The Challenge of Pluralism: Church and State in Five DemocraciesNow in a thoroughly revised and updated edition, this essential text offers a rigorous, systematic comparison of church-state relations in the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, and England. As successful and stable political democracies, these five countries share a commitment to protecting the religious rights of their citizens. Yet as the book demonstrates, each has taken substantially different approaches to resolving basic church-state questions. Stephen V. Monsma and J. Christopher Soper examine the historical roots of those differences and explain how each state addresses contemporary church-state issues. The authors judge each government's success in protecting the religious rights of its citizens using a framework based on the ideal of governmental neutrality or evenhandedness toward people of all faiths and of none. Providing clarity on the little-understood, evolving relationship between church and state in the West, this book provides an invaluable comparative analysis of a topic that is increasingly a source of profound political and social conflict. Monsma and Soper conclude that the American conception of church-state separation, with its traditional emphasis on avoiding government establishment of religion, actually discriminates against religious groups by denying access to government services provided to other organizations. The authors persuasively argue that the United States can learn a great deal from other Western nations in promoting religious neutrality and the free exercise of religion. |
Contents
Chapter 01 Introduction | 1 |
Strict Separation under Fire | 15 |
Principled Pluralism | 51 |
Pragmatic Pluralism | 93 |
Partial Establishment | 131 |
Partnership and Autonomy | 169 |
Chapter 07 Church and State in Pluralistic Democracies | 213 |
| 241 | |
| 247 | |
About the Authors | 265 |
Other editions - View all
The Challenge of Pluralism: Church and State in Five Democracies Stephen V. Monsma,J. Christopher Soper No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
American Anglican Australian basic Bijsterveld British Catholic schools century Chris Janse Christian Church of England church tax church-state issues church-state relations church-state separation commitment common school cultural decision democracies democratic discrimination Dutch Dutch society Enlightenment liberalism equal treatment established church establishment clause Evangelical faith five countries free exercise rights gious government funding governmental neutrality Interview Islamic schools Jewish Kommers leaders ligion ligious ment mind-set Muslim negative freedom Netherlands niqaab no-aid-to-religion nonprofit nonreligious norms one’s Party percent pluralistic political principle private schools programs Protestant public funds public schools Reformed reli religious agencies religious and secular religious beliefs religious establishment religious free religious freedom religious groups religious instruction religious liberty religious neutrality religious pluralism religious schools role sector secular service organizations social service state’s strict separation Supreme Court teaching tion traditions U.S. Supreme Court United University Press values violate Wesley Mission