Recently, a scholar in another discipline asked me how Christian nationalists who study the American past “ignore, navigate around, or distort the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.” I address this in Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?: A...
disestablishment
Exploring Religious Disestablishment: State by State
I am glad to see the release of Disestablishment and Religious Dissent: Church-State Relations in the New American States, 1776-1833. Carl Esbeck of the University of Missouri and Jonathan Den Hartog of Samford University have edited a very useful book for...
The Author’s Corner with Steven Green
Steven Green is the Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law and Affiliated Professor of History and Religious Studies at Williamette University. This interview is based on his new book, The Third Disestablishment: Church, State, and American Culture, 1940-1975 (Oxford University Press,...
From the Archives: The Rise of Evangelical America
This is a keynote conversation with Jacques Berlinerblau at the 2013 “Secularism on the Edge” Conference at Georgetown University. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1G2BUfEwzE&w=560&h=315]...
What Becomes of Old and Unconstitutional State Laws?
In light of the attempt of some North Carolina legislators to create a religious establishment in the state, Brian Palmer, writing at Slate, asks if unconstitutional state laws “stay on the books forever?” This comes up every now and then. ...
North Carolina Republicans Want to Create a Christian Establishment
The framers of the North Carolina Constitution of 1776 made it abundantly clear as to what kind of people they wanted to serve in their new state government. Article 32 states: That no person who shall deny the being of...