ABSTRACT
Americans hold contrasting views on the relationship between government and religion. The First Amendment to the US Constitution opens with the two clauses, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” known in constitutional law as the establishment clause and the free exercise clause. Many denominations of Christianity had arrived on American shores by 1830, and, of course, many other religions besides Christianity would arrive, such that virtually every religion in humanity would be represented within its borders. Religion provides social control by giving rules for behavior, rewards and punishments for obeying those rules, supernatural agents to administer the rules, and human agents to manage the religious system. Religion not only explains but legitimates social arrangements; in the US, where the people are sovereign and their will law, the civil religion assures citizens that “the ultimate sovereignty” lies with God.
