Sunday, May 1, 2011

Religion in this republic

David Sehat, the author of The Myth of American Religious Freedom, gives us "Five myths about church and state":
  1. The Constitution has always protected religious freedom.
  2. The founders’ faith matters.
  3. Christian conservatives have only recently taken over politics.
  4. America is more secular than it used to be.
  5. Liberals are anti-religious.
The reasons he gives for each of those statements being false are explained in the column and I find his explanations convincing in every case except the last — the most recent "liberal" he cites is from 1952. I fear liberal attitudes have moved on a bit since then. In some circles, at least, the desire for freedom from religion — public religious expression, public religious speech— has become the priority.

David Sehat: Five myths about church and state

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous9:13 PM

    I found the link to be quite interesting. The writier makes some very quick points. He does not take into account:
    (1)The cause of Religious Liberty as one reason for English colonization
    (2) Roger William's "Hedge of Separation"
    (3) The Virgina Bill for ReLigious Freedom of 1777
    (4)John Leland's influence on Madison in the writing of the First Ammendment
    (5)The "Equal Protection Clause of the 14th ammendment."

    Still I found this short article to be fascinating.

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