An edition of Paying the Words Extra (1994)

Paying the words extra

religious discourse in the Supreme Court of the United States

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Last edited by MARC Bot
July 16, 2024 | History
An edition of Paying the Words Extra (1994)

Paying the words extra

religious discourse in the Supreme Court of the United States

On 5 March 1985, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Lynch v. Donnelly that the inclusion of a life-sized creche as the focus of an annual civic Christmas display did not constitute an unconstitutional establishment of religion. In Paying the Words Extra, Winnifred Sullivan examines the case to illustrate and illuminate the ways in which religion is interpreted, defined, and talked about in American public life today.

Sullivan analyzes and critiques the majority, concurring, and dissenting Supreme Court opinions in Lynch v. Donnelly, setting each opinion within its historical origins in U.S. constitutional history and examining each within a comparative context.

  1. Through her analysis of the Supreme Courts opinions, Sullivan reveals distinct and divergent American understandings of the nature of religion, the role of religion in public life, and the relationship and interaction of law and religion. Each of the different discourses about religion represented in the Lynch opinions inadequately represents the nature and diversity of American religions and thus hinders a shared discussion of the First Amendment religion clauses.

Sullivan argues that the creation of a new public language and practice about religion is critical, and that, because of constitutional limitations on the executive and legislative branches, the Supreme Court plays a key role in the creation of such a new language. How should the Court talk about religion? Can it do so in such a way that acknowledges the need to take religion seriously and yet does not establish religion?

Winnifred Sullivan asks us to give attention to the way we talk about religion - for, she reminds us, "people's lives are given meaning in the spaces created by words" - and then offers some thoughts on creating a new language that will "pay the words extra" by "honor[ing] both the commitment of the First Amendment and the lived experience of American religious history."

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Paying the Words Extra
Paying the Words Extra: Religious Discourse in the Supreme Court of the United States (Religions of the World)
February 15, 1995, Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions
Hardcover in English
Cover of: Paying the words extra
Paying the words extra: religious discourse in the Supreme Court of the United States
1994, Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (p. [185]-212) and index.

Published in
Cambridge, Mass
Series
Religions of the world / Harvard University, Center for the Study of World Religions, Religions of the world (Cambridge, Mass.)

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
342.73/0852, 347.302852
Library of Congress
KF4783 .S85 1994, KF4785 .S85 1994

The Physical Object

Pagination
xxiv, 212 p. ;
Number of pages
212

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL1104431M
Internet Archive
payingwordsextra0000sull
ISBN 10
0945454066, 0945454074
LCCN
94029503
OCLC/WorldCat
30892143
Goodreads
4385814

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
July 16, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
January 8, 2023 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
November 18, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
May 21, 2020 Edited by CoverBot Added new cover
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from Scriblio MARC record