Religious Freedom and the Constitution

by Christopher L. Eisgruber, Lawrence G. Sager

Overview

Religion has become a charged token in a politics of division. Religious Freedom and the Constitution offers practical, moderate, and appealing terms for the settlement of many hot-button issues that have plunged religious freedom into controversy. It calls Americans back to the project of finding fair terms of cooperation for a religiously diverse people, and it offers a valuable set of tools for working toward that end.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674034457
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	06/30/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	393 KB

About the Author

Lawrence G. Sager is Dean of the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

Table of Contents

Contents Introduction Separation and Its Cousins Equal Liberty The Exemptions Puzzle Ten Commandments, Three Plastic Reindeer, and One Nation . . . Indivisible God in the Classroom Public Dollars, Religious Programs Legislative Responsibility for Religious Freedom Notes Index

What People are Saying About This

Andrew Koppelman

One of the most important books on religious liberty to appear in years. Anyone interested in freedom of religion should read it, and for specialists in the area, it is a must.
— Andrew Koppelman, Northwestern University School of Law

Editorial Reviews

Christopher Eisgruber and Lawrence Sager are serious, accomplished scholars, and they have produced a valuable, provocative book. It will, and should, help frame the debate about religious freedom under law for years to come.

First Things - Richard W. Garnett

The authors proceed patiently and sensibly through considerations of creche displays, conscientious objectors, ritual animal slaughter, and peyote smoking. Their recommendations may prove more useful as a philosophical corrective than as a set of juridical guidelines, but their careful attention to the social meaning of symbols, and their nuanced concern with the sociological role and ideological sway of religion in American culture, insures the persuasive force and continuing relevance of their arguments.

New Yorker

In an era when the proper role of religion in the public sphere is fiercely debated, Professor Christopher Eisgruber and Dean Lawrence Sager argue that religious institutions and practitioners have a right to be free from governmental discrimination on account of religious beliefs but have no right to be exempt from generally applicable laws on account of religious beliefs...Far from being an abstract exercise, Religious Freedom and the Constitution offers satisfying answers to some of the most vexing questions on religion facing the Constitution, including religious public displays, school prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Harvard Law Review

One of the most important books on religious liberty to appear in years. Anyone interested in freedom of religion should read it, and for specialists in the area, it is a must.

Andrew Koppelman

Christopher Eisgruber and Lawrence Sager are serious, accomplished scholars, and they have produced a valuable, provocative book. It will, and should, help frame the debate about religious freedom under law for years to come.
— Richard W. Garnett

First Things