RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE USA: SEPARATION BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE
Erciyes Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, no.65, pp.67-72, 2023 (TRDizin)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Publication Date: 2023
- Doi Number: 10.18070/erciyesiibd.1213140
- Journal Name: Erciyes Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi
- Journal Indexes: ABI/INFORM, EconLit, Directory of Open Access Journals, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
- Page Numbers: pp.67-72
- Erciyes University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
Religious freedom has been established as a fundamental right in the United States of America (U.S.A.). Thomas Jefferson’s famous ‘wall of separation’ metaphor has taken religious freedom under protection against possible oppression by the state, by building a high wall between church and state. Jefferson’s metaphor established the legal basis of religious freedom as a fundamental human right by defining the boundaries of church and state relations. James Madison also, the author of the U.S. Constitution, attributes a special importance to religious freedom. The U.S. Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion in the First Amendment. American style of church and state separation might be an intriguing topic for Turkish citizens’ constitutional debate. Turkey has been in search of a new and civil constitution recently. In this regard, Former Speaker of the Grand National Assembly İsmail Kahraman proposed in 2021 that Türkiye’s new constitution should ‘guarantee religious freedom for Turkish citizens’. Therefore, we are interested in examining the American style of church and state relations for freedom of religion.