What does the Supreme Court say about religion? How has it addressed religion in the past? And what major cases have shifted the public and political place of religion in the U.S.?
In this first installment, we look at the Constitution for a legal foundation of the place of religion in the U.S.
Building off of thoughts shared in the newsletter, Religionish launches SCOTUS Religion Watch. A series that focus on constitutional law and religion, with a specific look at Supreme Court cases.
Here is a detailed history about the process of writing the U.S. Constitution written for the National Archive.
If you have any interest in the scholarly debate over the intentions of the Founding Fathers in including the religion clauses, take a look at these texts:
- Schaff, Church and State in the United States: The American Idea of Religious Liberty and its Practical Effects
- Carter, The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion
- Adams et al., A Nation Dedicated to Religious Liberty: The Constitutional Heritage of the Religion Clauses
- Levy, The Establishment Clause: Religion and the First Amendment
- Levy, Original Intent and the Framers’ Constitution
- Munoz, “The Original Meaning of the Establishment Clause and the Impossibility of Its Incorporation.”
Book Corner
In the first edition of Book Corner, I mentioned the author N.K. Jemisin.
I’m currently reading The Inheritance Trilogy that begins with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.
Check out the series and discover why I’m so excited that it’s about gods.
#ReligionNerd Moment
If you subscribe to the newsletter, you’ve seen that I can’t seem to escape stories about religion and the coronavirus. I’ve been intrigued by the religion angle to the pandemic coverage. What has been really an interesting point of the stories has been how religions are modifying their rituals in an attempt to prevent transmission.
Read these stories to get an idea about how COVID-19 and religion overlap around the world:
“Worship in a time of coronavirus: Chinese churches in U.S. fight fears” — WaPo
“How Some Churches Are Trying to Prevent Spread of Coronavirus Among Congregants” — NPR
“Italy’s priests told to take steps at mass to counter coronavirus” — Guardian
“How religion is playing a role in the spread of coronavirus in Korea” — Quartz
“Churches stop wine, Muslims told not to go to Mecca. Coronavirus hits religion” — Miami Herald
“How religious communities are modifying traditions to prevent coronavirus spread” — CNN
*This post includes affiliate links.