Chapter 4 in your textbook goes over a wide variety of civil liberties. On pages 115-120, the freedom of religion is explained, with emphasis on the establishment clause and the free exercise clause. For this assignment, you will need to read the above-mentioned pages, in addition to the following web links and then answer the questions below in essay format:
1.) What do you think the founders original intent with the first amendment, specifically the freedom of religion, was?
2.) When Congress passed the RFRA in 1993, what was this designed to do? How have the many states reacted to this? Does Texas have any laws with regards to RFRA?
3.) In 2018, Congress introduced FADA. What is the purpose of this law? What current events and judicial court decisions may have lead to such a bill being introduced?
4.) What recent decisions did the Supreme Court make with regards to religion and politics?
5.) What civil liberty and/or civil rights issues may arise as a result of these most recent laws? In your opinion, are civil liberties/rights in danger?
6.) Now having a decent amount of knowledge on the 1st Amendment, RFRA and FADA, what are your thoughts on these laws and proposed bills? How might these impact our culture, politics, rights, etc?
This assignment must follow MLA guidelines, be typed in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, and be a minimum of 1000 words with a works cited page. The works cited are not included in the minimum word count. Any videos/ articles given in the assignment prompt MUST be used within your paper and cited in your works cited. You must also use additional sources, as indicated in the prompt. For more information on these topics, view the 4th Amendment folder in the current news and controversies folder, under Student Resources.