Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction: Of Liberty, Laws, Religion, and Regulation
- 2 The Political Origins of Religious Liberty
- 3 Colonial British America
- 4 Mexico and Latin America
- 5 Russia and the Baltics
- 6 We Gather Together: The Consequences of Religious Liberty
- Appendix: List of Definitions, Axioms, and Propositions
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - The Political Origins of Religious Liberty
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction: Of Liberty, Laws, Religion, and Regulation
- 2 The Political Origins of Religious Liberty
- 3 Colonial British America
- 4 Mexico and Latin America
- 5 Russia and the Baltics
- 6 We Gather Together: The Consequences of Religious Liberty
- Appendix: List of Definitions, Axioms, and Propositions
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The laws concerning corn may every where be compared to the laws concerning religion. The people feel themselves so much interested in what relates either to their subsistence in this life, or to their happiness in a life to come, that government must yield to their prejudices, and, in order to preserve the publick tranquillity [sic], establish that system which they approve of. It is upon this account, perhaps, that we so seldom find a reasonable system established with regard to either of those two capital objects.
– Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nationsin his time and day, the great political economist Adam Smith considered laws regulating the conduct of religious individuals and institutions as akin to agricultural subsidies and the free trade of grain. Since his time, economists and political scientists have devised numerous theories to explain the origins of free trade. But substantially less attention has been paid to developing theories regarding the regulation and deregulation of religion. This is perhaps understandable given that the preceding passage from Smith's classic work has all but disappeared from library shelves. Abridged versions of The Wealth of Nations are quick to cut his musings on religion. It was in these sections that Smith discussed the sovereign's proper role in maintaining public education and other institutions. Given the large role that the Church of England had in the educational infrastructure of Britain at the time and the fact that spiritual instruction was considered an important part of the education for all Britons (schoolchildren and adults alike), it was natural that Smith's discourse on religion would be found in that section of his book.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Political Origins of Religious Liberty , pp. 26 - 59Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007