Trumping Religion: The New Christian Right, the Free Speech Clause, and the Courts [Paperback]

The first scholarly treatment of the strategies employed by the New Christian Right in redefining religious freedom in the courtroom.

Trumping Religionprovides a detailed analysis of the five major public-interest law firms that have litigated religion cases in the federal courts between 1980 and 2000. Allied with several highly vocal, evangelical ministries, such as those of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robinson, these legal organizations argue that religious expression is a form of protected speech and thereby gain a greater latitude of interpretation in the courts. The long-term agenda of the New Christian Right as illuminated by this study is to shape church-state jurisprudence in a way that permits free course for the Christian gospel.

Steven P. Brown presents his research and conclusions from a balanced viewpoint. In filling a distinct void in the literature, this book will be of considerable interest to political scientists, legal scholars, law schools and seminaries, and anyone concerned with the intersection of religion and judicial politics.

Trumping Religionby Steven P. Brown offers a groundbreaking analysis of how the New Christian Right has strategically used the U.S. legal system to advance its religious and political agenda. Focusing on five major public-interest law firms and their alliances with evangelical ministries like those of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, Brown explores how these groups reframed religious expression as protected speech under the First Amendment. Through detailed case studies and court decisions from 1980 to 2000, the book reveals a calculated effort to reshape church-state jurisprudence and expand the reach of the Christian gospel in public life. Balanced, scholarly, and deeply insightful, Trumping Religion is essential reading for anyone interested in the intersection of faith, law, and American politics.