Day 11 (July 3): Church-State Relations and Civil Religion

a)Morning Session - Church-State Relations

A critical topic is the history of church-state relations and how court decisions have shaped public religious expression in the U.S. The First Amendment to the Constitution affirms opportunity for the free exercise of religion but prohibits any legal establishment. We shall look at the tensions and diverse interpretations that flow from this legal framework and review some of the influential court decisions. Special attention will be given to the role and legal standing of conscience especially as it applies to controversies of the day such as abortion, euthanasia, and homosexuality. Lecture and discussion.

Speaker:  Dr. Phillip E. Hammond, Religious Studies UCSB

Assigned Reading:

Phillip E. Hammond, With Liberty for All

b)Afternoon Session - American Civil Religion

Because of the limits placed upon religious establishment, it has been said the U.S. is "a nation with the soul of a church." That is, alongside the many diverse religions there is a more unifying "civil religion" that celebrates, and at times offer prophetic judgment upon, the nation and its moral practices. Civil religion has its own symbols, rituals, sacred places, and beliefs informed by Judeo-Christian traditions (but now under strain as religious pluralism expands) intended to express the divinely sanctioned purposes of the country. Attention to this highly debated topic follows from the church-state discussion. Lecture and discussion.

Speaker: Phillip E. Hammond

Assigned Reading:

Robert Bellah, "Civil Religion in America," Reader

Ronald Wimberly and William H. Swatos, "Civil Religion," Reader