So Help Me God: The Founding Fathers and the First Great

So Help Me God: The Founding Fathers and the First Great Battle Over Church and State

Todayâ€™s dispute over the line between church and state (or the lack thereof) is neither the first nor the fiercest in our history. In a revelatory look at our nationâ€™s birth, Forrest Church re-creates our first great culture warâ€”a tumultuous, nearly forgotten conflict that raged from George Washingtonâ€™s presidency to James Monroeâ€™s.Â
Religion was the most divisive issue in the nationâ€™s early presidential elections.Â Battles raged over numerous issues while the bible and the Declaration of Independence competed for AmericanÂ affections.Â The religous political wars reached a vicious peak during the War of 1812; the American victory drove New England's Christian right to withdraw from electoral politics, thereby shaping our modern sense of church-state separation. No longer entangled, both church and state flourished.
Forrest Church has written a rich, page-turning history, a new vision of our earliest presidentsâ€™ beliefs that stands as a reminder and a warning for America today.
Country USA
Manufacturer Mariner Books
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2008-09-08

So Help Me God: The Founding Fathers and the First Great Battle Over Church and State