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Title: Separation of Church and State by Philip Hamburger ISBN: 0-674-00734-4 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: June, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $52.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Historical rather than subjective
Comment: Some would argue that because this book focuses on a topic that can evoke the most deep seated opinions in American jurisprudence that it's not a factual or historical book. I disagree. I think the author handled the topic with great care and objectivity.
I think it's a very critical debate. This book has laid out a historical time line beautifully to draw attention to evolving environments during the U.S. infancy.
Interesting is the discussion of vital US documents from the Declaration of Independence which clearly defers to God in the very first dictation to the Pledge of Alegiance which received a later reference to God out of anxiety.
The most imnportant point made is to debunk the myth that the founding fathers wanted separation of God and state. This concept could not be farther from the truth. The idea of religious freedom did not entail the exclusion of God - just inclusion from whatever religion you worshipped. The idea was to never accord any one religion so much power that the state became a voice of religious extremism.
The debate goes on but this book is so eloquent in its historical interpretation and sets some very important ideas straight. Bravo for some historical truth regardless of which side of the aisle you support.
Rating: 3
Summary: Thought-Provoking but Somewhat Disappointing
Comment: The idea of "separation of church and state" today is in much debate as those on the religious right accuse the secularization of America for countless social ills, and recent decisions such as the controversial ruling on the Pledge of Allegiance and subsequent mass public outcry demonstrate exactly why the issues Mr. Hamburger discusses are so important in today's society.
The historical analyses are indeed interesting but do seem somewhat revisionistic in nature, such as the idea that the founding fathers "didn't really intend for strict separation"--what they meant is certainly up for debate, but the changing interpretations of the First Amendment are the very nature of our government, not a "myth" invented later in history.
Overall, the book to me seems somewhat slanted to the idea that the state and church (namely, the Christian church) need not be so cleanly divided as has been recent policy, but it is nonetheless an interesting read.
Rating: 5
Summary: The debate is over!
Comment: What a tremendous contribution to the debate! Hamburger's book is a survey of the development of this phrase beginning in the Reformation, and carrying down through nativist and 20th century Ku Klux Klan campaigns. With this and Daniel Dreisbach's book on Jefferson's "wall" metaphor, the strict separationist view is now on the historical defensive.
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Title: Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State by Daniel L. Dreisbach ISBN: 0814719368 Publisher: New York University Press Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: Catholicism and American Freedom: A History by John T. McGreevy ISBN: 0393047601 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice by Philip Jenkins ISBN: 0195154800 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
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Title: America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln by Mark A. Noll ISBN: 0195151119 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: On Two Wings: Humble Faith and Common Sense at the American Founding by Michael Novak ISBN: 1893554341 Publisher: Encounter Books Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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