Prompt #2 Paper: The First Amendment to the Constitution

PROMPT#2- The First Amendment
Name
Institution
Date
The First Amendment to the Constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Background and policies violate the First Amendment
Even though, the US has been a Judeo-Christian since the country was founded, the First Amendment protected the freedom of religion, speech, press, as well as petition. The First Amendment highlights that Congress is not to use laws that establish an official religion or try to prohibit free exercise of religion. Christianity is and was the main religion during the era of the founding fathers, but the Constitution framers did not make exclusionary claims referencing one religion or denomination over others. Hence, the policies of Donald Trump would be violating the First Amendment. In analyzing the provisions of the First Amendment, the establishment and free exercise clause are considered to determine whether the proposal to close Mosque violates the first Amendment.
Muslim mosque as the plaintiffs
As a lawyer, I would choose to represent the Muslims mosque as plaintiff, lodging a case against government overreach and violation of the Constitution. The guarantee that religious freedom is protected is unequivocal, where all adherents of all religions can practice because their rights cannot be trampled upon for simply being Muslims. The desire to close down the Mosques assumes that all Muslim worshipers are held accountable for the actions of other people (Suebsaeng, 2015). The political angle to the freedom of religion has been associated with controversy since opponents of mosque to make qualified statements on what was the intended purpose of the First Amendment, elevating Christianity while downplaying other religions as not being equally protected by the Constitution.Constitution and relevant case laws
Interpretation of the First Amendment to mean that all religions are treated equally before the law means that any attempt to shut down mosques without following the due process, extends the role of the government in policing religions activities. The Constitution envisions people’s religious rights being protected from state and federal interference (Huq, 2011). There is no guarantee that after proposing the course of Mosques, there will be no demand for the closure of other religious institutions. Even though, there may be security concerns surrounding some Mosques, this should not be interpreted to be fully representative of the diverse Muslim community.
Religious liberty provisions cannot be used differently in diverse groups when the Constitution highlights that the country is not to have a state religion. In any case, the First Amendment gives political independence rather than political power, and this was meant to avoid power struggles among the different religious factions. Attempts to close down Mosques and prevent the construction of places of worship in private property have no basis in the Constitution (Suebsaeng, 2015). It is not the gov...