George Washington Quotes

Among the features peculiar to the political system of the United States, is the perfect equality of rights which it secures to every religious sect.

The civil rights of none, shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext infringed.

As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of government to protect all conscientious professors therefore, and I know of no other business which government hath to do therewith.

There is little doubt that religious liberty is best exercised within the setting of the secular state.

What other nations call religious toleration, we call religious rights.

Religious freedom is often referred to as America's first freedom. Our country was founded by religious exiles and built on the belief that God has given all people certain inalienable rights. Government's role in society is to protect these rights and ensure that we are safe from religious persecution and discrimination.

In a free government, the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights. It consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in the other in the multiplicity of sects.

When our Founding Fathers passed the First Amendment, they sought to protect churches from government interference. They never intended to construct a wall of hostility between government and the concept of religious belief itself.

On the issues of religious liberty, the Supreme Court continues to scrape against the bedrock of the American spirit.

I support the rights of all people to practice their religious beliefs privately, but I oppose the idea of respecting religions. In truth, I have no respect for any religion. I believe religion is not compatible with human rights, women's rights, or freedom of expression.

The rights [to religious freedom] are of the natural rights of mankind, and ... if any act shall be ... passed to repeal [an act granting those rights] or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right.

In a free government the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights.

Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion?

From a constitutional standpoint, the religion of a candidate is supposed to make no difference. Even before the founding fathers dreamed up the First Amendment, they inserted a provision in the Constitution expressly prohibiting any religious test for office.

Our Constitution recognises no other power than that of persuasion, for enforcing religious observances.

The framers of our Constitution meant we were to have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.

The only way to be true to our American tradition is to maintain absolute governmental neutrality regarding religious beliefs and practices.

I am a person of faith who believes deeply in the right to exercise religious beliefs.

There's no religious test under the constitution. That's what it says. Period.

Religious freedom, often referred to as the first freedom, is of central import to the American experiment. As such it should feature prominently in U.S. foreign policy.

The phrase 'religious liberty' has become an overused talisman. Most of the invocations lately have nothing to do with actual infringements of free exercise [of religion]. They're about political and cultural dissent from gay rights.

The tendency of the spirit of the age is strong toward religious liberty.

The Government of the United States possesses no power whatever over the question of religion.

[T]he sole function of the American state, in respect to religion, is to recognize its existence and protect its liberty.

The great decisions of government cannot be dictated by the concerns of religious factions.