Books in Changing Perspectives series

One of the core debates present at the founding of the United States has involved citizens' freedom to worship as they please. It is an issue that remains relevant today. This fascinating collection reveals religious liberty during the nation's earliest days, how religion influenced Sunday laws and liquor laws, and persecution faced by sects such as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Areas of church and state conflict include school prayer, gay rights, and abortion. Modern day issues of transgender rights and travel bans to majority Islamic countries round out religious liberty debates that continue to evolve through the twenty-first century. Media literacy terms and questions will engage readers to consider the topic beyond the text.

The public's perception of war changed drastically following the Vietnam War, as it was the first time the American public encountered an endless stream of graphic coverage of military conflict abroad. Still, the public often seems divided on the necessity of military engagement for defense or to promote regional stability and the tolls of war: loss, destruction, and veterans requiring lifelong care. These articles document changing attitudes toward war, compiling New York Times coverage as far back as the Civil War and continuing through twenty-first-century conflicts, including those in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.

Attitudes toward crime and punishment have changed with societal shifts in American culture. Changing perspectives on addiction, sexual assault, and other behaviors have sparked changes in legislation, judicial attitudes, and sentencing guidelines. The articles in this collection map evolving attitudes toward what can be conceived of as criminal and how these conceptions mirror larger social movements over time. In many cases, the heavy hand of the law or, alternatively, the lukewarm reaction to certain kinds of criminal activity has resulted in epidemics that continue to the present day.