Little by little, the freedoms envisioned by our Founding Fathers and those who struggled for independence are being stripped away. The best guarantee that America's constitutional liberties will continue to be protected is to ensure that all citizens, and especially our children, clearly understand both what those freedoms are and who it is that gave them to us in the first place. This book explains: · The biblical basis upon which America was founded · The influence of Sir William Blackstone and English common law on America’s legal system · The miracle that happened at the Constitutional Convention · The U.S. Constitution, including all the amendments, as well as several popular amendments that failed to be ratified · The methods that have been used to vastly expand the federal government’s power since the Constitution’s drafting. It also examines why John Adams, the second President of the United States, would write what he did in 1798, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." The book is a response to the challenge from one of our nation’s great modern presidents, President Ronald Reagan, issued on October 27, 1964: "You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done." Don’t miss the companion Study Guide for Understanding the Constitution. Available at: www.NCLL.org

In 1947, the United States Supreme Court took a sharp left turn in its interpretation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as it was applied to public schools in America. Since then, students, teachers, school officials, parents, and local religious leaders have been struggling to understand the parameters of the Establishment Clause as it relates to religious expression in public schools. This resource is intended to help individuals understand their rights to exercise their faith in the public school arena. It is also designed to help families, students, teachers, school officials, and community leaders sort through the current legal maze of religious expression in America’s public schools.

Christmastime in America. The image evokes the warm glow of candle-lit windows, snow-laden trees, stockings and candy canes, twinkling lights, and soft angelic music. But if Christmas is truly "the most wonderful time of the year," then why does a manger scene at city hall stir up such tremendous conflict? And why does a third grader's wish to give out red and green pencils with a Christian message create such a firestorm between parents and public school administrators?The reason is simple: Jesus Christ, the most controversial person in history. Activists and attorneys argue that any inclusion of Jesus Christ in the public square violates the so-called "Separation of Church and State" doctrine. Nowhere is this debate more clearly visible than during the holidays. But is this really true? Does the Constitution demand a government blackout of all things religious in our public institutions during this time of year? Some of the compelling questions addressed within the pages of this book include: Can public schools allow Christmas carols that mention Jesus or the Savior during a holiday concert? Can children give religious gifts to their public school teachers and classmates during holiday parties? Can public school teachers explain the religious origins of Christmas to their students? Can a private citizen set up a manger scene on government property that has been set aside for public displays? Is a city or town permitted to include a manger scene or Star of David in its own holiday display? Attorney David Gibbs III, founder and president of the National Center for Life and Liberty, and Attorney Barbara J. Weller answers these thought-provoking questions in a comprehensive yet down-to-earth way. Their decades of legal experience combine within these pages to examine why "the holidays" is replacing "Christmas" and to equip parents, teachers, pastors, students, and others to understand whether, in fact, Jesus is still "legal."

Study Guide to Understanding the Constitution: Ten Things Every Citizen Should Know About the Supreme Law of the Land