{"product_id":"sex-and-the-constitution-sex-religion-and-law-from-americas-origins-to-the-twentyfirst-century-9780871404695","title":"Sex and the Constitution: Sex  Religion  and Law from America's Origins to the Twenty-First Century","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere has never been a book like Sex and the Constitution  a one-volume history that chapter after chapter overturns popular shibboleths  while dramatically narrating the epic story of how sex came to be legislated in America. Beginning his volume in the ancient and medieval worlds  Geoffrey R. Stone demonstrates how the Founding Fathers  deeply influenced by their philosophical forebears  saw traditional Christianity as an impediment to the pursuit of happiness and to the quest for human progress. Acutely aware of the need to separate politics from the divisive forces of religion  the Founding Fathers crafted a constitution that expressed the fundamental values of the Enlightenment. Although the Second Great Awakening later came to define America through the lens of evangelical Christianity  nineteenth-century Americans continued to view sex as a matter of private concern  so much so that sexual expression and information about contraception circulated freely  abortions before quickening remained legal  and prosecutions for sodomy were almost nonexistent. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries reversed such tolerance  however  as charismatic spiritual leaders and barnstorming politicians rejected the values of our nations founders. Spurred on by Anthony Comstock  Americas most feared enforcer of morality  new laws were enacted banning pornography  contraception  and abortion  with Comstock proposing that the word unclean be branded on the foreheads of homosexuals. Women increasingly lost control of their bodies  and birth control advocates  like Margaret Sanger  were imprisoned for advocating their beliefs. In this new world  abortions were for the first time relegated to dank and dangerous back rooms. The twentieth century gradually saw the emergence of bitter divisions over issues of sexual morality and sexual freedom. Fiercely determined organizations and individuals on both the right and the left wrestled in the domains of politics  religion  public opinion  and the courts to win over the soul of the nation. With its stirring portrayals of Supreme Court justices  Sex and the Constitution reads like a dramatic gazette of the critical cases they decided  ranging from Griswold v. Connecticut (contraception)  to Roe v. Wade (abortion)  to Obergefell v. Hodges (gay marriage)  with Stone providing vivid historical context to the decisions that have come to define who we are as a nation. Now  though  after the 2016 presidential election  we seem to have taken a huge step backward  with the progress of the last half century suddenly imperiled. No one can predict the extent to which constitutional decisions safeguarding our personal freedoms might soon be eroded  but Sex and the Constitution is more vital now than ever before. 50 photographs\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647235842101,"sku":"ByrdShop_0871404699","price":20.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780871404695.jpg?v=1781690372","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/sex-and-the-constitution-sex-religion-and-law-from-americas-origins-to-the-twentyfirst-century-9780871404695","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}