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The Bill of Rights in the United States begins with the words,
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The First
Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion on American
soil and prohibits the United States government from infringing
upon the freedom of religion.
America is one of, if not the, most religiously diverse country
in the world. Wide varieties of religious traditions can be
found in any large American city as well as in smaller towns
that host a college or university. There is a single small
section of Washington, D.C. that boasts a Cambodian Buddhist
temple, a Muslim Community Center, a Ukrainian Orthodox Church,
a Gujarati Hindu temple, a Jain temple, and many Roman Catholic
and Protestant churches. Even in cities like Minneapolis where
34% of the people are Lutheran, there exists a thriving East
Asian population of 80,000 people that has established Islamic
Centers, Baha’i communities, and Hindu and Jain temples.
The citizens of the United States take religious freedom
very seriously. Americans also take the religious freedom
of other people very seriously. As visitors to the United
States, the right of international students to practice their
home religions cannot be revoked.
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