This dissertation examines the roles of religious sincerity and “sincerely held religious belief” in the U.S. state’s regulation of “religion” and interactions with believers. My central concern is how contested conceptualizations of religion inform secular governance as well as lived belief and practice. The primary historical upshot is to explain the rise of the “sincerity test” in American law, as articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1944. Claimants seeking accommodation or exemption due to their religious beliefs must prove that they are sincere, that is, that they “internally” believe what they outwardly profess to believe. The chapters approach sincere religious belief from a variety of methodological perspectives with case studies. The project focuses especially on religious believers’ interactions with secular state agents, which includes judges and legislators but also licensure bureaus, local selective service boards, private detective agencies, and postal inspectors. The latter half of the dissertation centers largely on legal history, particularly free exercise cases. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2017. / December 11, 2017. / Includes bibliographical references. / John Corrigan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Andrew Epstein, University Representative; Michael McVicar, Committee Member; Jamil Drake, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_654740 |
| Contributors | McCrary, Charles A. (author), Corrigan, John, 1952- (professor directing dissertation), Epstein, Andrew, 1969- (university representative), McVicar, Michael J. (committee member), Drake, Jamil William (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Religion (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (251 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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