GENTRY — One of the great blessings which we, as Americans, have - and which sets us apart from so many other nations of the world - is the Bill of Rights which was introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of articles, and which went into effect Dec. 15, 1791, when these first 10 amendments to the Constitution were ratified by three-fourths of the states.

These first amendments to the United States Constitution - along with the 14th Amendment, which incorporates and makes most of these amendments binding upon state and, consequently, local governments - protect U.S. Citizens from government encroachment upon their basic freedoms and from government intrusions into their daily lives.

However, if “we the people” wish to keep and protect our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, it would most certainly behoove us to read and study the Bill of Rights and be aware of and hold fast to the protections these amendments provide to each of us.

The first amendment 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.”

The first portion of this amendment provides us with protections against government intrusion into our religious beliefs and practices by both preventing government from establishing any one religion as the official religion of the nation or of a state and preventing government from passing any law which would restrict the free exercise of religion. While the amendment does not grant individuals the right to engage in immoral acts contrary to established law - such as polygamy or murder - it does guarantee to individuals the right to believe, teach and worship according to the dictates of their own consciences.

And what a blessing this guaranteed protection is to all of us! We are not constrained to hold membership in or support a state established or government-sanctioned church. Nor are we required by our government to worship using certain forms or believe certain state-sanctioned doctrines. We are free to believe, teach and worship according to the dictates of our own consciences.

That, of course, is not a freedom enjoyed by all nations. Many nations, through a mixing of religion and government, attempt to force all their citizens to hold to state-sanctioned beliefs and practices, even carrying out severe punishments upon those who dare to follow their consciences and disagree.

Though blessed, the constitutional guarantees of this amendment will not remain ours long if we do not stand up for them against those who would take them from us or twist and pervert their application.

The attacks come from both sides against this amendment: Those who would ignore the establishment clause and seek to impose religious beliefs upon a state or the nation by law, and by those who attack the free exercise clause and would take from us the right to believe, teach and practice religion according to the dictates of our consciences.

In the first camp are those who would legislate the observance of certain religious practices, whether it be strict dress codes, blue laws, Sabbath requirements, worship days or the acceptance of an entire religious belief system. In the second are those who would seek to legislate against religious writings and displays, public worship and prayer, free speech regarding religious beliefs and morals, and proselytizing.

Many mistakenly take this amendment to guarantee them freedom from religion rather than freedom of religion. Thus they seek to ban the Bible and any references to it from public schools and public places. They would prohibit public prayer, remove all references to the Ten Commandments from government buildings and even discriminate against and seek to outlaw certain religious and Biblical teaching under hate crime laws. The effect has been unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment rather than the upholding of it. Though it has often been the courts rather than Congress, the effect has been a serious restriction on the rights of citizens to freely exercise their religion.

While many would not acknowledge it, those who would silence religious expression often seek to establish a new religious belief system and practice in our land and obtain legitimacy for it from the government, that of secular humanism. This too should be found unconstitutional, for government endorsement of anti-religious views is also a violation of the rights guaranteed to all Americans in the First Amendment.

We certainly do not have to agree with everything that is taught, proclaimed and practiced in the name of religion across our land - I certainly don’t. But even if we disagree, we have reason to be thankful that the Bill of Rights protects people’s freedom to do so. Why? Because if we take away the freedom of others to believe and teach after the dictates of their consciences, it won’t be long and our freedom to do so will be gone as well.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 03/17/2010