From what I can tell, most things that are legal under Freedom of Religion would be legal anyway. People are free to believe whatever they want to believe, they are free to go to fan club meetings on Sundays, they are free to wear whatever jewelry they want, etc. Without the specific Freedom of Religion, what rights would actually be lost? Are there rights that only exist because of Freedom of Religion? Are practices like circumcision the result of Freedom of Religion? *Should* religious practices that would otherwise be illegal be allowed protection under Freedom of Religion?
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It doesn’t give any additional rights-but neither does any amendment except the 14th- it just creates a second level of protection from government discriminating unfairly against a religion. The establishment clause is related, but distinct legally.
>The Court examined whether the state of South Carolina violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment in denying unemployment benefits to a person for turning down a job, because it required him or her to work on the Sabbath. The Court ruled 7-2 that the South Carolina statute did impede a person’s right to freely exercise religion, in violation of the Free Exercise Clause. (Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963))
Whether the gov could or would ban circumcision would be about free exercise, at least for jews, but Reynolds v US outlawed polygamy even though it was central to mormonism, there are limits to free exercise and all the others.
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