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Article: Toppling the wall: beyond separation of church and state.
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- July 3, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Separation of Church and State. By Philip Hamburger. Harvard University Press, 492 pp., $49.95.
MOST AMERICANS assume that the separation of church and state is a fundamental principle deeply rooted in American constitutionalism; that the First Amendment was intended to ensure that government does not involve itself with religion (and vice versa); and that contemporary debates over such vexing issues as school prayer, voucher programs, government funding of faith-based organizations, and the rights of religious minorities represent ongoing attempts to realize the separation intended by the Founders and like-minded early Americans.
None of these views is ...