The Words of the First Amendment are Easy Enough to Understand

   How is it that the First Amendment is so misunderstood? The words seem to be straight forward enough.
   Yet, on one side, there are those who say it means there shall be a separation of church and state. And, on the other side, people say it means government shall not pick and favor one religious denomination above others.
   In fact, I don't see it saying either one of those things.
   Read the First Amendment (the part on religion), and see if it says either of those things. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." That's it. Where's the part on separation of church and state? And, where's the part that says one religion shall not be favored above another?
  The word "respecting" means "concerning" in the way it is used in the First Amendment. Respecting what we are talking about, it means "in regards to." In respect to this, I say that this is a common usage. Respecting all the meanings being pulled out of the First Amendment, I hold that this is all the word "respecting" was intended to convey.
   The First Amendment does not say, "A law is hereby made that church and state shall be separate." I don't even see a way for reading the First Amendment to come away with that meaning. It just isn't there. There may have been Founding Fathers who felt that way, but they didn't put it in the First Amendment.
   Nor do the words in the First Amendment say one religious establishment shall not be respected above another. That just isn't the way the word "respecting" is being used. Though I would guess the Founding Fathers did not want any single denomination to be lifted above others, they didn't address that when they wrote the First Amendment.
   So, if some Muslim students in Phoenix want to pray during a break in school, remember the law of the land is that we should not be "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion. If a child in Florida wants to read from the Bible during free reading time, then bear in mind that the First Amendment says we should not be "prohibiting the free exercise" of his doing so.
   And, if city council members decide to have prayer at the beginning of a meeting, let them, for the First Amendment says not to prohibit the free exercise of religion.
   So, though the wording in the First Amendment seems clear to me, those who are on one side never get it right and some of those on the other side often to not get it right, either.