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The Godless Constitution: A Moral Defense of the Secular State Paperback – August 17, 2005

by Isaac Kramnick (Author), R. Laurence Moore (Author)

35 customer reviews

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"A timely, well-written and scholarly polemic for the separation of church and state."--Bernard Crick, The New Statesman

The Godless Constitution is a ringing rebuke to the religious right's attempts, fueled by misguided and inaccurate interpretations of American history, to dismantle the wall between church and state erected by the country's founders. The authors, both distinguished scholars, revisit the historical roots of American religious freedom, paying particular attention to such figures as John Locke, Roger Williams, and especially Thomas Jefferson, and examine the controversies, up to the present day, over the proper place of religion in our political life. With a new chapter that explores the role of religion in the public life of George W. Bush's America, The Godless Constitution offers a bracing return to the first principles of American governance.

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"Readable, timely, argumentative, solidly informed and informative ... [the] voice, never strident, is informed by historical understanding and insight."

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The godless Constitution offers a bracing return to the first principles of American governance.

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Product details

Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Updated edition (August 17, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393328376
ISBN-13: 978-0393328370
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 35 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #726,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #308 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > United States > Judicial Branch
- #1048 in Books > Law > Constitutional Law > General
- #1138 in Books > History > World > Religious > Religion, Politics & State

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Don't be dissuaded by the title

December 28, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The title may turn you away from this book, but don't let it. It is not anti-religion. Contrary to some reviewers opinions it does not lack a basis in fact because the authors dispensed with footnotes to improve readability.

Its central thesis is that the U.S. Constitution is a secular document. It cannot be denied that God is not mentioned in the constitution (don't confuse it with the Declaration of Independence) and that the only place religion is mentioned is in Article VI where it states that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

This doesn't mean that the founding fathers weren't religious men and that the people of the United States at that time were not predominantly Christians, but rather that they didn't want the government mandating particular beliefs to the people and thereby dispensing government-enforced morality. They thought that for a democratic society to survive the citizens needed to be moral, but this morality was between an individual and their self, or their god and their choice of church, not the individual and the government. A religion is best protected and serves a society best when it is privately-held not publicly-mandated.

Today the United States may be, and in the past was, a nation with a self-professed Christian majority, but it is not a Christian nation, i.e. a theocracy. When the founding fathers created it they clearly rejected a Christian Commonwealth as the model for our government. They determined that a government was granted power by its citizens and that the citizens had a right to revoke those powers if they were abused. It was designed to protect individual liberty and is founded on the principle of natural rights, not the necessity to believe in the one true God. That is between you and your God, not you and your government.

If you can approach the book with an open mind you will see the truth of the book's thesis and how the design of our government protects you and your religion from the oppression of a government-mandated religion. Isn't that why some of the emigrants came to the new world. Jefferson's "wall of separation" is not there to harm you and your religion, but to prevent the government from interferring with its practice, or favoring one set of beliefs over another. Did not Jesus say, "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and what is God's unto God." Does that not sound like a wall separating the secular from the divine.

17 people found this helpful

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Khava N. Dobrenski

Good but repeptitive

January 11, 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

After hearing about the book from the author on NPR I picked it up. It is fascinating to some extent but the same points are made over and over again with only a sprinkle of new insights. I'm not going to be keeping this one in the sanctity of my bookshelf, rather send it off for other people to read.

13 people found this helpful

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Perfect Clarity, Polarizing Name

August 26, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is a book written for a general audience to familiarize them with what is already familiar to historians and political scientists, as clearly stated in "A NOTE ON SOURCES" at the end of the book. It is full of information from original sources, such as Madison's notes, The Federalist Papers, and direct quotes from many of our Founding Fathers.

Most of the FF's were among the most educated men in this country and were well acquainted with the hardships that had been imposed on the general public in Europe during the previous 1500 years - because of governments and the predominate religion being so intertwined.

Although the FF's all proclaimed to be Christians, or at least Deists, they represented many different denominations and each state had a certain one that had been given governmental priority. In every case, the controlling denomination in any given state could not resist the temptation to discriminate against the others. Therefore, it's not surprising that the FF's purposefully left God out of it, with very little dissent, as documented in Madison's notes. It's also not surprising that ratification was supported by so many of the church groups that were not in control in their state.

Ratification was particularly supported by the Baptists, whose rights had been trampled upon in states controlled by the Anglicans. There is nothing new here - I've read most of it before; however, it is certainly well summarized.

This is a very fair book with an unfortunately polarizing name. It considers issues from the late 1700's to current times, and encourages those who believe in a firm separation of church and state to choose their battles. It clearly points out that re-emergence of objections to the Constitution being Godless is nothing new. It was a fight from the very beginning and has never stopped. During some decades, the fight just becomes more acute.

However, for anyone literate in English, the Constitution is clear. The FF's intended it to be indifferent toward religion(s) and not favor any one over another. As Jefferson said, "it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." It is no wonder that this book is recommended in Universities for supplemental or even required reading in history and political science classes.

DB

15 people found this helpful

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