Although it is often charged with hostility toward religion, First Amendment doctrine in fact treats religion as a distinctive human good. It insists, however, that this good be understood abstractly, without the state taking sides on any theological question. Here, a leading scholar of constitutional law explains the logic of this uniquely American form of neutrality--more religion-centered than liberal theorists propose, and less overtly theistic than conservatives advocate.
The First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion is under threat. Growing numbers of critics,...
Although it is often charged with hostility toward religion, First Amendment doctrine in fact treats religion as a distinctive human good. It insis...
