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The Last Freedom: Religion from the Public School to the Public Squarereviewed by R. Murray Thomas - September 11, 2007 Title: The Last Freedom: Religion from the Public School to the Public Square Author(s): Joseph P. Viteritti Publisher: Princeton University Press, Princeton ISBN: 0691130116, Pages: 273, Year: 2007 Search for book at Amazon.com The kind of freedom intended in the title of Professor Viterittis book is religious freedom, particularly as found in Americas schools. Viteritti suggests that the American populace during the presidency of George W. Bush became more divided than ever before over how to answer two questions that are implied in The Last Freedom:
What sort of religionif any at allshould be permitted or promoted in public schools?
To what extent, and in what fashion, should public tax money be used to support religious schools?
Viteritti identifies the Religious Right and the Secular Left as the extreme groups that confront each other in debating these questions.
The Far Right has been emboldened to use religion to govern, while the Far Left has redoubled its efforts to evict religion from public life [and public schools] entirely. Fewer people on the Right seem to respect the church-state separation, and fewer people on the Left seem to... (preview truncated at 150 words.)To view the full-text for this article you must be signed-in with the appropriate membership. Please review your options below:
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- R. Murray Thomas
University of California, Santa Barbara R. MURRAY THOMAS is an emeritus professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is an educational psychologist particularly interested in moral development. His recent books include Religion in Schools: Controversies Around the World (2006), Violence in America’s Schools (2006), God in the Classroom—Religion and America’s Public Schools (2007), and Manitou and God—North-American Indian Religions and Christian Culture (2007). His next book—What Schools Ban, and Why—is scheduled for publication in mid-2008.
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