Introduction : Assessing the First Amendment and Religious Liberty in America / Michael D. Breidenbach and Owen Anderson -- The First Amendment and Natural Religion / Owen Anderson -- The Philosophical Meaning of Religious Exercise / Janice Tzuling Chik -- Freedom of Religion : Special, Valuable, and Qualified / John Finnis -- Religious Exercise and Establishment in Early America / Glenn A. Moots -- The Historical Context of the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment / Chris Beneke -- Religious Tests, Loyalty Oaths, and the Ecclesiastical Context to the First Amendment / Michael D. Breidenbach -- Church and State in the Nineteenth Century / Jonathan Den Hartog -- The First Amendment Religion Clauses in the United States Supreme Court / Zoe Robinson -- Religious and Secular Presuppositions in First Amendment Interpretations / Paul E. Kerry -- Two Concepts of Religious Liberty : The Natural Rights and Moral Autonomy Approaches to the Free Exercise of Religion / Vincent Phillip Munoz -- The Economic Origins of Religious Liberty / Anthony Gill -- Corporate Religious Liberty and the Culture Wars / Steven D. Smith -- Which Original Meaning of the Establishment Clause is the Right One? / Donald L. Drakeman -- The Two Separations / Marc O. DeGirolami -- The Challenge Ahead : Reconnecting Religion, Reason, and Truth / Gerard V. Bradley
Summary:
"In 1789, when the First Federal Congress discussed James Madison's proposed constitutional amendments on religious liberty and non-establishment, the lawmakers did not debate many of the concerns related to the First Amendment today. They did not argue over whether religious imagery should be excluded from civic spaces, or whether government should refrain from funding activities that include a religious purpose, or whether religion should be separated from politics generally. To these issues, most of the American founders had already replied with a resounding "no." Instead, the question during that sweltering summer in 1789 was more narrowly conceived: What juridical prohibitions should be placed on the federal legislature with respect to a national church and religious conscience, liberty, or exercise? After a month of deliberations, Congress agreed on the following text: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The First Amendment is such contested territory because it relates to fundamental questions about the nature of humanity, morality, religion, government, and God. When these questions are renewed, or when novel answers are offered, changes in societal views on the content and parameters of religious liberty often follow. First Amendment cases often appear at times when fundamental values seem to be in tension. For instance, the first landmark Supreme Court decision on the free exercise clause, Reynolds v. United States (1879), concerned whether a federal law criminalizing plural marriage violated the religious liberty of a Mormon who considered polygamy his religious duty. Divergent views of sexual morality continue to ignite conflicts concerning religious liberty. Recent cases across the United States, including Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018), have considered whether those who provide services for weddings can lawfully deny, on religious liberty grounds, those services for ceremonies celebrating same-sex unions"-- Provided by publisher.
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