About "Our fading
religious liberties"
Published in 2006, Our fading religious liberties: the rise of radical religion, by Daniel F. Lynch, documents the fact that the United States never was a Christian republic, and that its framers intended to create a government with absolutely no power over religion. It was the first government in the history of humankind to be explicitly deprived of all power over religion. Other governments had embraced policies of religious "toleration," but only the government of the United States was religiously impotent, i.e., "powerless" over religion.It notes that until after the passage of the 14th Amendment that any of our constitutional rights limited the states. The Supreme Court decided that the only federal constitutional rights that
were "incorporated" into the 14th Amendment as protection against state action were those that were so fundamental as to be essential to the concept of "ordered liberty."
One-by-one, over more than a century, the Supreme Court has been deciding which are incorporated. It was not until the 20th century that the Supreme Court incorporated by the Religion Clauses. Today, no state may do anything that is proscribed to the federal government. Both state and federal governments are powerless as to religion.
The book shows how incorporating our religious rights affected practices developed before states were deprived of religious power, including prayer, religious instruction and ceremony in public schools.
It discusses the long war between evolution and creationism as waged in our courts as well as the long effort to obtain public support for religious schools.
One-by-one, over more than a century, the Supreme Court has been deciding which are incorporated. It was not until the 20th century that the Supreme Court incorporated by the Religion Clauses. Today, no state may do anything that is proscribed to the federal government. Both state and federal governments are powerless as to religion.
The book shows how incorporating our religious rights affected practices developed before states were deprived of religious power, including prayer, religious instruction and ceremony in public schools.
It discusses the long war between evolution and creationism as waged in our courts as well as the long effort to obtain public support for religious schools.
It documents the efforts of a small group of right-wing Christian "Dominionists" to take control of American government and to impose their standards upon all of is. It documents the efforts of the Bush administration to trade the votes they command for the support they need to "take dominion" in order to "reign and rule" over their version of biblical law. Today, millions of tax dollars are spent to fund sectarians who have demonstrated their support for President Bush.
The book tells us how we can regain our freedoms by strict adherence to the constitutional requirement that government exercise no power as to religion.
The book tells us how we can regain our freedoms by strict adherence to the constitutional requirement that government exercise no power as to religion.