ADL believes that the best way to protect religious liberty is to keep government out of religion. We safeguard religious freedom for all Americans by protecting the separation of church and state mandated by the First Amendment.
ADL has filed an amicus brief in nearly every major religious freedom case before the U.S. Supreme Court and countless cases in other courts. They can be read in our amicus briefs database. We have also tirelessly advocated in Congress and state legislatures for laws prohibiting religious discrimination and providing accommodations to the religiously observant.
ADL further promotes religious freedom through our Interfaith & Intergroup Relations work which promotes understanding among diverse religious groups, including our work with the Catholic Church through the “Bearing Witness” Holocaust education program and ADL’s Interfaith Coalition on Mosques, which works to ensure religious freedom for America’s Muslim communities.
Primer on the First Amendment & Religious Freedom
The right to freedom of religion is so central to American
democracy that it was enshrined in the First
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Religion in the Public Schools
The issue of the proper role of religion in the public
schools continues to be the subject of great controversy.