What did the founding fathers intend by these words from the First Amendment, and how should this amendment be applied to the free exercise of religion today? In School Prayer, Robert Alley examines the history behind the writing of the religion clauses of the First Amendment, the courts' interpretations of these clauses over two centuries, and the debates in Congress over their application, especially as regards prayer in the public schools.
Alley begins with an extensive analysis of the writings and actions of James Madison, described as "the architect of the religion clauses" and "the single most important voice for religious liberty in the nation's history." Madison is viewed as a proponent of strict separation between church and state and as opposed to any form of state-sponsored religious establishment. Alley then discusses the history of "protestant hegemony" in the nineteenth century and the attitude of messianism as reflected in presidential pronouncements on the relation of religion to government.
All this is presented as background to the debates in the latter half of our own century over the role of prayer in public schools. Alley reviews some thirty years of congressional testimony and key Supreme Court decisions. He gives special attention to the highly controversial Engle v. White decision in 1962, which banned the recitation of a prayer composed by the New York State Board of Regents in public schools. This decision unleashed a storm of protests, which has continued to this day and has given rise to numerous congressional proposals to amend or overturn the Court's ruling. Extensive selections from the arguments on both sides of the controversy afford the reader a firsthand look into the many deliberations surrounding this sensitive and timely matter.

Full Title: "Report of The Trial, The King (At The Instance of Stanley Goddard, ) Versus Charles Frederick Holland, and John Appleton, (Both of Cornhill), upon An Assignment of Perjury; at the Old Bailey, Before Mr. Common Serjeant and A London Jury, February 23, 1820"Description: "The Making of the Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926" collection provides descriptions of the major trials from over 300 years, with official trial documents, unofficially published accounts of the trials, briefs and arguments and more. Readers can delve into sensational trials as well as those precedent-setting trials associated with key constitutional and historical issues and discover, including the Amistad Slavery case, the Dred Scott case and Scopes "monkey" trial."Trials" provides unfiltered narrative into the lives of the trial participants as well as everyday people, providing an unparalleled source for the historical study of sex, gender, class, marriage and divorce.++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++MonographYale Law LibraryLondon: Printed and Published by J. Bailey, 116, Chancery-Lane. And May be had of Most Booksellers., c.1820

"Our society is inundated with desperate communication to prove that there is no active God. From education to the media to popular books, philosophers, sociologists and theoretical scientists have filled thousands of pages with shallow quotes from like minded thinkers, told cute metaphoric stories, and used science fiction to invent alternates to scientific fact and theological beliefs. With this organized pressure, our children will likely be brought up to believe that nature and natural science are gods, and as such, we can control the environment, as well as our society, and enjoy a utopian future of comfort and happiness without the complication of an "unproven" God. A Christian Environmentalist discusses the ignored, or dismissed possibility of a supernatural reality, the facts of the environmental scientific reality, and how God and Christians fit into the future of the environment. From global warming to climate change, from scenic rivers to petroleum fracturing, and from wildlife protection to endangered species, A Christian Environmentalist explores our environment from Creation to Heaven, God's plan for the environment, and God's plan for us, and how the twain shall meet. " E. Roberts Alley, P.E.