Title
Getting Over Equality : A Critical Diagnosis of Religious Freedom in America / Steven D. Smith.
ISBN
9780814786949
Published
New York, NY : New York University Press, [2001]
Copyright
©2001
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource
Call Number
BR526 .S63 2001
Dewey Decimal Classification
323.44/2/0973
Summary
Questions of religious freedom continue to excite passionate public debate. Proposals involving school prayer and the posting of the Ten Commandments in schools and courtrooms perennially spur controversy. But there is also a sense that the prevailing discourse is exhausted, that no one seems to know how to think about religious freedom in a way that moves beyond our stale, counterproductive thinking on this issue. In Getting over Equality, Steven D. Smith, one of the most important voices now writing about religious liberty, provocatively contends that we must get over our presumptionmistakenly believed to be rooted in the Constitutionthat all religions are equally true and virtuous and "authentically American." Smith puts forth an alternative view, that the courts should promote an ideal of tolerance rather than equality and neutrality. Examining such controversial examples as the animal sacrifice case, the peyote case, and the problem of aid to parochial schools, Smith delineates a way for us to tolerate and respect contrary creeds without sacrificing or diluting our own beliefsand without pretending to believe in a spurious "equality" among the variety of diverse faiths.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Jul 2022)
Series
Critical America ; 5
Available in Other Form
print 9780814797945
Frontmatter
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Beyond Failure
PART I HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION?
1 Blooming Confusion Religious Equality in the "Age of Madison"
2 Religion, Democracy, and Autonomy: A Political Parable
3 Is a Theory of Religious Freedom Possible?
PART II WHAT SHALL WE DO? (or How the Supreme Court Can Stop Making Things Worse)
4 Unprincipled Religious Freedom
5 The Unhappy Demise of the Doctrine of Tolerance
6 Demons in the Discourse
PART III CAN FAITH TOLERATE?
7 The (Compelling?) Case for Religious Intolerance
8 Theism and Tolerance
Notes
Index
About the Author
