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From Yoder to Yoda: Models of Traditional, Modern, and Postmodern Religion in U.S. Constitutional Law

Abstract

The Supreme Court and its commentators have struggled unsuccessfully for over a century to find an adequate characterization of the term "religion" in the First Amendment. This Article suggests a new approach to First Amendment religion scholarship. Relying on an analysis of the actual language used by the Supreme Court to characterize religion, this Article constructs three models of religion: a Traditional, integrated worldview religion, a Modern secular religion, and a New Age Postmodem religion. These models, the Author argues, are central to the way the Court analyzes free exercise and establishment clause cases, and this methodology represents a new way of thinking about the law and the behavior of the Court.

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41 Ariz. L. Rev. 49 (1999)

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Authors

Rebecca Redwood French (University of Colorado)

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