Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment

Witte (law and ethics, Emory U.) and Nichols (law, U. of St. Thomas) provide a comparative historical review of the development of First Amendment religious freedom in the United States. They argue for an understanding of the religious, as well as secular, roots of religious freedom in the United States and a broad view of First Amendment religious freedom encompassing six principles: liberty of conscience, free exercise of religion, religious pluralism, religious equality, separation of church and state, and no establishment of a national religion. They examine the theological and political roots of these principles and explore how they have been developed in modern American case law, updating this new edition in light of recent historical research as well as developing case law from the Supreme Court. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)