Church, State, and Original Intent
, by Donald L. DrakemanNote: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780521119184 | 0521119189
- Cover: Hardcover
- Copyright: 11/23/2009
This provocative book shows how the United States Supreme Court has used constitutional history in church-state cases. Donald L. Drakeman describes the ways in which the justices have portrayed the Framers' actions in a light favoring their own views about how church and state should be separated. He then marshals the historical evidence, leading to a surprising conclusion about the original meaning of the First Amendment's establishment clause: the framers originally intended the establishment clause only as a prohibition against a single national church. In showing how conventional interpretations have gone astray, he casts light on the close relationship between religion and government in America and brings to life a fascinating parade of church-state constitutional controversies from the Founding Era to the present.