TY  - BOOK
AU  - Meyerson,Michael
TI  - Endowed by our creator: the birth of religious freedom in America 
SN  - 9780300166323
AV  - KF4783 .M49 2012
U1  - 342.7308/52 23
PY  - 0000///
CY  - New Haven
PB  - Yale University Press
KW  - United States
KW  - Constitution
KW  - 1st Amendment
KW  - Constitution (United States)
KW  - fast
KW  - Freedom of religion
N1  - Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-358) and index; The great seal -- Before the beginning -- A tolerant, Protestant nation -- The second American revolution -- "We have become a nation" : drafting the Constitution -- Adding the First Amendment -- Freedom of religion in the new nation -- Original wisdom
N2  - "Focuses on the actual writings and actions of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and others. Legal scholar Michael I. Meyerson investigates how the framers of the Constitution envisioned religious freedom and how they intended it to operate in the new republic. Endowed by Our Creator shows that the framers understood that the American government should not acknowledge religion in a way that favors any particular creed or denomination. Nevertheless, the framers believed that religion could instill virtue and help to unify a diverse nation. They created a spiritual public vocabulary, one that could communicate to all --- including agnostics and atheists -- that they were valued members of the political community. Through their writings and their decisions, the framers affirmed that respect for religious differences is a fundamental American value, Meyerson concludes. Now it is for us to determine whether religion will be used to alienate and divide or to inspire and unify our religiously diverse nation."--Jacket
UR  - http://books.google.com/books?isbn=9780300166323
ER  -