Letter to the editor: 1st Amendment applies to govt – The Bakersfield Californian

I know the paper supplies the headline, but the headline of a Feb. 16 letter, First Amendment only applies to Americans, seems to be an adequate re-statement of the letters point. That point is wrong.

The First Amendment doesnt give anyone rights except as the result of the fact that it forbids the U.S. government from doing certain things; specifically, it provides in part that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof Congress cant make such law whether it affects Americans or anyone else. It is a limitation on what we want our government to be able to do.

The Constitution was written at a time when European events had demonstrated clearly that getting governments involved in religion had horrible consequences the Thirty Years War, the Inquisition, the English Civil War, etc. Our Forefathers believed in freedom of conscience, freedom of thought, and freedom of speech from government interference. So do I.

Of course the U.S. Constitution cant guarantee the right of a person in another country to believe as he or she chooses, but neither can our government establish one religion or another as the basis for granting or denying immigration or visits. We told it "No!" in the First Amendment.

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Letter to the editor: 1st Amendment applies to govt - The Bakersfield Californian