The Last Freedom: Religion from the Public School to the Public SquareThe presidency of George W. Bush has polarized the church-state debate as never before. The Far Right has been emboldened to use religion to govern, while the Far Left has redoubled its efforts to evict religion from public life entirely. Fewer people on the Right seem to respect the church-state separation, and fewer people on the Left seem to respect religion itself--still less its free exercise in any situation that is not absolutely private. In The Last Freedom, Joseph Viteritti argues that there is a basic tension between religion and democracy because religion often rejects compromise as a matter of principle while democracy requires compromise to thrive. In this readable, original, and provocative book, Viteritti argues that Americans must guard against debasing politics with either antireligious bigotry or religious zealotry. Drawing on politics, history, and law, he defines a new approach to the church-state question that protects the religious and the secular alike. |
From inside the book
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... Matter 66 5 Politics, Education, and Religion 87 6 Free Exercise, Vacated and Denied 114 7 Ageless Wisdom 145 8 American Landscape 176 9 Conscience and Compromise 208 Notes 241 Index 263 PREFACE WRITING ABOUT religion at the beginning ...
... matter of social justice.1 Education has always been an essential part of the American dream, so much so that every state constitution defines it as both an individual right and a parental obligation. As long as middle-class parents ...
... matter what the religion. Whether Muslims, Hindus, Chris- tians, or Jews, we are each intoxicated with our own irrational faith. Belief in the existence of one true God dictates an encyclopedic igno- rance of the human experience ...
... matter how odd it may appear to the majority. The true measure of religious freedom is the tolerance it affords those whose behavior is most out of step with the rest of us. At the same time, religious organizations should not be ...
... matter. While the law was prompted by animosity towards the Arab commu- nity, it banned all forms of religious ... matters as well. Since this book is about religion, let me draw on another foreign example to explain the point further ...
Contents
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9780691130118_4CH3pdf | 44 |
9780691130118_5CH4pdf | 66 |
9780691130118_6CH5pdf | 87 |
9780691130118_7CH6pdf | 114 |
9780691130118_8CH7pdf | 145 |
9780691130118_9CH8pdf | 176 |
9780691130118_10CH9pdf | 208 |
9780691130118_11NOTpdf | 241 |
9780691130118_12INDpdf | 263 |
Other editions - View all
The Last Freedom: Religion from the Public School to the Public Square Joseph P. Viteritti No preview available - 2007 |