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Religion, Government, And Law In The Contemporary United States, Daniel O. Conkle
Religion, Government, And Law In The Contemporary United States, Daniel O. Conkle
Articles by Maurer Faculty
In this Essay, I discuss the relationship between religion and government in the contemporary United States, addressing the period from the 1940s to the present. In so doing, I explore questions of religious liberty, including the protection of religious “free exercise” as well as the constitutional prohibition on the establishment of religion, a prohibition that sometimes - but not always - has been construed to require a “wall of separation” between church and state. I focus especially on the Supreme Court’s evolving interpretations of the First Amendment during this period, which, I suggest, were influenced by broader religious, cultural, and …
Reinterpreting The Religion Clauses: Constitutional Construction And Conceptions Of The Self, Susan H. Williams
Reinterpreting The Religion Clauses: Constitutional Construction And Conceptions Of The Self, Susan H. Williams
Articles by Maurer Faculty
The first amendment guarantees freedom from "law[s] respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The apparent tension between the two clauses of this provision has generated judicial confusion and scholarly disagreement. The perceived conflict between the religion clauses is the product of a particular understanding of what is most fundamental about human identity and the human situation - an understanding that derives from classical liberal political theory and that assumes a sharp division between the individual and his community. This Note proposes an alternative to the liberal conception of human identity, one that encompasses both the …