What are the implications of the religion clause in the First Amendment?

The religion clauses of the First Amendment forbid the making of laws "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Commonly referred to as the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses, they together permit and require that government maintain a "benevolent neutrality which will permit religious exercise to exist without sponsorship and without interference." (Walz v. Tax Commission (1970) 397 U.S. 664, 669, 90 S.Ct. 1409, 1412, 25 L.Ed.2d 697.)