Summary
Title: Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land: A History of Church and State in America
Author: Edwin S. Gaustad
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195166876
Pro:
• Excellent as a short and accessible history of the church/state separation in America
Although Gaustad is a separationist, he doesn't slight the accommodationist perspective
Con:
• None
Description:
• Historical survey of the course of separating church and state in American history
• Explains the background and decisions of numerous key cases and laws
• Includes a chronology of events and list of books for further reading
Book Review
A nice introduction to the history of the process of separating church and state in America is Edwin S. Gaustad's recent book Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land: A History of Church and State in America. Gaustad, emeritus professor at the University of California, Riverside, has written many books on religious history, and in this latest work he turns his attention to the interplay of religion and politics in America's past.
This is a rather short book, and no new ground is really covered - everything you find here could also be found in other sources. At the same time, there aren't many other sources where you can find all of this information presented together in a concise, readable history. Moreover, it is a self-aware history that doesn't simply recount events in chronological order; rather, there is always a sense of connectedness where events of the past continue to resonate in debates today.
This is a history with meaning because the relationship between individual religious beliefs and the government of all has important implications for everyone, even when the cases seem remote or even trivial. America's past includes a great deal of religious persecution, but fortunately never any religious wars like those that plagued Europe. It was just that situation that the American revolutionaries hoped to prevent, especially in light of the fact that the colonies were home to even greater religious diversity than was common throughout much of Europe.
- "For Americans in the last third of the eighteenth century, any threat to religious liberty was a threat to all liberty."
One thing that Gaustad's book makes clear is the fact that the debate over the separation of church and state is exactly that: a debate. Rarely, if ever, are there clear and easy answers about how the relationship between government and religion should be regulated. The people don't agree, the politicians don't agree, and the judges who have to preside over the many cases certainly don't all agree, either. This means that the debates and the lawsuits will continue for as long as the nation does.
