Cambridge Companion to the First Amendment and Religious Liberty

"In 1789, when the First Federal Congress discussed James Madison's proposed constitutional amendments on religious liberty and non-establishment, the lawmakers did not debate many of the concerns related to the First Amendment today. They did not argue over whether religious imagery should be excluded from civic spaces, or whether government should refrain from funding activities that include a religious purpose, or whether religion should be separated from politics generally. To these issues, most of the American founders had already replied with a resounding "no." Instead, the question during that sweltering summer in 1789 was more narrowly conceived: What juridical prohibitions should be placed on the federal legislature with respect to a national church and religious conscience, liberty, or exercise? After a month of deliberations, Congress agreed on the following text: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The First Amendment is such contested territory because it relates to fundamental questions about the nature of humanity, morality, religion, government, and God. When these questions are renewed, or when novel answers are offered, changes in societal views on the content and parameters of religious liberty often follow. First Amendment cases often appear at times when fundamental values seem to be in tension. For instance, the first landmark Supreme Court decision on the free exercise clause, Reynolds v. United States (1879), concerned whether a federal law criminalizing plural marriage violated the religious liberty of a Mormon who considered polygamy his religious duty. Divergent views of sexual morality continue to ignite conflicts concerning religious liberty. Recent cases across the United States, including Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018), have considered whether those who provide services for weddings can lawfully deny, on religious liberty grounds, those services for ceremonies celebrating same-sex unions"--