The United States Constitution created a secular government based on the rule of law, with power residing in the people, not in ecclesiastical bodies and “royal” families determined by blood lines or claims of special privilege. Abraham Lincoln’s immortal words aptly captured our national vision: “a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” with a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

After intense deliberation and a lively exchange of ideas, the framers of our Constitution wisely chose to ensure that the government must be neutral toward religion while guaranteeing religious freedom and separation between the institutions of religion and government. The architects of the American experience chose to create a nation based on secular law as the only way to ensure that no religion ever could impose its laws on those with different beliefs, whether religious or not.

With virtually inexplicable brilliance our constitutional system has been good for democracy and good for religion. Religion has thrived in this nation that is now the most religiously diverse nation in the world. And, the laws of our government have prevented conflicts between religions and between religions and non-religious citizens that have escalated into violence in other parts of the world.

In this cherished land, all individuals are free to follow and submit to the dictates of their religious traditions as they choose though no person, including religious leaders, may violate the law of the land motivated by religious beliefs. If a conflict arises between American law and religious laws, the Constitution prevails.