Wrestling with God
Subtitle: the courts' tortuous treatment of religion
By: Patrick M. Garry.
Publisher: Catholic University of America Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Washington, D. C
Language: eng
Number of pages: 230
ISBN-13: 9780813214511
Subjects: Freedom of religion -- United States.; Religion and state -- United States.; Judicial process -- United States.
Description: "Courts have often treated the two religion clauses of the First Amendment as contradictory, with the free exercise clause used to protect religious practices and the establishment clause employed to limit the public expression of religious beliefs. Wrestling with God not only reconciles the relationship between the two clauses but also distinguishes them in terms of their respective purposes. Whereas the exercise clause focuses on individual religious freedom, the establishment clause addresses the institutional autonomy of religious organizations. Under this distinction, many cases currently falling under the establishment clause - e.g., prayer in the schools - should instead be governed by the exercise clause.".

"Unlike many contemporary interpretations of the establishment clause, the model offered in Wrestling with God views the clause not as a check on religion but as a protection against a specific kind of religious coercion - the kind that results from governmental interference with the freedom of religious institutions. As Patrick M. Garry argues in Wrestling with God, the establishment clause does not exist for the benefit of a secular society; it exists for those religious institutions in which individuals seek to practice their beliefs."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: An inequality among equals; title: Turning the First Amendment against religion; title: Establishment doctrines that have fallen short; title: The neutrality compromise; title: The historical experience with religion and government; title: The cultural susp[i]cion; title: A simplified theory of the establishment clause; title: If not neutrality, then what? : the case for nonpreferential favoritism of religion.