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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... observers the degree of legal pro- tection they need to live their lives in harmony with the dictates of conscience. That is a serious shortcoming in itself. Beyond that, we can be doing a better job protecting them than we now are. It ...
... observer were to take a stroll through the nation's capitol, he or she would discover representations of the Ten Command- ment at the Library of Congress, the House of Representatives, the Department of Justice, the National Archives ...
... observers and institutions. Granted, living in New York and working in a university setting exposes me to a peculiar slice of life that is not entirely representative of the American psyche. Manhattan, with all its creative energy, can ...
... observers as being otherworldly or irrational. Many deeply religious people are not politically active, and most do not identify with the so-called religious Right. For most religious observers, prayer and love of God gives mean- ing to ...
... observer to this un- folding saga, I remain a pragmatic optimist. My optimism flows from a confidence in the capacity of our demo- cratic form of government to mediate the most heart-wrenching dis- putes, even when the outcome leaves ...
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 |