Please Don't Wish Me a Merry Christmas
Subtitle: A Critical History of the Separation of Church and State (Critical America Series)
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: December 1, 1996
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 395
ISBN-13: 9780814726372
Subjects: American history; Christianity; Constitutional & administrative law; POLITICS & GOVERNMENT; 20th century; History: World; Church And Government; Judaism And Christianity; Legal Reference / Law Profession; Religion, Politics & State; USA; Constitutional; Legal History; CHRISTMAS; CHURCH AND STATE_UNITED STATES; Religion / Holidays / Christmas; Church and state; Christianity and antisemitism; Church history; History; United States
Description: Nearly all discussions regarding the role of religion in American life build on two dominant assumptions: first, the separation of church and state is a constitutional principle that promotes democracy and equally protects the religious freedom of all Americans, especially religious outgroups; and second, this principle emerges as a uniquely American contribution to political theory.

In Please Don't Wish Me a Merry Christmas, Stephen M. Feldman challenges both these assumptions. He argues that the separation of church and state primarily manifests and reinforces Christian domination in American society. Furthermore, Feldman reveals that the separation of church and state did not first arise in America, either at the time of the constitutional framing or later.

In challenging the dominant story of the separation of church and state, Please Don't Wish Me a Merry Christmas follows the historical path of two institutions - the Christian church and the state - from the origins of Christianity forward to the present day. Feldman thus focuses on the workings of power in a specific context: he interprets the development of Christian social power vis-a-vis the state and religious minorities, particularly the prototypical religious outgroup, Jews.