Librería Samer Atenea
Librería Aciertas (Toledo)
Kálamo Books
Librería Perelló (Valencia)
Librería Elías (Asturias)
Donde los libros
Librería Kolima (Madrid)
Librería Proteo (Málaga)
What does it take to bring political liberty into reality and what is required to sustain it? Isreligion a necessity or a hindrance? Is religious neutrality in public affairs possible? Whatdo means of persuasion and the knowledge of good and evil have to do with politicalliberty? Do the well-considered views of the authors of the Declaration of Independenceand the Constitution on the separation between church and state have any relevance today?Such questions are bypassed in the pragmatic expediencies of politics. But they cannot beoverlooked if the American experiment in liberty is to be understood and prolonged.Liberty and the Wall surveys these and other aspects of political liberty as it is enjoyed inthe United States. It distills from history the essentials of natural right and consent of thegoverned, and the necessary virtues of self-reliance and self-governance. It analyzes theconditions and events that led to a formal separation between political rule and religion forthe first time in history. The transition from government over people to people overgovernment and the principles embedded within the Constitution and the Declaration ofIndependence are explored. Insights are drawn from the Federalist-Anti-Federalist andLincoln-Douglas debates. The danger of utopian ideals and the place of appeal toauthority higher than both people and government receive due attention.Liberty and the Wall steers clear of conventional, superficial controversies over religioussymbols, speech, and practices on public property and in public institutions. Neither isthere any pretense about easy fixes to public controversies. Far more germane to thesubject are underlying conflicts of values and senses of the good and just in matters ofpublic interest, as opposing metaphysical views contend for political supremacy below thelevel of popular awareness. Politics is infused with values and concepts of right. Thedetermination of the valuable, the right, and the just is far more the commanding question.
