A Right to Religion

Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)

A 1993 United States federal law that "ensures that interests in religious freedom are protected."

Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU)

A 501 nonprofit organization that advocates separation of church and state.

Reynolds v. United States (1879)

A U.S. Supreme Court case that held that religious duty was not a defense to a criminal indictment.

Sherbert v. Verner (1963)

A U.S. Supreme Court case that held that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment required the government to demonstrate both a compelling interest and that the law in question was narrowly tailored before it denied unemployment compensation to someone who was fired because their job requirements substantially conflicted with their religion.

Employment Division v. Smith (1990)

A U.S. Supreme Court case that held that the state could deny unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state prohibition on the use of peyote even though the use of the drug was part of a religious ritual.

Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association (1988)

A United States Supreme Court landmark case in which the Court ruled on the applicability of the Free Exercise Clause to the practice of religion on Native American sacred lands, specifically in the Chimney Rock area of the Six Rivers National Forest in California. This area, also known as the High Country, was used by the Yurok, Karuk, and Tolowa tribes as a religious site.

Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)

A case heard before the United States Supreme Court. It ruled that a policy permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer at high school football games violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Quakers

A historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of the various Quaker movements are generally united by a belief in the ability of each human being to experience and access the light within or see "that of God in every one."

Engel v. Vitale

A landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools, due to violation of the First Amendment.

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

A landmark civil rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014)

A landmark decision in United States corporate law by the United States Supreme Court. It allows privately held for-profit corporations to be exempt from a regulation its owners religiously object to, if there is a less restrictive means of furthering the law's interest, according to the provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). It is the first time that the court has recognized a for-profit corporation's claim of religious belief.

City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)

A landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States concerning the scope of Congress's power of enforcement under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case also had a significant impact on historic preservation.

sacred sites

A place deemed significant and meaningful by indigenous peoples.

Code of Indian Offences

An 1883 body of legislation in the United States that, along with other legislation, restricted the religious and cultural ceremonies of Native American tribes. A major objective of US relations with Native American tribes in the late nineteenth century was cultural assimilation.

Muslim

An Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that Muhammad is a messenger of God. It is the world's second-largest religion with 1.9 billion followers, or 24.9% of the world's population, known as Muslims. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 47 countries.

Rev. Billy Graham

An American evangelist, prominent evangelical Christian figure, and ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. One of his biographers has placed him "among the most influential Christian leaders" of the 20th century.

Sikh

An Indian Dharmic religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. Sikhism is one of the youngest of the major religions and the world's sixth-largest organized religion, with about 25–30 million Sikhs.

Hindu

An Indian religion and dharma, or way of life. It is the world's third-largest religion, with over 1.2 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population.

LGBT

An initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)

An international non-profit Christian sports ministry founded in 1954 and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It has staff offices located throughout the United States and abroad.

First Amendment

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.

American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA)

Protects the rights of Native Americans to exercise their traditional religions by ensuring access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites.

Presbyterian

Relating to or denoting a Christian Church or denomination governed by elders according to the principles of Presbyterianism.

separation of church and state

Paraphrased from Thomas Jefferson and used by others in expressing an understanding of the intent and function of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

Equal Access Act of 1984

Prohibits federally-funded public secondary schools which allow non-school-sponsored groups of students to meet from discriminating against any meeting of students on the basis of religious content if: (1) the meeting is voluntary and student-initiated; (2) there is no government sponsorship; and (3) no unlawful activity is permitted.

hegemonic

Ruling or dominant in a political or social context.

discrimination

The act of making unjustified distinctions between human beings based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated against on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, or sexual orientation, as well as other categories.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

The case in which the United States Supreme Court found that Amish children could not be placed under compulsory education past 8th grade. The parents' fundamental right to freedom of religion was determined to outweigh the state's interest in educating their children.

U.S. Supreme Court

The highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States of America.

assimilation

The process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. There are different forms of cultural assimilation.

Mormon

The religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 30s.

exclusion

The social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society.

equality

The state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.

Anglican Church

The third-largest Christian communion after the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion.