain different parts of the First amendment. Why should the government have anything to do with what religion you practice? And this is the major question of why Church and State should be separated. ==