Book Reviews : Great Issues: The Making of Current American Policy. By STUART GERRY BROWN (Ed.), NELSON M. BLAKE, W. FREEMAN GALPIN, HARRY SCHWARTZ, SIDNEY C. SUFRIN, PHILIP H. TAYLOR and WARREN B. WALSH. (New York: Harper and Brothers. 1951. Pp. x, 578. $3.00.)

• Author: Totton J. Anderson
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400332
• Published date: 01 September 1951
• Date: 01 September 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

521

There

is

no

uniformity

of

practice

on

such

issues

as

Bible

reading

in

the

public

schools.

Some

states

require

readings

either

by

statute

or

con-

stitutional

provision,

while’ others

permit

but

do

not

require

it.

A

third

group

specifically

prohibits

it.

Whether

&dquo;the

injection

of

Bible

reading

into

the

public

schools

frequently

sets

up

a

conflict

motivated

by

religious

difference&dquo;

(p.

73)

is

not

clear,

but

it

is

true

that

&dquo;when

the

public

school

refuses

to

teach

religion,

it

invades

the

rights

of

no

one&dquo;

(p.

72).

Other

Church-state

matters

considered

are

the

flag-salute

cases,

the

bearing

of

arms

in

defense

of

country,

religion

and

freedom

of

speech,

and

the

Sunday

or

&dquo;blue&dquo;

laws.

Whether

refusal

to

bear

arms

in

defense

of

country

should

require

the

sanction

of

religious

beliefs

is

not

clear,

but

it

has

gained

wide

acclaim.

Equally

significant

is

the

relation

of

religious

freedom

and

freedom

of

speech.

This

freedom

permits

liberty

to

worship

or

not,

and

to

propagate

any

faith.

Although

the

dissemination

of

one

religious

doctrine

may

run

counter

to

the

beliefs

of

another,

tolerance

is

usually

observed.

Notable

exceptions

have

been

recorded

in

the

use

of

loud

speakers

and

similar

de-

vices.

Fortunately,

restraints

upon

individual

liberty

in

the

name

of

re-

ligious

observance

through

the

Sunday

laws

have

failed

through

nonob-

servance,

nonenforcement,

and

nullification.

No

longer

is

a

day

of

rest

synonomous

with

Sunday,

and

closing

the

outlets

for

recreation

does

not

enhance

the

precepts

of

religious

doctrine

or

tolerance.

The

authors

emphasize

that

the

relationship

between

government

and

organized

religion

has

never

been

a

precise

or

clearly

defined

one

in

the

United

States.

Indeed,

the

American

&dquo;experiment&dquo;

would

have

become

static

had

this

been

so,

and

the

American

heritage

is

inimical

to

the

status

quo.

One

general

fault

in

the

book

should

be

noted:

the

quotations

are

excessive.

Nevertheless

the

volume

should

serve

as

a

useful

reference.

University

of

Nebraska.

A.

C.

BRECKENRIDGE.

Great

Issues:

The

Making

of

Current

American

Policy.

By

STUART

GERRY

BROWN

(Ed.),

NELSON

M.

BLAKE,

W.

FREEMAN

GALPIN,

HARRY

SCHWARTZ,

SIDNEY

C.

SUFRIN,

PHILIP

H.

TAYLOR

and

WARREN

B.

WALSH.

(New

York:

Harper

and

Brothers.

1951.

Pp.

x,

578.

$3.00.)

Great

Issues

is

prepared

as

a

guide

for

college

students

in

courses

in-

terpreting

the

&dquo;Critical&dquo;

or

&dquo;Great&dquo;

issues

of

the

century.

It

is

the

product

of

a

group

project

conducted

by

the

faculty

and

staff

of

the

Maxwell

School

of

Citizenship

and

Public

Affairs

of

Syracuse

University,

repre-

senting

participants

from

the

departments

of

history, political

science,

and

economics.

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