Insight Turkey
Insight Turkey
Challenging ideas
On Turkish politics and International affairs

Author

Thomas K. Gugler

Thomas K. Gugler
The Rise and Decline of American Religious Freedom
October 1, 2015
In five chapters Smith looks into the standard story of the development of religious freedom in America and proposes a revised version of it, which revolves around a “Kingdom of God in America.” (p. 12) Smith’s counter-narrative traces the intellectual roots of religious freedom farther back than the Enlightenment to predominantly Christian emphases on the freedom of the church and the liberty of conscience. With a re-interpretation of the First Amendment’s phrase “no establishment of religion” Smith heavily criticizes recent Supreme Court decisions and suggests that virtually all of America’s founders expected religion to play a major role in the nation’s governance. 

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