Free exercise clause vs establishment clause. define and differentiate

The Establishment Clause and the Free exercise clause are held in the following lines of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

The Establishment Clause ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion") is the clause that separates government from state by prohibiting the government from creating a nationally recognized religion and, as some Supreme Court cases have stated, it also prohibits the government from unduly preferring or sponsoring one religion over other religions.

The Free Exercise Clause (or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."), on the other hand, guarantees people's right to believe in the religion they want and do actions made on behalf of those beliefs.

So, while the first clause prohibits the government from establishing an official religion, the second one prohibits the government from forbidding people's exercise of their beliefs on religion.

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