The Constitution does not require a wall of separation between church and state. It doesn’t even require a picket fence. The relevant clauses of the First Amendment declare: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” Notice there is not a single mention of a wall or of a church. That phrase about separation is attributed to Thomas Jefferson.

There are two religion clauses in the First Amendment. Yes, two: The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. There are thousands of pages of legal and academic discussion regarding the two clauses. However, most of the public understand them only well enough to recite the mantra about walls that create some sort of barrier.

The religion clauses do not separate government from religion, instead they prohibit the government from supporting one faith over another. Religion should remain a private matter between…Read More

Lynn Greenky is an Associate Teaching Professor at Syracuse University in the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies. She teaches a beloved undergraduate course about the First Amendment. She is the author of When Freedom Speaks: The Boundaries and Boundlessness of the First Amendment. You can follow her on Twitter @LGreenky.