Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of Religious Equality

Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of Religious Equality
by Martha Craven Nussbaum

Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of Religious Equality
List Price: $28.95
Our Price: $16.30
You Save: $12.65 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $11.83 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Martha Craven Nussbaum
Edition: Hardcover
Published: 2008-02-04
ISBN: 0465051642
Number of pages: 406
Publisher: Basic Books

Book Reviews of Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of Religious Equality

Book Review: An excellent read....
Summary: 5 Stars

One doesn't have to be religious to appreciate this book. Its simply an excellent reminder of the wisdom of the founding fathers and how they didn't want a state religion of any type, while also being about a country that has ebbed and flowed when it comes to religion in general.

A take it or leave it mode. Yes, we have had periods where pious folk attempted to rule. But a closer look shows that in the end sanity pretty much rules.

I also highly recommend The Faiths of the Founding Fathers by David L. Holmes

Summary of Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of Religious Equality

From one of America's most distinguished moral philosophers, a sweeping historically based argument that equal respect for all citizens is the bedrock of America's tradition of religious freedom.

In one of the great triumphs of the colonial and Revolutionary periods, the founders of the future United States overcame religious intolerance in favor of a constitutional order dedicated to fair treatment for people's deeply held conscientious beliefs. It granted equal liberty of conscience to all and took a firm stand against religious establishment. This respect for religious difference, acclaimed scholar Martha Nussbaum writes, formed our democracy.

Yet today there are signs that this legacy is misunderstood. The prominence of a particular type of Christianity in our public life suggests the unequal worth of citizens who hold different religious beliefs, or no beliefs. Other people, meanwhile, seek to curtail the influence of religion in public life in a way that is itself unbalanced and unfair. Such partisan efforts, Nussbaum argues, violate the spirit of our Constitution.

Liberty of Conscience is a historical and conceptual study of the American tradition of religious freedom. Weaving together political history, philosophical ideas, and key constitutional cases, this is a rich chronicle of an ideal of equality that has always been central to our history but is now in serious danger.

United States Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in United States Books
Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America ImageFounding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America
by Steven Waldman
Random House; Published: 2008-03-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.48
Price in other shops: $26.00
The Devil in the White City:  Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America ImageThe Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
by Erik Larson
Vintage; Published: 2004-02-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: $14.95
Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective ImageYankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective
by Al Santasiere
Pocket; Published: 2008-03-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $31.30
Price in other shops: $50.00
I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World ImageI Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World
by Trevor Paglen
Melville House; Published: 2008-01-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.19
Price in other shops: $22.95
The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century ImageThe World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
by Thomas L. Friedman
Picador; Published: 2007-08-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.88
Price in other shops: $16.00
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance ImageDreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
by Barack Obama
Crown; Published: 2007-01-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.98
Price in other shops: $25.95
Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization ImageHuman Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization
by Nicholson Baker
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-03-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.61
Price in other shops: $30.00
The Age of American Unreason ImageThe Age of American Unreason
by Susan Jacoby
Pantheon; Published: 2008-02-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops: $26.00
John Adams ImageJohn Adams
by David McCullough
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-01-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.98
Price in other shops: $20.00
Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 ImageRetribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45
by Max Hastings
Knopf; Published: 2008-03-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.50
Price in other shops: $35.00
Similar Books and other products
Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization ImageHuman Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization
by Nicholson Baker
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-03-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.82
Price in other shops: $30.00
Hobbes and Republican Liberty ImageHobbes and Republican Liberty
by Quentin Skinner
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2008-03-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.97
Price in other shops: $22.99
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War ImageThis Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War
by Drew Gilpin Faust
Knopf; Published: 2008-01-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.69
Price in other shops: $27.95
Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West ImageWorlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West
by Anthony Pagden
Random House; Published: 2008-03-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.94
Price in other shops: $35.00
Head and Heart: American Christianities ImageHead and Heart: American Christianities
by Garry Wills
Penguin Press HC, The; Published: 2007-10-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
The Age of American Unreason ImageThe Age of American Unreason
by Susan Jacoby
Pantheon; Published: 2008-02-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.49
Price in other shops: $26.00
Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment ImageFreedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment
by Anthony Lewis
Basic Books; Published: 2008-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.50
Price in other shops: $25.00
The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West ImageThe Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West
by Mark Lilla
Knopf; Published: 2007-09-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.63
Price in other shops: $26.00
Experiments in Ethics (Mary Flexner Lecture Series of Bryn Mawr College) ImageExperiments in Ethics (Mary Flexner Lecture Series of Bryn Mawr College)
by Kwame Anthony Appiah
Harvard University Press; Published: 2008-01-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.98
Price in other shops: $22.95
A Secular Age ImageA Secular Age
by Charles Taylor
Belknap Press; Published: 2007-09-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.94
Price in other shops: $39.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories