Principle, History, and Power: The Limits of the First Amendment Religion Clauses

This article addresses whether the religion clauses of the US Constitution prohibit the injection of religious values into political debate I argue that Christianity hegemonically controls American society and culturally oppresses outgroup religions particularly the prototypical minority religion of Judaism I critically analyze how the constitutional principle of separation of church and state contributes to the current orientation of power within American society I approach the problem of Christian social power from three perspectives symbolic power structural power and the relationship between symbolic and structural powe