Religious Expression in American Public Life

Available through The Brookings Institution website, Religious Expression in American Public Life: A Joint Statement of Current Law could be a useful tool for anyone interested in remaining free from government intrusions into personal beliefs - or lack thereof.  Unfortunately, representatives of non-believer groups were apparently not a part of the drafting process.

Although diverse religious and religious freedom groups participated in the drafting of the document, apparently no non-believer representatives participated.  When queried about the lack of representation of non-believers in the drafting of the document, one participant in the event broadcast on C-Span suggested that because of the diversity of believer groups and the document's status as a statement of what the current law is rather than what it should be, the absence of non-believer participants in the drafting of the document should not make a difference. 

Perhaps a non-believer legal scholar somewhere might assess this point of view.

 

http://www.brookings.edu/events/2010/0112_religious_expression.aspx

On January 12, a diverse working group of religious and secular leaders unveiled a joint statement about current laws regarding religious expression in the United States. This document does not focus on what the law should be, but rather what the law is today. The joint statement seeks to provide accessible and useful information for Americans about this area of law, and enrich the conversation surrounding religious liberties.