Created to protect Americans from an overreaching government, the Bill of Rights begins with what many call the most important amendment. The very first amendment addresses religion in the United States. While these mere words written with a feather well over 200 years ago suggest religious freedom today, America is far from being the religious melting pot the founding fathers imagined. There is no clear separation of church and state today. Both the Church and the State violate the separation clause. For example, the Supreme Court opens with a prayer and then proceeds to strike down prayer in schools. Military chaplains are paid with public money while churches are tax exempt. There's a chapel in the rotunda but not in schools. Times have changed and so should the first amendment.



