Religion and the Constitution, Volume 2

Establishment and Fairness

Kent Greenawalt

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780691141145, 9780691125831
• eBook ISBN: 9781400828234
• Topic: Derecho
• Subtopic: Derecho público

Balancing respect for religious conviction and the values of liberal democracy is a daunting challenge for judges and lawmakers, particularly when religious groups seek exemption from laws that govern others. Should students in public schools be allowed to organize devotional Bible readings and prayers on school property? Does reciting "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance establish a preferred religion? What does the Constitution have to say about displays of religious symbols and messages on public property? Religion and the Constitution presents a new framework for addressing these and other controversial questions that involve competing demands of fairness, liberty, and constitutional validity.


In this second of two major volumes on the intersection of constitutional and religious issues in the United States, Kent Greenawalt focuses on the Constitution's Establishment Clause, which forbids government from favoring one religion over another, or religion over secularism. The author begins with a history of the clause, its underlying principles, and the Supreme Court's main decisions on establishment, and proceeds to consider specific controversies. Taking a contextual approach, Greenawalt argues that the state's treatment of religion cannot be reduced to a single formula.


Calling throughout for acknowledgment of the way religion gives meaning to people's lives, Religion and the Constitution aims to accommodate the maximum expression of religious conviction that is consistent with a commitment to fairness and the public welfare.

Table of contents

• Table of Contents
• PREFACE
• CHAPTER 1 Introduction
• CHAPTER 2 History
• CHAPTER 3 The Development of Doctrine and Its Significance
• CHAPTER 4 Government Aid to Religion and Promulgating Religious Doctrine
• CHAPTER 5 Religious Words and Symbols in Public Places
• CHAPTER 6 Mild Endorsements and Promotions
• CHAPTER 7 Public Schools: Devotions
• CHAPTER 8 Public Schools:Teaching about Religion
• CHAPTER 9 Public Schools: Teaching Whose Content Rests on Religious Views
• CHAPTER 10 Establishment Clause Tests and Standards
• CHAPTER 11 Equal Facilities and Freedom of Speech
• CHAPTER 12 Chaplains in the Military and in Prison
• CHAPTER 13 Religious Groups Exercising Government Power
• CHAPTER 14 Religious Law and Civil Law: Using Secular Law to Assure Observance of Practices with Religious Significance
• CHAPTER 15 Tax Exemptions and Deductions
• CHAPTER 16 Religion and the Exemption Strategy
• CHAPTER 17 Limits of Accommodation
• CHAPTER 18 Financial Support to Religious Institutions
• CHAPTER 19 Aid to Religious Schools
• CHAPTER 20 Religion Clause Skepticism
• CHAPTER 21 Alternative Approaches
• CHAPTER 22 Justifications for the Religion Clauses
• CHAPTER 23 Religiously Based Judgments and Religious Discours
• CHAPTER 24 Legal Enforcement of Religion-Based Morality
• CHAPTER 25 Conclusion