Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof
In the United States, questions on religion and government focus on the two religion-related clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution: Congress is forbidden from placing restrictions on the free exercise of religion, but is also forbidden from creating an established, or state, religion. Differing interpretations of these clauses result in such widely known disputes as those over prayer in public schools, Nativity creches on public property, use of public funds to send children to sectarian schools, the right to practice by wearing certain headgear or using certain substances, and so on.
