Download or read book Religious Freedom written by John A. Ragosta and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2013-04-22 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over one hundred years, Thomas Jefferson and his Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom have stood at the center of our understanding of religious liberty and the First Amendment. Jefferson’s expansive vision—including his insistence that political freedom and free thought would be at risk if we did not keep government out of the church and church out of government—enjoyed a near consensus of support at the Supreme Court and among historians, until Justice William Rehnquist called reliance on Jefferson "demonstrably incorrect." Since then, Rehnquist’s call has been taken up by a bevy of jurists and academics anxious to encourage renewed government involvement with religion. In Religious Freedom: Jefferson’s Legacy, America’s Creed, the historian and lawyer John Ragosta offers a vigorous defense of Jefferson’s advocacy for a strict separation of church and state. Beginning with a close look at Jefferson’s own religious evolution, Ragosta shows that deep religious beliefs were at the heart of Jefferson’s views on religious freedom. Basing his analysis on that Jeffersonian vision, Ragosta redefines our understanding of how and why the First Amendment was adopted. He shows how the amendment’s focus on maintaining the authority of states to regulate religious freedom demonstrates that a very strict restriction on federal action was intended. Ultimately revealing that the great sage demanded a firm separation of church and state but never sought a wholly secular public square, Ragosta provides a new perspective on Jefferson, the First Amendment, and religious liberty within the United States.
Download or read book The Impossibility of Religious Freedom written by Winnifred Fallers Sullivan and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-24 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Constitution may guarantee it. But religious freedom in America is, in fact, impossible. So argues this timely and iconoclastic work by law and religion scholar Winnifred Sullivan. Sullivan uses as the backdrop for the book the trial of Warner vs. Boca Raton, a recent case concerning the laws that protect the free exercise of religion in America. The trial, for which the author served as an expert witness, concerned regulations banning certain memorials from a multiconfessional nondenominational cemetery in Boca Raton, Florida. The book portrays the unsuccessful struggle of Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish families in Boca Raton to preserve the practice of placing such religious artifacts as crosses and stars of David on the graves of the city-owned burial ground. Sullivan demonstrates how, during the course of the proceeding, citizens from all walks of life and religious backgrounds were harassed to define just what their religion is. She argues that their plight points up a shocking truth: religion cannot be coherently defined for the purposes of American law, because everyone has different definitions of what religion is. Indeed, while religious freedom as a political idea was arguably once a force for tolerance, it has now become a force for intolerance, she maintains. A clear-eyed look at the laws created to protect religious freedom, this vigorously argued book offers a new take on a right deemed by many to be necessary for a free democratic society. It will have broad appeal not only for religion scholars, but also for anyone interested in law and the Constitution. Featuring a new preface by the author, The Impossibility of Religious Freedom offers a new take on a right deemed by many to be necessary for a free democratic society.
Download or read book The Myth of American Religious Freedom written by David Sehat and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-14 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the battles over religion and politics in America, both liberals and conservatives often appeal to history. Liberals claim that the Founders separated church and state. But for much of American history, David Sehat writes, Protestant Christianity was intimately intertwined with the state. Yet the past was not the Christian utopia that conservatives imagine either. Instead, a Protestant moral establishment prevailed, using government power to punish free thinkers and religious dissidents. In The Myth of American Religious Freedom, Sehat provides an eye-opening history of religion in public life, overturning our most cherished myths. Originally, the First Amendment applied only to the federal government, which had limited authority. The Protestant moral establishment ruled on the state level. Using moral laws to uphold religious power, religious partisans enforced a moral and religious orthodoxy against Catholics, Jews, Mormons, agnostics, and others. Not until 1940 did the U.S. Supreme Court extend the First Amendment to the states. As the Supreme Court began to dismantle the connections between religion and government, Sehat argues, religious conservatives mobilized to maintain their power and began the culture wars of the last fifty years. To trace the rise and fall of this Protestant establishment, Sehat focuses on a series of dissenters--abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, socialist Eugene V. Debs, and many others. Shattering myths held by both the left and right, David Sehat forces us to rethink some of our most deeply held beliefs. By showing the bad history used on both sides, he denies partisans a safe refuge with the Founders.
Download or read book Religious Liberty Volume 5 written by Douglas Laycock and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2018-12-18 with total page 981 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most respected and influential scholars of religious liberty in our time, Douglas Laycock has argued many crucial religious-liberty cases in the United States Supreme Court. His noteworthy scholarly and popular writings are being collected in five comprehensive volumes under the title Religious Liberty. In this final volume Laycock documents the use of the Constitution’s Free Speech Clause and Establishment Clause in legal briefs, scholarly and popular articles, House testimonies, and written debates. These two clauses have been vitally important in religious-liberty cases concerning religious speech in schools, politics, and the workplace, government funding of religious schools and social services, and the meaning of separation of church and state.
Download or read book Freedom of Religion and the Secular State written by Russell Blackford and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-01-17 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring the relationship between religion and the state Focusing on the intersection of religion, law, and politics in contemporary liberal democracies, Blackford considers the concept of the secular state, revising and updating enlightenment views for the present day. Freedom of Religion and the Secular State offers a comprehensive analysis, with a global focus, of the subject of religious freedom from a legal as well as historical and philosophical viewpoint. It makes an original contribution to current debates about freedom of religion, and addresses a whole range of hot-button issues that involve the relationship between religion and the state, including the teaching of evolution in schools, what to do about the burqa, and so on.
Download or read book Democratic Religion written by Gregory A. Wills and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-03-13 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No American denomination identified itself more closely with the nation's democratic ideal than the Baptists. Most antebellum southern Baptist churches allowed women and slaves to vote on membership matters and preferred populists preachers who addressed their appeals to the common person. Paradoxically no denomination could wield religious authority as zealously as the Baptists. Between 1785 and 1860 they ritually excommunicated forty to fifty thousand church members in Georgia alone. Wills demonstrates how a denomination of freedom-loving individualists came to embrace an exclusivist spirituality--a spirituality that continues to shape Southern Baptist churches in contemporary conflicts between moderates who urge tolerance and conservatives who require belief in scriptural inerrancy. Wills's analysis advances our understanding of the interaction between democracy and religious authority, and will appeal to scholars of American religion, culture, and history, as well as to Baptist observers.
Download or read book Religious Liberty Protection Act of 1999 written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on the Constitution and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Qur an in the Malay Indonesian World written by Majid Daneshgar and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-10 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The largely Arabo-centric approach to the academic study of tafsir has resulted in a lack of literature exploring the diversity of Qur'anic interpretation in other areas of the Muslim-majority world. The essays in The Qur'an in the Malay-Indonesian World resolve this, aiming to expand our knowledge of tafsir and its history in the Malay-Indonesian world. Highlighting the scope of Qur'anic interpretation in the Malay world in its various vernaculars, it also contextualizes this work to reveal its place as part of the wider Islamic world, especially through its connections to the Arab world, and demonstrates the strength of these connections. The volume is divided into three parts written primarily by scholars from Malaysia and Indonesia. Beginning with a historical overview, it then moves into chapters with a more specifically regional focus to conclude with a thematic approach by looking at topics of some controversy in the broader world. Presenting new examinations of an under-researched topic, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Islamic studies and Southeast Asian studies.
Download or read book Islamic Law and Society written by Emine Enise Yakar and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book places context at the core of the Islamic mechanism of iftā’ to better understand the process of issuing fatwās in Muslim and non-Muslim countries, thus highlighting the connection between context and contemporaneity, on one hand, and the adaptable perception of Islamic law, on the other. The practice of iftā’ is one of the most important mechanisms of Islamic law that keeps Islamic thought about ethical and legal issues in harmony with the demands, exigencies and developments of time. This book builds upon the existing body of work related to the practice of iftā’, but takes the discussion beyond the current debates with the intent of unveiling the interaction between Islamic legal methodologies and different environmental contexts. The book specifically addresses the three institutions (Saudi Arabia’s Dār al-Iftā’, Turkey’s Diyanet and America’s FCNA) and their Islamic legal opinions (fatwās) in a comparative framework. This demonstrates the existence of complex and diverse ideas around similar issues within contemporary Islamic legal opinions that is further complicated by the influence of international, social, political, cultural and ideological contexts. The book thus unveils a more complicated range of interactive constituents in the process of the practice of iftā’ and its outputs, fatwās. The work will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of Islamic law, Middle Eastern studies, religion and politics.
Download or read book New Netherland and the Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberty written by Evan Haefeli and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-04-08 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The settlers of New Netherland were obligated to uphold religious toleration as a legal right by the Dutch Republic's founding document, the 1579 Union of Utrecht, which stated that "everyone shall remain free in religion and that no one may be persecuted or investigated because of religion." For early American historians this statement, unique in the world at its time, lies at the root of American pluralism. New Netherland and the Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberty offers a new reading of the way tolerance operated in colonial America. Using sources in several languages and looking at laws and ideas as well as their enforcement and resistance, Evan Haefeli shows that, although tolerance as a general principle was respected in the colony, there was a pronounced struggle against it in practice. Crucial to the fate of New Netherland were the changing religious and political dynamics within the English empire. In the end, Haefeli argues, the most crucial factor in laying the groundwork for religious tolerance in colonial America was less what the Dutch did than their loss of the region to the English at a moment when the English were unusually open to religious tolerance. This legacy, often overlooked, turns out to be critical to the history of American religious diversity. By setting Dutch America within its broader imperial context, New Netherland and the Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberty offers a comprehensive and nuanced history of a conflict integral to the histories of the Dutch republic, early America, and religious tolerance.
Download or read book Religious Liberty written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics written by Jeffrey Haynes and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-05-30 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This third edition of the successful Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics provides a definitive global survey of the interaction of religion and politics. From the United States to the Middle East, from Asia to Africa, and beyond, religion continues to be an important factor in political activity and organisation. Featuring contributions from an international team of experts, this volume examines the political aspects of the world's major religions, including crucial contemporary issues such as religion and climate change, religion and migration, and religion and war. Each chapter has been updated to reflect the latest developments and thinking in the field, and the handbook also includes new chapters on topics such as religious freedom, religion and populism, proselytizing, humanism and politics, and religious soft power. The four main themes addressed are: • World religions and politics • Religion and governance • Religion and international relations • Religion, security and development References at the end of each chapter guide the reader towards the most up-to-date information on these key topics. This book is an indispensable source of information for students, academics, and the wider public interested in the dynamic relationship between politics and religion.
Download or read book The Muslim Brotherhood in Contemporary Egypt written by Mariz Tadros and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-08-06 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Muslim Brotherhood is one of the oldest and most influential Islamist movements. As the party ascends to power in Egypt, it is poised to adopt a new system of governance and state–society relations, the effects of which are likely to extend well beyond Egypt’s national borders. This book examines the Brotherhood’s visions and practices, from its inception in 1928, up to its response to the 2011 uprising, as it moves to redefine democracy along Islamic lines. The book analyses the Muslim Brotherhood’s position on key issues such as gender, religious minorities, and political plurality, and critically analyses whether claims that the Brotherhood has abandoned extremism and should be engaged with as a moderate political force can be substantiated. It also considers the wider political context of the region, and assesses the extent to which the Brotherhood has the potential to transform politics in the Middle East.
Download or read book Politics of Knowledge written by Saw Swee-Hock and published by Flipside Digital Content Company Inc.. This book was released on 2003-08-01 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The publication of this book, comprising chapters written by distinguished scholars, is a timely recognition that these days we are bombarded by suggestions that knowledge is power, that we are operating in a knowledge economy, and that the greatest driver for financial growth and national development is the knowledge industry. There are more sources of knowledge available to a wider range of the world's population than ever before. The Internet has made the dissemination of knowledge possible in ways not contemplated fifty years ago. National boundaries are crossed with consummate ease.Knowledge is not like other assets. It can be accessed rapidly and used by thousands, often millions, of people. This makes knowledge as an asset that generated much of the wealth in the early development of most nations. And different countries and regions need different strategies to support and promote the growth of their knowledge economies. These call for nationally and regionally-based approaches, and they entail new dynamics and challenges in wealth creation, legal regulation, national and social organization and the protection of environmental and natural resources.
Download or read book Islam 4 volumes written by Cenap Çakmak and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-05-18 with total page 1938 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This expansive four-volume encyclopedia presents a broad introduction to Islam that enables learning about the fundamental role of Islam in world history and promotes greater respect for cultural diversity. One of the most popular and widespread religions in the world, Islam has attracted a great deal of attention in recent times, particularly in the Western world. With the ongoing tensions in the Middle East and a pervasive sense of hostility toward Arab Americans, there is ever increasing need to examine and understand Islam as a religion and historical force. Islam: A Worldwide Encyclopedia provides some 700 entries on Islam written by expert contributors that cover the religion from the birth of Islam to the present time. The set also includes 16 pages of color images per volume that serve to illustrate the diverse expressions of this important religious tradition. Each entry begins with a basic introduction, followed by a general discussion of the subject and a conclusion. Each entry also features a further readings list for readers. In addition to supplying a comprehensive, authoritative overview of Islam, this work also specifically addresses many controversial related issues, including jihad, violence in Islam, polygamy, and apostasy.
Download or read book The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology written by George Ritzer and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-01-25 with total page 790 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This concise encyclopedia is the most complete international survey of sociology ever created in one volume. Contains over 800 entries from the whole breadth of the discipline Distilled from the highly regarded Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, with entries completely revised and updated to provide succinct and up-to-date coverage of the fundamental topics Global in scope, both in terms of topics and contributors Each entry includes references and suggestions for further reading Cross-referencing allows easy movement around the volume
Download or read book 50 Great Myths About Religions written by John Morreall and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-04-03 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 50 Great Myths about Religions is an intriguing, informative, and often humorous introduction to some of the long standing myths that surround religious belief. This engaging book will get its readers thinking about how and why certain myths have arisen, and their continuing influence on our personal and collective view of religion. Offers a lively, informative, and thought-provoking introduction to some of the common misbeliefs surrounding religions Discusses myths about religious belief in general, as well as specific ideas that surround Judaism, Christianity, Islam, atheism, and agnosticism Covers a wide range of myths, from ancient legends such as the Bible forbidding pork being eaten because it causes illness, to modern urban fables, such as Barack Obama being a Muslim Unpacks each myth in turn, explaining why it arose, how it spread, and why the beliefs that stem from it are questionable Includes a fascinating discussion about human nature, and the main characteristics that predispose us to create and circulate myths to begin with Underpinned by a wide knowledge of academic research, it is written by two respected religion scholars and experienced authors
