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Divided We Fall: Religion, Politics, And The Lemon Entanglements Prong, Stephen M. Feldman
Divided We Fall: Religion, Politics, And The Lemon Entanglements Prong, Stephen M. Feldman
Stephen M. Feldman
The 2008 campaign for the presidency should remind Americans that mixing religion and politics can be dangerous. Polls show that more than half of American voters would hesitate to support a Mormon candidate. In terms of Establishment Clause doctrine, the entanglements prong of the Lemon test provides a mechanism for protecting political equality by ensuring against religiously-inspired political divisiveness. Yet, in recent years, numerous scholars and Supreme Court Justices have attacked the entanglements prong. Indeed, the Court has poked so many holes in the entanglements inquiry that it may no longer exist. This Article defends the political-divisiveness component of the …
Principle, History, And Power: The Limits Of The First Amendment Religion Clauses, Stephen M. Feldman
Principle, History, And Power: The Limits Of The First Amendment Religion Clauses, Stephen M. Feldman
Stephen M. Feldman
This article addresses whether the religion clauses of the U.S. Constitution prohibit the injection of religious values into political debate. I argue that Christianity hegemonically controls American society and culturally oppresses outgroup religions, particularly the prototypical minority religion of Judaism. I critically analyze how the constitutional principle of separation of church and state contributes to the current orientation of power within American society. I approach the problem of Christian social power from three perspectives: symbolic power, structural power, and the relationship between symbolic and structural power.