Religion and the Law in America [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Personal Belief and Public Policy [2 volumes]

This work is a comprehensive survey of one of the oldest and hottest debates in American history: the role of religion in the public discourse. Does freedom of religion include freedom from religion? Where exactly did the founding fathers intend to draw the line between church and state when they wrote the First Amendment? Despite more than two centuries of debate and over 300 Supreme Court decisions, we have never arrived at satisfactory answers to these questions. The relationship between church and state was contentious long before the framers of the Constitution undertook the bold experiment of separating the two, sparking a debate that would rage for centuries: What is the role of religion in government, and vice versa? Religion and the Law in America explores the many facets of this question, from prayer in public schools to the addition of the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, from government investigation of religious fringe groups to federal grants for faith-based providers of social services. In more than 250 A-Z entries, along with a series of broad, thematic essays, it examines the groups, laws, and court cases that have framed this ongoing debate. Through its careful, balanced exploration of the interaction between government and religion throughout the history of the United States, the work provides all Americans--students, scholars, and lay readers alike--with a deep understanding of one of the central, enduring issues in our history. - Publisher The relationship between church and state was contentious long before the framers of the Constitution undertook the bold experiment of separating the two, sparking a debate that would rage for centuries: What is the role of religion in government—and vice versa? __Religion and the Law in America__ explores the many facets of this question, from prayer in public schools to the addition of the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, from government investigation of religious fringe groups to federal grants for faith-based providers of social services. In more than 250 A–Z entries, along with a series of broad, thematic essays, it examines the groups, laws, and court cases that have framed this ongoing debate. Through its careful, balanced exploration of the interaction between government and religion throughout the history of the United States, the work provides all Americans—students, scholars, and lay readers alike—with a deep understanding of one of the central, enduring issues in our history. Making of the American West surveys the experiences of major social groups in the lands from the Mississippi to the Pacific, from the United States' penetration of the region in the early 19th century to its incorporation into national political, economic, and cultural fabric by the early 20th century. This revealing volume offers fascinating portraits of the people and institutions that drove the Western conquest (traders and trappers, ranchers and settlers, corporations, the federal government), as well as of those who resisted conquest or hoped for the emergence of a different society (Indian peoples, Latinos, Asians, wage laborers). Throughout, expert contributors continually return to the growing myth of the West and the impact of its promise of freedom and opportunity on those who sought to "Americanize" it "Freedom of religion is probably the freedom that Americans hold the dearest, at least publicly. However, the limits of that freedom, and the limits of the corresponding First Amendment clause against a governmental establishment of religion, are very murky, especially when the freedom of one individual's religion begins to clash with the prohibition against the government's establishment. This encyclopedia identifies some of the boundaries of those freedoms, seeks to explain the overall development of the freedom of religion, and highlights some of the important judicial decisions that have shaped it. The encyclopedia discusses the interaction between religion and the law in America; it does not aim to give legal advice"--Introduction Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 9 Introduction......Page 15 Acknowledgments......Page 23 Timeline......Page 25 Essays......Page 35 A......Page 123 B......Page 159 C......Page 191 D......Page 223 E......Page 233 F......Page 259 G......Page 275 H......Page 358 I......Page 368 J......Page 380 K......Page 386 L......Page 396 M......Page 422 N......Page 454 O......Page 470 P......Page 476 R......Page 500 S......Page 536 T......Page 572 U......Page 586 V......Page 592 W......Page 596 Z......Page 620 Glossary......Page 630 Bibliography......Page 638 Index......Page 650 About the Author......Page 680