Getting the Framers Wrong: A Response to Professor Geoffrey Stone
15 Pages Posted: 6 Sep 2010
Date Written: 2009
Abstract
Professor Geoffrey Stone’s Essay, The World of the Framers: A Christian Nation?, seeks to state “the truth about . . . what [the Framers] believed, and about what they aspired to when they created this nation.” Doing so will accomplish Professor Stone’s main objective, helping us to understand what “the Constitution allows” on a host of controversial public policy issues. Regretably, Professor Stone’s effort is unsuccessful. Although he clearly tried to be fair in his historical account, the Essay ultimately presents a misleading view of the Framers’ perspective on the proper relationship between religion and the state.
Keywords: Constitution, Public Policy issues, Framers, Religion v. State
JEL Classification: K10, K19, K40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation