Jay Wexler

Our Non-Christian Nation (eBook, ePUB)

How Atheists, Satanists, Pagans, and Others Are Demanding Their Rightful Place in Public Life

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Less and less Christian demographically, America is now home to an ever-larger number of people who say they identify with no religion at all. These non-Christians have increasingly been demanding their full participation in public life, bringing their arguments all the way to the Supreme Court. The law is on their side, but that doesn't mean that their attempts are not met with suspicion or outright hostility. In Our Non-Christian Nation, Jay Wexler travels the country to engage the non-Christians who have called on us to maintain our ideals of inclusivity and diversity. With his characteristic sympathy and humor, he introduces us to the Summum and their Seven Aphorisms, a Wiccan priestess who would deck her City Hall with a pagan holiday wreath, and other determined champions of free religious expression. As Wexler reminds us, anyone who cares about pluralism, equality, and fairness should support a public square filled with a variety of religious and nonreligious voices. The stakes are nothing short of long-term social peace.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 216
• Erscheinungstermin: 11. Juni 2019
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781503609068
• Artikelnr.: 63064652

Autorenporträt

A Professor at Boston University School of Law, Jay Wexler is also a humorist, short story writer, and novelist. A one-time clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former lawyer at the US Department of Justice, he has written for National Geographic, The Boston Globe, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Salon, and many other outlets. His books include When God Isn't Green (2016) and Holy Hullabaloos.

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
Introduction
chapter abstract
This chapter presents the main themes, issues, and arguments of the book.
After an opening vignette describing the efforts of the Satanic Temple to
erect a veterans monument in a small Minnesota town, the chapter introduces
the First Amendment, particularly the Establishment Clause and the concept
of separation of church and state as set out by the Supreme Court. It
traces demographic changes in the country's religious makeup that have
rendered the nation far less Christian and more secular than at previous
times in its history. After a discussion of the issue of defining religion,
the chapter sets forth the book's primary argument-namely, that a
religiously diverse public square is preferable to one dominated by
Christianity.
One: Mummies, Monuments, and Monotheism: Religious Displays as Government
Speech
chapter abstract
This chapter discusses the constitutional doctrine of government speech
under the First Amendment as it relates to the erection of religious
monuments on public property. It does so, first, by describing and
evaluating cases concerning the constitutionality of various Ten
Commandments monuments under the Establishment Clause, and particularly the
case of Van Orden v. Perry, which upheld such a monument on the grounds of
the Texas Capitol. The chapter goes on to discuss the ultimately
unsuccessful efforts of the small religious group known as the Summum,
located in Salt Lake City, to have a Utah town erect a monument to its
"Seven Aphorisms" in a park next to the community's Ten Commandments
monument. The author's trip to visit the Summum and understand its
mummification practices is described.
Two: Pagans, Pentacles, and Pluralism: Religious Displays in the Public
Forum
chapter abstract
This chapter contrasts the government speech doctrine discussed in chapter
1 with the more minority-friendly First Amendment free speech doctrine
known as the designated public forum. Under this doctrine, if the
government designates a part of its property for private speech, including
religious speech, it may not exclude speech on the basis of the viewpoint
that is expressed by that speech. After explaining the doctrine, the
chapter describes the successful efforts of Pagans and Wiccans, under the
leadership of Wiccan priestess Selena Fox and through litigation brought by
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, to get the Department
of Veterans Affairs to allow Pagans buried in national cemeteries to have
pentacles displayed on their headstones. The chapter also describes the
author's visit to Fox's Circle Sanctuary in Wisconsin to participate in a
Veterans Day event.
Three: Secularism, Statehouses, and School Boards: Prayers and Invocations
before Government Bodies
chapter abstract
This chapter investigates the historical practice of prayer-giving before
legislatures and other government bodies, as well as the Supreme Court's
treatment of the practice in, most recently, the case of Town of Greece v.
Galloway. Under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the Court
has held that legislative prayer and other religious invocations before
government bodies are constitutional so long as the government has a policy
of antidiscrimination-i.e., it will not discriminate on the basis of
religion when inviting or allowing people to pray before meetings. The
chapter investigates specifically the invocation given before the monthly
town meeting of the Town of Greece (New York) by an Atheist who had
previously sued the town unsuccessfully. The author's trip to witness this
invocation is described.
Four: The Satanic Temple: Taking It to a Whole 'Nother Level
chapter abstract
This chapter takes an in-depth look at the key player in the phenomenon
described in the book, namely the Satanic Temple. The chapter provides a
brief history of Satanism, including a discussion of the Romantic
Satanists, a literary movement in the eighteenth century that was the first
to recover the symbol of Satan as a positive figure. The chapter also
discusses the rise of the Church of Satan in the Bay Area in the 1960s, as
well as the so-called Satanic Panic of the 1980s, in which people were
wrongly accused of crimes committed in the name of Satan. The chapter then
relates the history and doctrine of the Satanic Temple and describes its
efforts to give legislative invocations and place monuments on public
property (including its nine-foot-tall bronze monument to Baphomet).
Five: Muslims, Money, and Middle Schools: Government Funding of Religion
chapter abstract
This chapter investigates the issue of government funding of religion.
After a brief foray into the Establishment Clause in this area, including a
discussion of the important voucher school case Zelman v. Simmons-Harris,
the chapter describes how some minority religious groups such as the
Unification Church and the Church of Scientology have received public
funding for their programs. The chapter also relates how Christian
legislators in several states have objected to the inclusion of Islamic
schools in their proposed voucher programs and then investigates these
Islamic schools through the author's trip to the Al-Iman School in North
Carolina.
Six: Atheists, the Antichrist, and After-School Clubs: Religious Activities
in the Public Schools
chapter abstract
This chapter concerns the activities of religious groups in the public
schools, one of the most controversial issues in church-state law, given
the importance of these schools to the formation of future citizens. At the
outset, the chapter explains the First Amendment law governing this area,
including cases about teaching alternatives to evolution in the biology
curriculum. Next, the chapter examines a series of cases in which the
Supreme Court has held that if public schools open their facilities to
after-school clubs, they may not exclude religious clubs, such as Good News
Clubs, from using those facilities. After laying out the law, the chapter
then examines efforts by Atheists, the Satanic Temple, and others to
distribute religious literature and to start their own after-school clubs
in the public schools.
Conclusion: Conclusion
chapter abstract
The concluding chapter begins with a brief recap of the four key
descriptive points that the book has advanced and then proceeds to argue
that the movement to increase minority participation in American public
life is one that should be celebrated and continued. Specifically, the
chapter argues that a religiously cacophonous public square is preferable
to an entirely Christian one because it is more consistent with American
ideals of free expression and diversity of ideas as enshrined in the First
Amendment, because it may promote a more educated citizenry with regard to
religion, and because this improved education may result in greater social
peace. The chapter also considers potential counter-arguments and pitfalls
of encouraging an increased role for religion in the public square,
including the possibility that anti-liberal or parody organizations will
seek to participate in public life.