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“I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish ... ” — John F. Kennedy, 1960.

On St. Patrick's Day, Americans of all stripes celebrate Irishness – or imbibe in all things Irish – without political or religious reservation.

But being Irish in America wasn't always so carefree, primarily due to the issue of being Catholic in America. When the American colonial experiment began in the early 17th century, reverberations of the Protestant Reformation were still rumbling through Europe and Britain. The Wars of Religion in Europe and the English Civil War provided a troubled backdrop.

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The history of religious pluralism in America is surveyed in the University of Massachusetts Press book, Religious Liberty in America: The First Amendment in Historical and Contemporary Perspective by Bruce T. Murray.

“This concise and readable book discusses topics relating to the religion clauses of the First Amendment and, more generally, to the interaction of religion and politics in the United States. The book is well written, engaging, and balanced in its presentations of competing views.”
— Daniel O. Conkle, Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies, Indiana University (from the July, 2009 issue of the Catholic Historical Review).

“This book is a helpful introduction to religious freedom in America today, and in history. Implications of the First Amendment affect a great many dimensions of our social and personal lives, and Bruce T. Murray provides a historical map as context for considering questions that we continue to try to answer together.”
— Elizabeth Tauba Ingenthron, Graduate Theological Union (from the Anglican Theological Review, Winter 2010)

Religious Liberty in America is available at libraries throughout North America, and it may be purchased from the University of Massachusetts Press.

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