How the First Amendment is Used to Undermine Religion

Religious liberty is explicitly protected by the First Amendment, but over the past half-century courts have applied various First Amendment models in an attempt to muffle the public presence of religion.  These models have elevated secular concerns to the level of constitutional trump-cards that deny the original intent of the Constitution and repress the religious freedom focus of the First Amendment.  This course will examine the meaning of the First Amendment religion clauses and analyze the prevailing constitutional  theories that undermine that meaning.