This was one of my son's favorite books many years ago and I am happy to have found it on Amazon. We are donating it to out school library. A great book to teach ideas and tolerance. That people see the world differently and that's ok.
I highly recomment this book. Samuel Plank is a delight.
Thanks R.W. Alley. Please re-publish this book.
Thank you.

Great for all ages.

James Madison on Religious Freedom edited by Robert S. Alley is a remarkable work on James Madison's views about religious freedom and how they should play a part in the overall fabric of our government.

James Madison is one of the foremost thinkers of the founding generation of Americans. Though he wasn't much to look at, Madison commanded a library of thought between his ears. Being well educated, (Princeton), he was an avid reader of polictical thought, a great legislator, and framer of the Constitution of the United States of America. But he also wanted the development of civil liberties, adovcating the idea of republicanism, and had the courage to want a moral society. A society that was religious, but not one that was dominated by a State or Central religion... in essence he wanted people to be free to worship as their devotion dictated... a liberty of conscience or a freedom of religious inquiry.

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison along with various others, at that time, worked hard to formulate a Bill of Rights guarenteeing this and other fundamental freedoms. Madison's ideas and actions went far in establishing these freedoms... a fledgling nation needed these freedoms so it would not fall back into the hands of the few and privilaged.

This book works through these aforementioned problems, with prominent historians giving view points of Madison by essays on the various aspects of Madison's thought on religious liberties.
There are selected Madison papers with which we read that gives a better prespective as to how Madison got to where he wanted to be... working the aspect of religious freedom.

We get to look into Madison's mind and find how he thought reading here about Madison's own religion, how he had the courage to doubt in a secular republic, and Madison and the first amendment. I found the book to be fascinating as we get to look inside, through Madison's own writings.

Those wishing to get a better picture of the inner workings of Madison should, without doubt, read this tome and it will clear up a lot about how James Madison worked his way through these times, not unlike what we are dealing with today. More wars, aggravation, and human suffering have come about in the name of religion than anything else mankind has known... the founding fathers knew this... what they came up with is an American tradition, taking these principles and making them work for the good of the people.

This is an excellent and comprehensive work that will fill in blanks, an you'll get a better understanding of Madison.

This book is a must for any fan of the show. Every episode is detailed and well-written. The author was nice enough to autograph my copy.

This book is a fantastic description on how a half hour sit-com is produced. It is wonderful with its behind-the-scenes looks and character/actor bios. Though it may be a little out of date (it was published during the second season), this is the only Murphy book around and it is well worth its money.

This is an excellent reference work providing the reader with the actual text of Supreme Court decisions involving the first amendment and religion. The majority opinion and dissenting opinion(s) are presented with occasional abridgement. Most of these cases fall in three main categories:

1. Support to religious schools 2. Religion in public schools 3. Restrictions on the free exercise of one's religion

The editor, Mr. Alley, provides no critique of the Supreme Court's action in these matters, so one doesn't actually critique the book in the normal sense. What the Court has written, it has written. My only disappointment was in finding that a brief summary was sometimes presented in lieu of any Court opinions. Mr. Alley undoubtedly had book size restrictions to consider (the book is 545 pages long), and presumably he gave short shrift to cases that were less (in his opinion) important, or were based significantly on reasoning established in prior cases.

As an example, I have a strong interest in the creationist vs. evolution controversy. The Epperson vs. Arkansas case concerning teaching creationism in public schools was presented in a half page summary. A similar case involving a state law in Louisiana, Edwards vs. Aguillard, was dismissed in one sentence.

In balance, however, it's a great reference book. I can see that this would be an outstanding resource for students writing term papers on the subject of the first amendment and religion.

I am extremely pleased with the review of the volume of which I am the Editor. But there is one caveat. The reviewer noted that the book gave only a sentence to the case "Edwards v. Aguillard" On pages 219-231 that case is, in fact, presented, including the Scalia dissent.

Don't listen to what right-wing TV preachers and blowhards like Bill Bennett say about the Supreme Court's church-state rulings. Read them for yourself. They're all here in this book. Do you believe prayer has been banned from public schools? Think again. Read the 1962 and 1963 school prayer decisions in this book. You may be surprised when you learn that only government-sponsored, mandatory prayer and Bible reading has been removed. Truly voluntary prayer has always been legal and still is. Lots of folks are intimidated by the thick, dusty tomes in law libraries. This book is for the layperson. It's accessible and affordable. Buy it and find out for yourself what the Supreme Court has really said about church and state.

That's the question that runs through your mind constantly as you read the court cases presented in this book. The first part of the book deals briefly with our founders' concepts of religion and state that found expression in the first amendment. After another short review of court actions up until 1940 the book begins in earnest to cover the major cases of the 1960s to the present.

The typical first amendment case involves some form of prayer or religious teaching being imposed on all students. Even if students are not required to participate, their non-participation usually exposes them to harassment by other students.

Without exception, plaintiffs in first amendment religious cases have been the victims of death threats and hate mail. Plaintiffs have also suffered beatings and damage of property at the hands of hostile Christians. What is also amazing is the fact that most citizens do not realize that the bill of rights does not establish a system of majority rule, but instead protects the individual rights of all citizens. In terms of the first amendment this means that I as a non Christian should not have to be forced to pray to a Christian God.

For a good presentation of what our country's founders were thinking about when they wrote the constitution read "The Godless Constitution", by Kramnick and Moore. Washington, Madison and Jefferson did not in any sense want religion mixed with government.