Americans. Yet, because I have not had to fight for my freedom as the generations before me, I often take my freedoms for granted. Now as I think of how a democracy is so open and accepting of a person's right to expression, I realize how thankful I am for all of my freedoms, especially for my freedom of religion.

Freedom of religion is the right to believe in and to practice the faith of one's choice. It also includes the right to have no religion at all. The United States of America was originally founded in order to provide religious freedom to the Puritans, who were being persecuted for their beliefs in England. Since they did not agree with the Church of

England and could not worship the way they wanted, they felt that their only escape would be to go so

mewhere where they could have religious freedom. Here in America, they based the Constitution upon freedoms that they felt were important, especially the freedom of religion.

Today, freedom of religion remains an active issue in the United States. Various court rulings have interpreted the First Amendment to mean that the government may not promote or give special treatment to any religion. Judges have struck down plans that call for the government not to give financial aid to religious schools. The courts have also

ruled unconstitutional a number of programs to teach the Bible or to recite prayers in public schools. These rulings are highly controversial because religion touches the deepest feelings of many people.

However, since prayer and worship are often banned from public schools as a measure of protecting the rights of

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