1%***R*Y******,;*******It***A***************A************AA* Crcst(1111! to Do

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

1%***R*Y******,;*******It***A***************A************AA* Crcst(1111! to Do DOCUMENT RESUME ED 316 492 SO 020 691 AUTHOR Beach, Waldo, Ed. TITLE Church, State and Education. Volume IV. Church, State and the First Amendment: A North Carolina Dialogue. INSTITUTION North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill, Program in the Humanities and Human Values. SPONS AGENCY National Endowment for the Humanities (NFAH), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 85 NOTE 85p. AVAILABLE FROMChurch, State and the First Amendment: A North Carolina Dialogue, 209 Abernethy Hall, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC04 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Academic Freedom; Civil Liberties; *Constitutional Law; Court Litigation; Creationism; Ethics; *Government School Relationship; Humanism; Politics of Education; *Religion; *Religious Factors; School Prayer; *State Church Separation IDENTIFIERS *First Amendment ABSTRACT This anthology is one of four collections of background readings on church-state issues that comprise "Church, State and the First Amendment: A North Carolina Dialogue." These anthologies are designed to provide primary materials through which North Carolinians can better understand the religion clause of the First Amendment. Volume 4 of the series includes readings Oh the school prayer controversy, the creationism-evolution debate, the "humanism"-in-the-schools dispute, and government regulation of religious schools. There are seven chapters, each with an introduction and a number of readings, followed by questions for discussion. A 14-item billiography is included. (AS) ********W11***A**Ar************A,A****YA*A***,1%***A****xx*AA*****VrX**3t Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. **************1%***r*y******,;*******It***A***************A************AA* CrcSt(1111! to do edited by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATtON Waldo Beach °erne nt Worst/ma; Amerceand tenrpownsani EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESIPCORMATiON CENTER IERIC) Tf115 Oocument has beenrtrOvaduCed 43 ?4,C4,v4C1 /fern me Pe/Son or organtantIOn ortgAnat.nw 0 'Amor changes harebeen matte to improve reproduCts0r1 Qualay POMtt 0 "newer OPin,onS suitedon Inoll IOC ant do not necessarilyrepresent orht,al 'R; positron or pot,,y "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTEDBY 5. D/dive 51516,SO-t) TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." CHURCH, STATE and the FIRST AMENDMENT: 111111111111 A North Carolina Dialogue BEST COPY AVAILABLE Sponsored by: The Program in the Humanities and Human Valves of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under a grant from The National Endowment for the Humanities 2 Church, State and Education edited by Waldo ieach Amendment I Congress shall make no taw respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to peti- tion the government for a redress of grievances. Major funding for CHURCH, STATE AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT: A NORTH CAROLINA DIALOGUE has been provided under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. 3 I 6 it AMAMI& ,aSeir66., II i I Copyright ® 1985 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Manufactured in the United States of America 4 CHURCH, STATE AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT: A NORTH CAROLINA DIALOGUE Volume I: Religion and Government in Other Countries Edited by James C. Livingston Professor Livingston teaches in the Departrneta of Religionat the College of William and Mary. The author of Modern Chris- tian Thought: From the Enlightenment to Vatican 11, he recently editedan anthology entitled Religious Thought in the Eighteenth Century. In Religion and Government in Other Countries, Professor Livingstonpresents readings on the role of religion in other societies:the Islamic Republic of Iran, England, France, Germany, the USSR, and Israel. This anthology provides foreignmodels against which we can judge the strengths and the weaknesses of our own constitutional arrangements. Volume II: Religion and Law in American History Edited by John E. Semonche Professor Semonche, a lawyer and historian, teaches American constitutional and legal historyintheDepartment of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He istheauthor of Charting the Future: The Supreme Court Responds to a Changing Society. 1890-1920 and Ray Stannard Baker: A Quest for Democracy in Modem America,1870-1918. In Part I of this onthology, Pro- fessor Semonche presents selections which address the historical and philosophical background of the religion clauses.In Part II he presents selections from the major court opinions on the relationship ofreligion and government. Volume Church, State and American Culture Edited by Giles Gunn Professor Gunn is a member of the Department of Religious Studies and the Curriculumin American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The author ofa number of studies on religion and literature, Professor Gunn recently edited New Whirkl Metaphysics and The Bible and American Arts and Letters. He is also the author of -.'he !rite:pretation of Otherness. In Church, State and American Culture, he presents readings on the tensions between America'sstrong religious heritage and the secularism of her fundamental law. Volume IV: Church, State and Education Edited by Waldo Beach Professor Beach teaches in the Divinity School of Duke University. Among his publicationsare Christian Community and Ameri- can Society, The Wheel and the Cross: A Christian Response to the Technological Revolution, and The Christian Life. In this anthology, he includes readings on the school prayer controversy, the creationism-evolution debate, the liumanisain-the-Khools dispute, and government regulation of religious schools. These anthologies are available for use in communityprograms sponsored by non-profit organizations.To obtain copies, con- tact CHURCH, STATE AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT A NORTH CAROLINA DIALOGUE, 209 Abernethy Hall, Univer- sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. North Carolina Dialogue Advisory Committee James CI Abrahamson, Pastor John V. Orth, Associate Professor of Law Chapel Hill Bible Church University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill James Bond, Profescor of Law J. Dickson Phillips, Jr., Judge Wake Forest Unirersity U.S. Court tif Appeals for the Fourth Circuit David Bowman, Pastor Gerald J. Postema, Associate Professor of Philosophy First Presbyterian Church University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Rocky Mount, NC Walter F. Pratt, Jr., Associate Prof,:ssor of Law Peter Fish, Professor of Poliical Science Duke University Duke University Prezell Robinson, President Edward G. Holley, Dean St. Augustine's College School of Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A. C. Snow, Editor The Raleigh Times Pamela S. Mayer, Superintendent Chapel Hill-Carrboro School System Arnold S. Task, Rabbi lemple Emanuel Warren A. Notd, Director Orrensbom, NC Program in the Humanities and Human Values University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Grant Wacker, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Project Director Diane Sasson Program in the Humanities and Human Vdues University of North Carolina at Chapel I till 6 Preface Throughout the 1.984 national election a debate raged over the proper relationship between dairch and state inthis. (-MUM* News magazines devoted cover stories to the topic. Talkshows featured prominent religious leaders, prditicians, and civil libertarians who offered their opinions on issues ranging from school prayer to the nuclear freeze. In nationally televised debates President Ron- ald Reagan and former Vice President Walter Mondale confronted questions about their ptomal religious beliefs and how these beliefs might affect their decisions in public office. Concerned clrgymen signed a statement warning of the dangers of "Armageddon theology." Emotions ran high and disagreements were sharp. Although the l984 election is past, Americans continue to struggle with the proper tole of religion in politics, education, and culture. Yet d.opite the quantity of discussion, the quality of the debate is often not of the caliber we would wish. Too often we talk past each other; too often we fail to listen to what others say. Because in a pluralistic society we Americans are divided by basic and frequentle unnoticed assumptions about religion, the glurposes of the states and the principles of constitutional law, we frequently fail to re, ognize ttie underlying reasons for our disagreements. CHURCH, STATE AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT A NORTH CAROLINA DIALOGUE seeks to provide citizens of the state with opportunities to examine closely the meaning of the two religion clauses of Ole First Amendment. Through public forums and debates, community programs, study groups, and radio and television documentaries, this pmject encourages North Carolinians to place church-state issues into broader historical, religious and philosophical cc itexts, and to gain a wider perspective on the separation of church and state in America by comparing it with the relationship between religion and g other countries. This anthology is one of four collections of background readings on church -state issues designed to provide primary materials through which North Carolinians can better understand the religion clauses the First Amendment. Each anthology has been edited by an acknowledged scholar. With insight into the complexities of the topic and fairness to divergent points of
Recommended publications
  • Dignitatis Humanae and the Development of Moral Doctrine: Assessing Change in Catholic Social Teaching on Religious Liberty
    THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Dignitatis humanae and the Development of Moral Doctrine: Assessing Change in Catholic Social Teaching on Religious Liberty A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By Barrett Hamilton Turner Washington, D.C 2015 Dignitatis humanae and the Development of Moral Doctrine: Assessing Change in Catholic Social Teaching on Religious Liberty Barrett Hamilton Turner, Ph.D. Director: Joseph E. Capizzi, Ph.D. Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis humanae (DH), poses the problem of development in Catholic moral and social doctrine. This problem is threefold, consisting in properly understanding the meaning of pre-conciliar magisterial teaching on religious liberty, the meaning of DH itself, and the Declaration’s implications for how social doctrine develops. A survey of recent scholarship reveals that scholars attend to the first two elements in contradictory ways, and that their accounts of doctrinal development are vague. The dissertation then proceeds to the threefold problematic. Chapter two outlines the general parameters of doctrinal development. The third chapter gives an interpretation of the pre- conciliar teaching from Pius IX to John XXIII. To better determine the meaning of DH, the fourth chapter examines the Declaration’s drafts and the official explanatory speeches (relationes) contained in Vatican II’s Acta synodalia. The fifth chapter discusses how experience may contribute to doctrinal development and proposes an explanation for how the doctrine on religious liberty changed, drawing upon the work of Jacques Maritain and Basile Valuet.
    [Show full text]
  • The Problem of Religious Freedom John Courtney Murray, Sj
    THE PROBLEM OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM JOHN COURTNEY MURRAY, SJ. Woodstock College N A RECENT ADDRESS to a seminar of the United Nations on freedom I of information Paul VI said: As you know, the Church also is busy with a somewhat different problem but one that is not without affinity with the present object of your research. It is the problem of religious freedom. The importance and amplitude of the question are so great that it has claimed the attention of the Ecumenical Council. It is legiti­ mate to expect the promulgation of a text on the subject that will be of great import not only for the Church but also for all those—countless in number—who feel that an authoritative declaration on the subject is a matter of concern to them.1 Before this essay is published, the Council may have discussed the revised text submitted by the Secretariat for the Promotion of Chris­ tian Unity and approved it, having made appropriate revisions. Even in that case this essay may serve to illuminate the formidable difficul­ ties that the problem itself presents. They arise from two general sources. First, there is the variety of religio-social situations throughout the world, and the differences among political traditions and regimes, and the divergences in the historical experiences of the nations. For instance, religious freedom has been an integral part of the Cath­ olic experience in the United States; the institution is considered to have made a contribution to the vitality of the Church. Elsewhere, perhaps chiefly in Spain, the institution is alien; the very notion con­ notes a hated Liberalismo, pernicious both to the Church and to a cherished national religious unity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Second Vatican Council Fifty Years Later: Achievements and Challenges
    Verbum Volume 10 Issue 1 Article 3 December 2012 The Second Vatican Council Fifty Years Later: Achievements and Challenges John Colacino St. John Fisher College Follow this and additional works at: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/verbum Part of the Religion Commons How has open access to Fisher Digital Publications benefited ou?y Recommended Citation Colacino, John (2012) "The Second Vatican Council Fifty Years Later: Achievements and Challenges," Verbum: Vol. 10 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/verbum/vol10/iss1/3 This document is posted at https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/verbum/vol10/iss1/3 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Second Vatican Council Fifty Years Later: Achievements and Challenges Abstract In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph. "I would like to begin this lecture with a personal perspective followed by some introductory comments concerning the ongoing “clash of interpretations” surrounding Vatican II and its documents, followed by a brief survey of each document noting some of its achievements and, in my opinion, ongoing challenges." This anniversary celebration is available in Verbum: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/verbum/vol10/iss1/3 Dr. John Colacino The Second Vatican Council Fifty Years Later: Achievements and Challenges St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry; October 24, 2012 Part 1 I would like to begin this lecture with a personal perspective followed by some introductory comments concerning the ongoing “clash of interpretations” surrounding Vatican II and its documents, followed by a brief survey of each document noting some of its achievements and, in my opinion, ongoing challenges.
    [Show full text]
  • Both Citizen and Saint
    Both Citizen and Saint: Religious Integrity and Liberal Democracy by Benjamin Richard Hertzberg Department of Political Science Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Thomas A. Spragens, Supervisor ___________________________ Ruth W. Grant ___________________________ J. Peter Euben ___________________________ Jack Knight Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science in the Graduate School of Duke University 2011 i v ABSTRACT Both Citizen and Saint: Religious Integrity and Liberal Democracy by Benjamin Richard Hertzberg Department of Political Science Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Thomas A. Spragens, Supervisor ___________________________ Ruth W. Grant ___________________________ J. Peter Euben ___________________________ Jack Knight An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science in the Graduate School of Duke University 2011 Copyright by Benjamin Richard Hertzberg 2011 ABSTRACT In this dissertation, I develop a political liberal ethics of citizenship that reconciles conflicting religious and civic obligations concerning political participation and deliberation—a liberal-democratic ethics of citizenship that is compatible with religious integrity. I begin by canvassing the current state of the debate between political liberals and their
    [Show full text]
  • Declaration on Religious Freedom: Three Developmental Aspects
    Solidarity: The Journal of Catholic Social Thought and Secular Ethics Volume 8 Issue 2 Article 4 2018 Declaration on Religious Freedom: Three Developmental Aspects Thomas Ryan SM University of Notre Dame Australia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/solidarity ISSN: 1839-0366 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING This material has been copied and communicated to you by or on behalf of the University of Notre Dame Australia pursuant to part VB of the Copyright Act 1969 (the Act). The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Recommended Citation Ryan, Thomas SM (2018) "Declaration on Religious Freedom: Three Developmental Aspects," Solidarity: The Journal of Catholic Social Thought and Secular Ethics: Vol. 8 : Iss. 2 , Article 4. Available at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/solidarity/vol8/iss2/4 This Article is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Solidarity: The Journal of Catholic Social Thought and Secular Ethics by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Declaration on Religious Freedom: Three Developmental Aspects Abstract This article considers key aspects of the Vatican II declaration on religious freedom Dignitatis Humanae and John Courtney Murray’s role in its formulation. This will be done with concern for the broader theological context as exemplified in Thomas Aquinas. After a brief outline of the difficulties Murray faced and their resolution, the discussion moves in four stages: a summary of the key ideas in the document on the relationship between truth and freedom from which the following three ideas receive a focus; the person (dignity and conscience); rights and their evolving context; historical consciousness and its role as a mode and locus of theological reflection.
    [Show full text]
  • Good Catholics Should Be Rawlsian Liberals
    Scholarly Commons @ UNLV Boyd Law Scholarly Works Faculty Scholarship 1997 Good Catholics Should Be Rawlsian Liberals Leslie C. Griffin University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/facpub Part of the First Amendment Commons, and the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Griffin, Leslie C., "Good Catholics Should Be Rawlsian Liberals" (1997). Scholarly Works. 726. https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/facpub/726 This Article is brought to you by the Scholarly Commons @ UNLV Boyd Law, an institutional repository administered by the Wiener-Rogers Law Library at the William S. Boyd School of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ARTICLES GOOD CATHOLICS SHOULD BE RAWLSIAN LIBERALS LESLIE GRIFFIN* John Rawls's PoliticalLiberalism promises to be as important to law and political theory as was his previous work, A Theory of Justice. PoliticalLiberalism is also an important book about religion. As part of his analysis of politics, Rawls examines the role of religion in the liberal state. While some readers have praised certain aspects of Rawls's account of religion, he has to date received extensive criticism of it. A major concern has been that Rawlsian liberalism is too "secu- lar," too "exclusive," and not sufficiently "inclusive" of religious opin- ions and commitments. Rawls's position-and the criticisms of it-are reminiscent of the complaints made about John Courtney Murray's writings in the 1940s and 1950s. Murray was the American Jesuit whose arguments justi- fied American Catholic support of the First Amendment. His articles on church and state eventually prompted the Roman Catholic Church to change its official teaching on religious liberty.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationship Between New Zealand Catholicism, the State and Politics, 1945‐1965
    Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. 'As loyal citizens......' The relationship between New Zealand Catholicism, the State and Politics, 1945‐1965. A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand Barry Buckley 2014 2 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 4 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 6 Thesis structure .................................................................................................................... 7 Politics and Catholic education. ...................................................................................................................... 7 Welfare and Social Justice .............................................................................................................................. 7 Anti-communism .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Themes
    [Show full text]
  • Engaging with a “Clash of Civilisations”
    GAVIN D’COSTA ENGAGING WITH A “CLASH OF CIVILISATIONS” Liberal Views of Religion in the Public Domain and Catholic Approaches Introduction Samuel Huntington’s deeply insightful (if flawed) thesis helps situate our inter- religious situation on a complex global map. After the drawing open of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Berlin wall, Huntington argues that future glob- al conflict will operate on a cultural, not ideological axis—with religion play- ing a decisive role. Blood, language, religion, way of life, were what the Greeks had in common and what distinguished them from the Persians and other non-Greeks. Of all the objective elements that define civilizations, however, the most important usually is religion, as the Athenian emphasized. To a very large degree, the major civilizations in human his- tory have been closely identified with the world’s great religions and people who share ethnicity and language but differ in religion may slaughter each other, as happened in Lebanon, the former Yugoslavia, and the [Indian] Subcontinent. (Huntingdon 1996: 42) The three cultural-religious clusters are the Asian (China, Japan, and East Asia), the Western Christian (North America and Western Europe) and the Is- lamic (the Middle East, Africa, parts of East Asia). In Europe all three clusters meet, and indeed clash, and a fourth element also enters the picture: modernity. How might I as a Christian reflect on this situation: tense, dangerous, and yet full of new opportunities and blessings. In what follows, I shall give the European Christian-Islamic dimension special attention as otherwise the canvas becomes entirely unmanageable.
    [Show full text]
  • Vatican II Series 12 Religious Liberty.Pub
    Joy and Hope in Christ: Vatican II Part 12 in a series 2014 Holy Family continues to observe the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, which began on October 11, 1962, and closed on December 8, 1965. We are marking this milestone anniversary by celebrating the council, and exploring its teachings through special bulletin covers and inserts, newsletter articles, videos and other materials. Human Dignity: The Declaration on Religious Liberty The Declaration on Religious Liberty (Dignitatis Humanae, Human Dignity) was one of the most fiercely debated teachings of the Second Vatican Council, and one of its greatest achievements. Debates on the issue began during the discussion of the document on the church, Lumen Gentium, but it soon became clear that the fathers needed additional time for this topic. The chapter was removed from the document on the church, rewritten, and finally approved overwhelmingly at the beginning of the Fourth Session of the council (1965). What Came Before? To understand the importance of the decree, it is important to look back at the church’s teaching on religious liberty before the council. We need to go back as far as the Emperor Constantine! Up until the Emperor Constantine, the church was alternately persecuted and ignored by the Roman Emperors. But Constantine tolerated the Christians, and after 313, with the Edict of Milan, gave Christianity privileged status in the Empire. He styled himself “protector of the church,” and convoked several councils, waged wars against heretics, and generally made it clear that there was one “official” religion in the Empire. The Declaration on Religious Liberty was the great contribution of the American hierarchy to the documents of the Second Vatican Council.
    [Show full text]
  • A Right to Religious Freedom? the Universality of Human Rights, the Relativity of Culture*
    Roger Williams University Law Review Volume 10 Issue 2 Symposium: Religious Liberty In America and Article 5 Beyond: Celebrating the Legacy of Roger Williams on the 400th Anniversary of his Birth Spring 2005 A Right to Religious Freedom? The niU versality of Human Rights, The Relativity of Culture Michael J. Perry Emory University School of Law Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_LR Recommended Citation Perry, Michael J. (2005) "A Right to Religious Freedom? The nivU ersality of Human Rights, The Relativity of Culture," Roger Williams University Law Review: Vol. 10: Iss. 2, Article 5. Available at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_LR/vol10/iss2/5 This Symposia is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Roger Williams University Law Review by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Right to Religious Freedom? The Universality of Human Rights, The Relativity of Culture* Michael J. Perry** [A] decisive voice [in establishing the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in the aftermath of World War II] was that of Charles Malik, the Lebanese ambas- sador, philosopher and outspoken Arab Christian. Malik insisted that the [UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights] include Article 18: the right to freedom of thought, con- science and religion, including the right to change one's religious beliefs. Unless the proposed bill "can create con- ditions which will allow man to develop ultimate loyal- ties... over and above his loyalty to the State," he warned, "we shall have legislated not for man's freedom but for his virtual enslavement." Back then, Muslim dele- gates balked at Article 18-just as they ignore it today.' * © 2005 Michael J.
    [Show full text]
  • Roman Catholicism and Religious Liberty (A Review Article) UST Over a Year Ago, a Significant Book Appeared Bearing the J Title of This Article
    Roman Catholicism and Religious Liberty (A review article) UST over a year ago, a significant book appeared bearing the J title of this article. 1 It presents a minority trend towards religious liberty in the Roman Catholic Church ;and in effect says to that Church, "Openly declare that this trend is right.'" The author of the book, Dr. A. F. Carrillo de Albornoz, is a Spaniard who was formerly a Jesuit serving as general director of the Roman Catholic Movement of Students, with residence in Rome. He left the Roman Catholic Church at the time of the proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Wen trained in Catholic theology and now an earnest Protestant, he is employed by the World Council of Churches as research associate of its Commission on the Study of Religious Liberty. He is well aware of the fact that the Roman Catholic Church has ·often been a formidable enemy of religious liberty, but he is con­ vinced that this will not necessarily ,always be the case. I Before dealing with the minority trend towards liberty in the 'Roman Catholic Church we need to consider briefly the main ;tradition of that Church.2 This is against freedom except where expediency calls for it. After church and state had been united in the Roman Empire, "the church gradually accepted the use of governmental power for the enforcement of religious unity. Augustine developed the theory that "when error prevails it is right to invoke liberty of .conscience, but when the contrary truth predominates, it is proper to use coercion."3 For him heresy was worse than murder, since 'it destroys the soul, whereas murder only destroys the body.4 Thomas Aquinas justified the death penalty for heretics by saying that it is more serious to corrupt the faith than to counterfeit money, and if counterfeiteI1S are put to death, with much more justice should heretics be executed.s A firm foundation was laid by theologians for the inquisition and for crusades against heretics.
    [Show full text]
  • Living with Our Deepest Differences: Religious Liberty in a Pluralistic Society
    introduction Living With our deepest differences: religious Liberty in a pluralistic society teacher’s resource • Lesson plans All rights reserved. The materials in this volume may be reproduced for classroom use at the instance and inspiration of the individual teacher. Other than for such use, no part of this volume may be reproduced, stored or transmitted by any means — mechanical, electronic or otherwise, including photocopy — without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America. 2009 First Amendment Center Publication No. 271.08-FAC | 07/09 | Produced for the Web | © 2009 Freedom Forum Living With our deepest differences: religious Liberty in a pluralistic society teacher’s resource Lesson plans originaL edition by: Michael d. cassity os guinness charles c. haynes John seel timothy L. smith oliver s. thomas neW edition revised and edited by: shaun Mcfall charles c. haynes contents introduction............................................................................................................................................................................................6 A New Opportunity for Teaching Religious Liberty ............................................................................................................................ 6 Using the Lessons ................................................................................................................................................................................. 8 Presentation .........................................................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]