Also included are essays interpreting the historical background and legal issues involved in each case, beginning with the principal events leading to the adoption of the First Amendment.

In this two volume set, Toward Benevolent Neutrality presents the text of virtually every significant Supreme Court decision concerning religious freedom and separation of church and state. Also included are essays interpreting the historical background and legal issues involved in each case, beginning with the principal events leading to the adoption of the First Amendment.

It is clear, relevant, and an essential text for the twenty-first century.

In the first work of its kind, this new and exciting two-volume reference comprehensively examines all the freedoms in the First Amendment, including free speech, press, assembly, petition, and religion. Encyclopedia of the First Amendment covers the political, historical, and cultural significance of the First Amendment. It provides exclusive, singular focus on what most people consider the essential elements of the Bill of Rights and the basic liberties that Americans enjoy.

“I believe that complete separation of church and state is one of those miraculous things which can be best for religion and best for the state, and the best for those who are religious and those who are not religious.” – Leo Pfeffer Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. These sixteen words epitomize a radical experiment unique in human history . . . It is the purpose of this book to examine how this experiment came to be made, what are the implications and consequences of its application to democratic living in America today, and what are the forces seeking to frustrate and defeat that experiment. (From the Foreword)

In this thesis, the US, Swiss, and Syrian models of religious freedom are illustrated in legal settings. The Analytical Representation comprises more than statements of positive law or mechanical comparison. Each chapter is introduced by thought-forms predominant in the respective legal culture. The objective of the Methodological Representation is to investigate the logic and legitimate pattern by which the US and Swiss judiciary come to the conclusion that an alleged interference is covered under the right to religious freedom. The last dimension, which is the Eclectic Representation, pursues a dual aim. Firstly, the idea is to develop an actual guideline of religious freedom rules, and secondly, to evaluate how much religious freedom is internalized in the US, Swiss, and Syrian legal systems. Dissertation. (Series: ReligionsRecht im Dialog - Vol. 12)