The following is part of my series of letters on updating and further strengthening the Bill of Rights in order to better protect such rights. Previous letters have touched on the Second and Ninth Amendments to the Constitution. This letter will focus on the freedom of religion clause of the First Amendment and a proposed amending that is based on a more extensive amendment of mind that has appeared in previous letters to the editor. That more extensive amendment can be added in as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution or placed in an appendix section to the Constitution for more detailed guidance for legislators and judges at the local, state and national levels. The proposed amendment listed below the current text of the First Amendment is a more abbreviated version.
Text of the Current First Amendment - Freedom of Religion Clause:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
Revised First Amendment - Freedom of Religion Clause:
Congress, the state legislatures and local assemblies shall make no law or issue no declaration respecting an establishment of religion(s) or militant state atheism as an official collective creed, mandated form of worship, or preferred practice for all, or establishing a national or state church, or mandating an incremental or outright union of church and state, or forcing conversion from one faith to another, or inflicting persecution and prejudice upon others because of their beliefs or disbelief, or committing undue intrusion into internal affairs of one’s congregation, denomination, or faith, or establishing an Inquisition to root out heresy and falsehood, or likewise punishing the infidels and heretics through assorted forms of torture and torment, or compelling forms of involuntary aid, of showing favoritism or hostility toward a particular faith or denomination, or garnering special privileges for one’s faith, congregation or denomination, or giving sanction and support to theocratic enclaves, religious cartels or publicly owned and operated churches, or coercing adherence to sectarian laws, tenets and decrees or otherwise prohibiting the free exercise thereof according to the dictates of individual conscience ...
I would urge readers to contact their elected officials in Congress and urge adoption of this amendment to further strengthen religious liberty. It would also be in order to urge state officials to adopt such provisions where possible.
