ABSTRACT
This chapter serves as an introduction to a discussion of the status of religious freedom whether involving prayer and a variety of issues involving religious activities in schools in the United States. It explains the relationship between education, law, and religion in selected nations from around the world. In United States v. Windsor, some of Justice Kennedy's comments as author of the Supreme Court's majority's opinion in a five-to-four order invalidating the Defense of Marriage Act send warning signals for religious leaders about the status of the Free Exercise Clause. Engel v. Vitale, in 1962, its first case on prayer in public schools, the Supreme Court has consistently invalidated attempts at bringing religion into public education, striking down such practices as prayer and Bible reading, the posting of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, a moment of silence, and graduation prayer.
