Description
Book SynopsisBooks about religion and the law are generally aimed at two audiences: lawyers and religious conservatives. These tendencies are a result of expectations on the subject as being either highly technical or arising from a conservative impulse to protect religious and cultural traditions. In FAITH ON TRIAL, legal scholar and Unitarian Universalist minister Mark J. T. Caggiano, argues that concerns about separation of church and state often serve to silence religious viewpoints of people on the Left, many of whom exit the conversation in the hope of protecting important social issues from religious infighting. But it is impossible to win a debate that you never join, and as Caggiano writes, it is paramount in these times that "religious liberals and progressives cultivate and refine an ability to articulate the need for moral changes within the political system. That goal will require an understanding of the law as well as a moral vision for the world." Geared toward religious progressives and liberals-and complete with historical context, legal analysis, and examples of specific legal cases and statues-FAITH ON TRIAL is an invitation to the religious Left to re-enter the societal debate about morals and ethics, with social progress and inclusion at the centre of a national conversation about religion and the law.
Trade Review“Mark Caggiano’s Faith on Trial is the ideal primer for anyone who seeks to bring their religious values into the public square. Caggiano uses crystal-clear explanations of legal principles, a compelling history of church-state relations in the United States, and illuminating case studies to demonstrate that respect for religious freedom is fully compatible with faith-based activism. Anyone who has ever been confused by a Supreme Court decision or unsure of how to embody religious freedom in their own life now has a lawyer, and a pastor, they can trust.” —Dan McKanan, author of Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. How to Describe a Wall
2. The Legal Basics
3. Handling Snakes
4. Disestablishment
5. Drafting the Bill of Rights
6. Legal Misfits in America: Jews, Catholics, and Latter-day Saints
7. Two’s Company, Three’s a Crime
8. Historical Interlude: The Irish and the Know-Nothings
9. Bible Wars
10. Separation of Church and School
11. Making a Federal Case Out of It: The Jehovah’s Witnesses
12. The Sin in Sincerity
13. Lemony Thicket: Modern Rules About Establishment
14. Sherbert and Yoder: Religious Freedom and the Limits of the Law
15. The Smith Case: The Peyote Road and the First Amendment
16. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act
17. RLUIPA and the Case of Jehovah v. Clarke
18. If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them
19. Going to and Fro: Religion on Display
20. The New Sanctuary Movement
21. Separation of Church and Politics
22. Conclusions
Bibliography
