Invisible Religion in the Public Schools book cover

Invisible Religion in the Public Schools

The purpose of Invisible Religion in the Public Schools is to show that secularism has become the invisible religion of America. It suggests how secularism may continue to be respected as this country’s dominant ideology, but purposes eliminating the abridgment of our individual liberty created by its monopoly in our public schools. Its central messages are that the American government does not have the constitutional authority to impose any religious view on any person or group, and that it is not the business of a free government to aid, support, or advance any religion, be it secular or non-secular. The choice of which belief-structures Americans adopt and which they reject must be left to them. This is a carefully documented, thought-provoking book with a message of profound significance for the people of America. It has the potential to influence and shape future action in both educational and legal forums for years to come.

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by Paul J. Toscano

Invisible Religion in the Public Schools is about secularism. But most importantly, it is about freedom—the freedom to believe, think, explore, and create ideas of all kinds. It is about the freedom of conscience and of religion. This book is neither a conservative tract nor a liberal one. It is not anti-secular or pro-secular, anti-theistic or pro-theistic. Most Americans believe their public schools are religion free. It will surprise them to learn that his is untrue. For over forty years, the United States Supreme Court, state legislatures, local school authorities, and groups of concerned citizens have been promoting an invisible religion in the public sector and in the public schools. That religion is not Catholicism, Protestantism, or any form of Christianity. It is not Judaism, or Buddhism, or Mohammedanism. The invisible religion of the public schools is secularism.

The purpose of Invisible Religion in the Public Schools is to show that secularism has become the invisible religion of America. It suggests how secularism may continue to be respected as this country’s dominant ideology, but purposes eliminating the abridgment of our individual liberty created by its monopoly in our public schools. Its central messages are that the American government does not have the constitutional authority to impose any religious view on any person or group, and that it is not the business of a free government to aid, support, or advance any religion, be it secular or non-secular. The choice of which belief-structures Americans adopt and which they reject must be left to them. This is a carefully documented, thought-provoking book with a message of profound significance for the people of America. It has the potential to influence and shape future action in both educational and legal forums for years to come.

Chapters include:

  1. Secularism: A Dubious Neutrality
  2. Secularism: A Definition
  3. Secularism: A Historical Perspective
  4. Religion: A Definition
  5. Secularism: A Religion
  6. Secularism: The Bias for Objectivity
  7. Secularism: A Transparent Monopoly
  8. Establishment and Free-Exercise: A Shift in Views
  9. The Meaning of Religion: The Double Standard of the Supreme Court
  10. Everson: Its Historical Problems
  11. Everson: Its Intellectual Problems
  12. Everson: Its Progeny
  13. Religion-Clause Jurisprudence: Rationalizations for a Secular Bias
  14. Secularism: The Promulgation of a World View
  15. The Maintenance of Pluralism: Religious Accommodation in a Pluralistic Society
  16. Religious Balance and Religious Freedom: A Proposal for Public Education

6” x 9” hardback

222 pages

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