Our Non-Christian Nation: How Atheists, Satanists, Pagans, and Others are Demanding Their Rightful Place in Public Life by Jay Wexler (review)

For those who desire a relatively easy introduction into the legal world of minority faiths, Jay Wexler, professor of law at Boston University, is your cup of tea. His easy to read, even folksy, writing style illuminates even the most formidable legal concepts. For example his two-page delineation of the concepts of "traditional public fora," "designated public forum," and "designated limited public forum" makes those complicated ideas easily understandable (42–43). And that is not the only example of how Wexler's writing style makes legal reasoning accessible for lay readers. Yet Wexler lists numerous scholarly sources if readers desire to dig deeper into any of his major case studies.

The book begins with a meaty introduction laying out several specific controversies addressed in the volume. It opens with a description of the battle over placement of a satanic monument in a Veterans Memorial Park in Belle Plaine, a small Minnesota town. Wexler's involvement in this effort demonstrates his participatory approach to researching each element of his subject matter, which is another positive; he is no armchair legal theorist writing far away from his focus of study. The introduction also notes that the courts have been deviating considerably from the idea of "separation of church and state" and allowing traditional religion to participate more fully in public life, including funding religion-related activities. Wexler then lays out several alternatives that minority faiths (and those with no religious faith) might adopt in the face of the new approach being taken by the courts. One alternative is for minority faiths to fight for the right to also participate fully in public spaces, which is what he describes through personal research he has done on such efforts around the country.

The volume is then divided into six chapters, each focusing on a major issue of concern to minority religious groups in America. The first chapter deals with public monuments, describing in detail, for example, the battle in Utah over having a physical depiction of the Seven Aphorisms of Summum added to a display on public property that already featured a monument to the Ten Commandments. Wexler concludes that judicial decisions are evolving to allow traditional religion more prominence in public spaces, and he argues that minority faiths should seek to do the same. Chapter 2 reports on the successful battle waged by Wiccans and others to allow the pentagram to be placed on the tombstones of veterans in public cemeteries who espoused Wiccan faith. Wexler counts this as one of the important successes in the fight over recognition of minority faiths. Chapter 3 covers efforts to have prayers offered in public bodies and schools, focusing on the aftermath of the much discussed 5–4 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Town of Greece v. Galloway that allowed a small town in New York state to continue to offer only Christian prayers at the beginning of its monthly town hall meeting of elected leaders. The decision and its aftermath, however, did in fact lead to changes not only in New York, but also in other parts of the country, apparently because many political leaders came to agree that it was better to allow more representation from minority faiths.

Chapter 4 deals with battles over activities of satanist groups seeking to participate in society, particularly their controversial efforts to have monuments representing the religion placed in public spaces. Chapter 5 focuses on controversies experienced by Muslim and Hindu groups in America as they pursue participation in public life with such things as inclusion in voucher programs designed to help fund private schools. Another area covered in this chapter concerns access to federal funding for "charitable choice" initiatives. Chapter 6 focuses on legal battles resulting from attempts by Satanist and atheist groups to place materials in schools that...