The first amendment to the United States Constitution reads Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof The idea is to keep governmental powers independent from private religious beliefs.

VOA: special.2010.03.05

Absolutely. The reason why we have a right to free speech is because we have a right to own ourselves, to exercise our voice in any way that we choose.

当然，我们之所以享有言论自由,是因为我们是自己的主人，有权用任何方式表达自己的观点。

耶鲁公开课 - 公正课程节选

A statement on the website of the president's office says the army will undertake a humanitarian exercise to free non-combatants.

VOA: standard.2009.04.06