Historical Foundations and Enduring Fundamentals of American Religious Freedom

The eighteenth-century American founders believed that religion is special and deserves special constitutional protection, and that all peaceable faiths must be drawn into the constitutional process and protection. The founders introduced six constitutional principles for the protection of religious...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studies in Christian ethics
Main Author: Witte, John 1959- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2019]
In: Studies in Christian ethics
Year: 2020, Volume: 33, Issue: 2, Pages: 156-167
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
KBQ North America
TJ Modern history
TK Recent history
XA Law
Further subjects:B United States Supreme Court
B John Adams
B First Amendment
B James Madison
B Religious Freedom
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:The eighteenth-century American founders believed that religion is special and deserves special constitutional protection, and that all peaceable faiths must be drawn into the constitutional process and protection. The founders introduced six constitutional principles for the protection of religious freedom: freedom of conscience, free exercise of religion, religious pluralism, religious equality, separation of church and state, and no state establishment of religion. Since the 1940s, the United States Supreme Court has upheld these religious freedom principles in more than 170 cases, albeit unevenly of late. Moreover, in recent years religious freedom has come under sharp popular and academic attack, particularly as religious pathologies have come to light and religious freedom claims have clashed with sexual liberty claims. This article calls for a return to the first principles of religious freedom for all, at home and abroad, and for a new balance between religious freedom and other fundamental rights claims.
ISSN:0953-9468
Contains:Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0953946819896075