The Constitution of Religious Freedom

God, Politics, and the First Amendment

by Dennis J. Goldford

Published by: Baylor University Press

Imprint: Baylor University Press

Sales Date: 2012-02-08

Hardcover
ISBN 9781602584198
270 Pages

$34.99

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Digital
ISBN 9781602584211
270 Pages

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

In a time when the question of American religious identity underlies much political conversation that fills the public square, Dennis Goldford directs his readers to consider the First Amendment. The founding fathers' words, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," are the constitutional means of ensuring, however imperfectly, the American freedom to stand for something sacred. In his analysis, Goldford ably demonstrates that the very nature of these religion clauses establishes protection not for religion but for religious freedom. The Constitution of Religious Freedom argues that religious identity inheres not in the nation, but in the individual citizen.

Introduction

1. Constitutional Fundamentals

2. Religious Minorities, Religious Freedom, and Religion

3. Conventional vs. Radical Establishment Clause Jurisprudence

4. Orthodoxy and Neutrality

5. The Concept of Coercion in Establishment Clause Jurisprudence

6. The Concept of Position Taking in Establishment Clause Jurisprudence

7. The Theoretical Core of the Establishment Clause: The Secularity Principle

Conclusion

Dennis J. Goldford is Professor of Politics at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The author of The American Constitution and the Debate Over Originalism, Goldford has contributed election cycle political analysis to more than eighty major newspapers, magazines, or wire services in the United States, Canada, Japan, and many European and Eastern European countries. He lives in Clive, Iowa.

Goldford's robust defense of the Religion Clauses as protecting religious freedom--and not religion itself--is a welcome antidote to conservative scholars and advocates.
~Aram Schvey, Policy Council at the Center for Reproductive Rights, Conscience

In this tightly reasoned but accessible volume, Goldford exposes the mistaken assumption that the American government espouses a religious mission rather than champions a commitment to religious freedom. The Constitution of Religious Freedom should be required reading for the policymakers and policy activists who shape the role of religion in American political life.
~Richard A. Brisbin, Jr., Professor of Political Science, West Virginia University

Goldford's book is logically and compellingly argued. He fearlessly and thoughtfully examines one of the most controversial--often blithely assumed and curiously dismissed--propositions in American politics today--that the United States is a Christian nation. Indeed, Goldford's refutation of this idea is devastating, yet always respectful and erudite.
~Jessie Hill, Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law