Free Exercise by Chris BenekeCall Number: KF4783 .B39 2024 (Print Collection)
Publication Date: 2024-10-08
CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF. Those words, scratched on parchment in 1789, open the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. From them, countless interpretations have been drawn. As a consequence, an astonishing variety of activities in modern America-prayer after football games, Bible reading in classrooms, company healthcare policies, the baking of wedding cakes, and Ten Commandment displays around courthouses-have been alternately authorized, prohibited, or modified. In this compelling historical account, Chris Beneke explains how the religion clauses came into existence and how they were woven into American culture.