August 12 1996

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Historians Isaac Kramnick and Larry Moore contend that the Founding Fathers designed the Constitution to be a secular document. That is the primary conclusion of their recently published book, "The Godless Constitution," copies of which the publisher sent to members of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the executive branch.

Although I suspect the pejorative term "godless" (which was used by critics of the Constitution when it was newly minted) carries more negative connotations than the founders intended, still on this point the authors' arguments are persuasive. Also convincing is their claim that some of the language and assertions of the Religious Right regarding America as a Christian nation have been inaccurate and intemperate. Americans of all political and religious persuasions will find the evidence the authors present in support of these interpretations well worth studying.

In spite of these strengths, "The Godless Constitution" leaves this reader more than a little uneasy. For one thing, the authors' criticisms of the Religious Right are at times too vague and full of innuendo. In contrast to the small and virtually unknown group called "theonomists," made up of Christians who want to establish a theocratic state based on the Bible, the Christian Right, with few exceptions, is committed to maintaining religious freedom for all Americans. Whatever Kramnick and Moore may imply, it is by no means obvious that members of the Religious Right are more willing to impose their beliefs and values on others than are political liberals.

Take the case of abortion. The Religious Right's opposition to abortion stems from the belief that the baby in the womb is a human being and thus worthy of the protection of the state. That this ...