
Discrimination against Atheists : A New Legal Hierarchy among Religious Beliefs.
Title:
Discrimination against Atheists : A New Legal Hierarchy among Religious Beliefs.
Author:
Weiler-Harwell, Nina.
ISBN:
9781593326753
Personal Author:
Edition:
1st ed.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (204 pages)
Series:
Law and Society
Contents:
CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Atheists and America's Civil Religion -- Chapter 3: The Boy Scouts and Atheist Exclusion -- Chapter 4: Michael Newdow and the Pledge of Allegiance: Is Participation in Civil Religion Truly Voluntary? -- Chapter 5: Prospects for Future Action -- Bibliography -- Cases Cited -- Index.
Abstract:
Weiler-Harwell examines continuing, legal, discrimination against atheists, as made clear in two cases: Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000) and Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow (2004). These rulings created a new, discriminatory level of distinction for believers versus non-believers that is ahistorical in light of previous Supreme Court precedent. Both cases created new standards for analyzing equality under the law for non-conformists such as atheists, shaping a new hierarchy of protected and unprotected forms of religious belief. The new judicial standards elevate monotheistic religious belief over the neutrality standard that had been heralded in prior Supreme Court decisions and create a kind of American Civil Religion.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
Genre:
Electronic Access:
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