Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

A historian and ordained Episcopal priest offers everything you need to know for shaping and defending your own beliefs on the role of religion in American life

Filled with stories from America's struggle for religious freedom most readers have never heard before and perfect for fans of Jesus and John Wayne and On Tyranny

The 1st Amendment to the US Constitution codified the principle that government should play no role in favoring or supporting any religion, while allowing free exercise of all religions (including unbelief). More than 200 years later, the results from this experiment are overwhelming: The separation of church and state has shielded the government from religious factionalism, and the United States boasts a diverse religious culture unmatched in the world.

But changes have been taking place at an accelerating pace in recent years. The current Supreme Court has shifted away from excluding the influence and practice of religion at public institutions and in our laws and policies, and moved dramatically toward protecting the inclusion and promotion of religion in publicly funded undertakings.

Moreover, adherents to a Christian Nationalism ideology have grown more vocal and emboldened, and are increasingly moving into positions of power.

Randall Balmer, one of the premier historians of religion in America, reviews both the history of the separation of church and state and various attempts to undermine that wall. Despite the fact that the 1st Amendment and the separation of church and state has served the nation remarkably well, he argues, its future is by no means assured.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Preface(xi)
• 1 Transatlantic Visionaries(1)
• 2 The Flushing Remonstrance, William Livingston, and King's College(9)
• 3 Forging the First Amendment(16)
• 4 George Washington and Divine Providence(21)
• 5 John Adams and the Treaty of Tripoli(27)
• 6 James Madison and the Baptists(34)
• 7 Thomas Jefferson, the First Amendment, and the Mammoth Cheese(43)
• 8 Disestablishment in Connecticut(53)
• 9 Designating the United States as a "Christian Nation"(56)
• 10 School Wars and the Blaine Amendments(67)
• 11 Mormons and the "Divine Origins" of the Constitution(74)
• 12 The Johnson Amendment and the First Amendment(82)
• 13 John F. Kennedy and School Prayer(89)
• 14 "Soul Liberty," Roy's Rock, and the Need for More Baptists(96)
• 15 The Battle Cry of "Religious Freedom"(106)
• 16 The Case Against Christian Nationalism(112)
• Afterword(123)
• Selected Bibliography(129)
• Acknowledgments(137)
• About the Author(141)

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Balmer (religion, Dartmouth College), one of the leading religious historians, has written a relatively short book intended for popular audiences about the idea of the separation of church and state in the US. Contending that "the First Amendment is part of the genius of American life" in his preface, Balmer sets out in this book to elucidate how the separation of church and state "has protected the common good from religious factionalism" and "ensured the integrity of faith from too close an alliance with the state" (pp. xii--xiii). He traces the idea from its origins in the persecutions of Roger Williams and William Penn, through the Constitutional debates, to the current attempts to breach the "wall of separation." This book is written especially against the arguments of Christian nationalists that (white, evangelical, Protestant) Christianity is the real religion of the US. Balmer also discusses his role as an expert witness against former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore's "granite monument" to the Ten Commandments in his courthouse (p. xii). Summing Up: Recommended. General readers. --Beau Weston, Centre College

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Randall Balmer is the John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America, which has been made into an award-winning three-part series for PBS, and most recently, Bad Faith: The Rise of the Religious Right.