“The First Amendment isn't about free thought and free opinion and free belief. The First Amendment is about free exercise: the carrying into practice of religious principles and beliefs and convictions.” FirstsBeliefReligiousOpinionPrinciplesPracticeExerciseConvictionAmendmentsFirst AmendmentFree ThoughtFree Opinion Author:Alan Keyes
“The Constitution, in addition to delegating certain enumerated powers to Congress, places whole areas outside the reach of Congress' regulatory authority. The First Amendment, for example, is fittingly celebrated for preventing Congress from "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion or "abridging the freedom of speech." The Second Amendment similarly appears to contain an express limitation on the government's authority.” FirstsWholeGovernmentCertainExampleExerciseSpeechAuthorityAreasConstitutionCongressLimitationAmendmentsFreedom Of SpeechFirst AmendmentSecond AmendmentPreventing Author:Clarence Thomas
“If we set the precedent of limiting the First Amendment, in order to protect the sensibilities of those who are offended by flag burning, what will we say the next time someone is offended by some other minority view, or by some other person's exercise of the freedom the Constitution is supposed to protect?” IfsFirstsPersonsOrderNextViewsExerciseProtectConstitutionBurningMinoritiesFlagsAmendmentsSensibilityNext TimeOffendedFirst AmendmentPrecedentFlag Burning Author:Edward Kennedy
“The first phrase of the First Amendment spoke to the freedom uppermost in Jefferson's mind when it provided that, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Here a double guarantee could be found: first, that government would do nothing to give official endorsement to a religion or to set one faith above another; second, that government would do nothing to inhibit the freedom of religion.” GivingMindFirstsGovernmentLawFoundExerciseCongressPhrasesOfficialsGuaranteesSpokesEstablishmentAmendmentsFirst AmendmentFreedom Of ReligionEndorsements Author:Edwin Gaustad
“Reading their letters and the First Amendment of the US Constitution, I infer that this nation's founders noted that religions have been at the center of great deal of trouble, so they precluded the US government from getting involved in religion, i.e. "... shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Over the centuries, various religions have laid claim to various morals; consider the difficulties outsiders are having today in the Middle East, for example.” FirstsHas BeensGovernmentTodayLawReadingNationsDealsMoralTroubleMiddleCenturyExampleInvolvedExerciseLettersConstitutionClaimsDifficultyVariousEastEstablishmentMiddle EastAmendmentsOutsidersFoundersFirst AmendmentUs Constitution Author:Bill Nye
“Breaking the United States up into a number of pieces could be very good for the integration of those new nations with the rest of the world and the international law whose primary enemy is now the United States government. I think that it would be very good for democracy, for people to be within some hundreds of miles of their nation's capital, as they are in many other countries, so that they didn't have to travel thousands of miles to protest, to exercise their First Amendment rights, but that is the current state of affairs in this overly large, imperial nation.” PeopleThinkingWorldFirstsCountryStatesGovernmentWould BeLawNationsUnitedNumbersEnemyUnited StatesDemocracyPiecesRightsExerciseVery GoodAffairInternationalCurrentsMilesPrimariesProtestAmendmentsOther CountriesIntegrationFirst AmendmentState GovernmentInternational LawUnited States GovernmentFirst Amendment Rights Author:David Swanson
“The First Amendment to the Constitution says government can't establish a religion, but neither can it limit the exercise of religion. And that's the issue here. What does it mean to be free to exercise your religion? It's not about what you can believe. It's whether you can act on those beliefs.” FirstsBelieveMeanDoeGovernmentBeliefIssuesExerciseLimitsConstitutionAmendmentsFirst Amendment Author:Tom Gjelten
“Of the five rights listed in the First Amendment. - religion, speech, press, assembly, petition - the very first right protected is freely exercising our religion.” FirstsFiveRightsExerciseSpeechPressesAmendmentsProtectedFirst AmendmentAssemblyPetitions Author:Steve Daines
“There is this fashionable progressive notion that everything is so completely political that the idea we could have some sort of neutral legal process is practically utopian - because we all know that the more money you have, the more rights you can exercise in this society. But I don't think that you deal with income inequality by limiting the First Amendment rights of affluent people. I'd rather see people screw around with the tax code to redistribute wealth a little bit than screw around with the First Amendment.” PeopleThinkingPoliticalWealthExerciseTaxesInequalityCodeProgressiveFirst AmendmentFashionableUtopian Author:Wendy Kaminer