| Description |
378 pages ; 23 cm. |
| Series |
Bill of Rights series |
|
Bill of Rights series (Amherst, N.Y.)
|
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references. |
| Contents |
1. Introductory themes: religious freedom at the founding and today -- 2. The basic question of exemptions -- 3. The debate over exemptions and constitutional history -- 4. Why should religious freedom have distingtive constitutional protection? -- 5. Defining "religion" -- 6. Free exercise under current doctrine -- 7. Judicial exemptions: balancing harms to religion against harms to society -- 8. The debate over the religious freedom restoration act (RFRA) -- 9. Legislative accommodations, the institutional roles of courts and legislatures, and the establishment clause -- 10. Religious institutions' free exercise -- 11. Free exercise and government funding. |
| Summary |
Religious freedom is often designated as America's "first freedom, " and on this subject our nation has made some of its great contributions to the ideals of human rights and limited government. The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment secured as a constitutional right the freedom to practice religion unhindered by government interference. In part because of this legal freedom, American religious life has long been among the most energetic and diverse in the Western world. But "the free exercise of religion clause" was born amid controversy over its scope, and today similar controversies arise over issues the Constitution's framers could not have anticipated. From Mormon polygamy in the late 1800s to a 1990 Supreme Court case involving peyote use by Native American worshipers, the commitment to protecting religious freedom has brought with it a host of theological, legal, and political concerns. |
| Subject |
Freedom of religion -- United States.
|
|
Church and state -- United States.
|
| Added Author |
Berg, Thomas C., 1960-
|
| ISBN |
9781591025184 |
|
1591025184 |
|
