34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
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The Wall, March 22, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State (Critical America) (Paperback)
Thomas Jefferson's celebrated "wall of separation" metaphor has exerted a profound influence on American thought and practice regarding relations between church and state. This little book, thoroughly researched and carefully reasoned, examines the subject from several different perspectives. The author begins by analyzing the historical context of Jefferson's statement. Receiving a letter of courtesy from the Danbury Baptist Association, Jefferson consulted two cabinet officers on a draft response and replied within two days (on January 1, 1802) with a view to countering Federalist and clerical attacks on his supposed irreligion during the 1800 presidential election and to "sowing useful truths & principles among the people" (25). In close scrutiny of the letter, Dreisbach shows that Jefferson agreed with the Baptists that religion is a matter of conscience and went on to say "that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions," and that the American people had "declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State" (48, 148).
As Dreisbach contends, Jefferson interpreted the First Amendment as prohibiting Congress from establishing religion; thus it prohibited him as president from designating days of thanksgiving or prayer. But the amendment did not separate religion and civil government. As president, Jefferson attended religious services in the Capitol, and he used rhetoric with religious content in official utterances. Moreover, the First Amendment did not prohibit the states from legislating with respect to religion. As governor of Virginia, Jefferson had issued religious proclamations. In sum, the "wall" of the letter "served primarily to separate state and nation in matters pertaining to religion, rather than to separate ecclesiastical and all governmental authorities" (56).
A chapter considers uses of the "wall of separation" trope by Richard Hooker (1554-1600), Roger Williams (1603?-83), and James Burgh (1714-75), which Jefferson may have known. The author is unfortunately unclear and inconsistent as to whether Jefferson was familiar with Williams's use of the metaphor (78, 82). Another chapter shows that Jefferson and some worthy contemporaries used other metaphors to defend religious liberty-"effectual barriers," "great barriers," "certain fences," and a "line of separation"-and that recent observers have suggested the concept of a zone between two walls in which church and state could interact-all this with a view to evaluating the desirable characteristics of a wall.
Jefferson's metaphor belatedly entered American thought and practice. His reply to the Danbury Baptists first became available to the public in Henry A. Washington's edition of Jefferson's works (1853; reprinted 1868 and 1871), and later in other editions of his writings. The phrase "wall of separation" first made its way into constitutional discourse when Chief justice Morrison R. Waite quoted the text in which it appeared in Reynolds v. United States (1879). Waite drew on Jefferson's letter to distinguish between the government's power to reach actions as opposed to opinions in a case involving the Mormon practice of polygamy. Waite placed no emphasis on the metaphor, but he declared that the Danbury letter "may be accepted almost as an authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the [first] amendment thus secured" (98). Nearly seven decades later, in Everson v. Board of Education (1947), Justice Hugo L. Black, writing for the Supreme Court, invoked the Danbury letter's "wall of separation" passage. Black propelled the metaphor on its career of influence in legal, political, and religious discourse. In cases following Everson, the Supreme Court often cited the Danbury letter, and it became dogma, widely held. In time, however, justices began to protest that "a rule of law should not be drawn from a figure of speech," and that the Court's task in resolving complicated cases was "not responsibly aided by the uncritical invocation of metaphors like the 'wall of separation,' a phrase nowhere to be found in the Constitution" (104). In 1985 then Justice William H. Rehnquist declared that "the 'wall of separation between church and State' is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned" (103, 105).
A final chapter addresses the perils and promises of metaphors. In law they are apt to mislead. As Stephen J. Safranek warned, "the Court's abuse of metaphor will ultimately prove disastrous" (116). The legal system depends on the use of language, Safranek added, but when the Supreme Court hides its decisions behind deceptive metaphors, it allows lawyers and jurists to hide behind this confusion and to focus on outcomes rather than reasoning. The "wall," Dreisbach observes, has become "the central icon of a strict separationist dogma that champions a secular polity in which religious influences are systematically stripped from public life" (117). He concludes with an exemplary and evenhanded exposition of the case both for and against a wall.
The book's text (128 pages) is followed by an appendix (25 pages) of nine relevant documents from the papers of Jefferson, notes (86 pages), an excellent selected bibliography (24 pages), and a useful index (11 pages). The notes, which often explain at length matters treated in the text, are integral to the argument. Use of a key to frequently cited references and of ibid, where appropriate would avoid needless repetition in the notes. Daniel L. Dreisbach's Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation between Church and State brings a fresh perspective to bear on a complex subject and deserves a wide reading.
Winton U. Solberg
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everything You Wanted to Know About the "Wall of Separation", March 17, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State (Critical America) (Paperback)
There is hardly a discusion of American church-state relations that does not invoke Thomas Jefferson's famous "wall of separation." I have long been interested in Jefferson and church-state relations and have read many books on these subjects, but this is the only book I know that explores the origins and uses of the "wall of separation" metaphor. It is a relatively short, but richly documented, book. The author points out that the metaphor was featured in church-state discourse long before Jefferson used it. The book brings to life the bitter presidential politics that provided the context for Jefferson's use of this figurative phrase. This also serves as a reminder that church-state controversies have been a part of American politics, including presidential electoral politics, from the earliest days of the Republic. Church-state disputes, unfortunately, remain an important and divisive part of public life. This is one book that, through exploring the past, helps us better understand the future. I highly recommend this book. Five stars.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
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Biography of a Metaphor, January 6, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State (Critical America) (Paperback)
This is the definitive biography of Thomas Jefferson's celebrated "wall of separation" metaphor. This thoroughly researched and engaging book examines the origins of the "wall of separation" metaphor and the historical and political context in which Jefferson used it. Professor Dreisbach also explores uses of the figurative phrase long before Jefferson and traces the metaphor's entrance into mainstream political and legal rhetoric. Students interested in how the "wall of separation" has shaped American church-state relations will not want to miss this important new book.
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