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Bateman on Sovereignty’s Missing Moral Imperative

C.G. Bateman (U. of British Columbia Faculty of Law) has posted Sovereignty’s Missing Moral Imperative. The abstract follows.

The following paper claims that the theoretical construct of sovereignty was not only expropriated by the Christian religion out of ancient religious beliefs – shared with them by both Jewish and Muslim traditions – but, perhaps more importantly for modern policy considerations, that it always insisted on a positive moral imperative being placed on the person or body executing it in practice.

Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

John Milton on Secularized Law

From Paradise Lost, Book 5.  An exchange between Satan and the angel Abdiel — “than whom none with more zeal adored The Deity” — after Abdiel angrily asks, “Shall thou give law to God? shalt thou dispute With him the points of liberty, who made Thee what thou art, and formed the Powers of Heaven Such as he pleased and circumscribed their being? . . . . His laws our laws; all honor to him done Returns our own.” 

Whereat rejoiced th’ Apostate, and more haughty thus replied:
That we were form’d then, say’st thou? and the work 
Of secondary hands, by task transfer’d
From Father to his Son? Strange point, and new!
Doctrine which we would know whence learn’d: who saw 
When this creation was? Remember’st thou
Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being?
We know no time when we were not as now;
Know none before us, self-begot, self-raised
By our own quick’ning pow’r, when fatal course
Had circled his full orb, the birth mature
Of this our native Heav’n, ethereal sons.
Our puissance is our own; our own right hand
Shall teach us highest deeds, by proof to try
Who is our equal: then thou shalt behold
Whether by supplication we intend
Address, and to begirt th’almighty throne
Beseeching or besieging. This report,
These tidings, carry to th’Anointed King;
And fly, ere evil intercept thy flight.

Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

Bernard, “The Late Medieval English Church”

A very interesting historical work by G.W. Bernard (University of Southampton) discussing the pre-Reformation Catholic Church in England: The Late Medieval English Church: Vitality and Vulnerability Before the Break With Rome (YUP 2012).  The publisher’s description follows.

The later medieval English church is invariably viewed through the lens of the Reformation that transformed it. But in this bold and provocative book historian George Bernard examines it on its own terms, revealing a church with vibrant faith and great energy, but also with weaknesses that reforming bishops worked to overcome.

Bernard emphasizes royal control over the church. He examines the challenges facing bishops and clergy, and assesses the depth of lay knowledge and understanding of the teachings of the church, highlighting the practice of pilgrimage. He reconsiders anti-clerical sentiment and the extent and significance of heresy. He shows that the Reformation was not inevitable: the late medieval church was much too full of vitality. But Bernard also argues that alongside that vitality, and often closely linked to it, were vulnerabilities that made the break with Rome and the dissolution of the monasteries possible. The result is a thought-provoking study of a church and society in transformation.

Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

Avon & Khatchadourian, “Hezbollah: A History of the ‘Party of God'”

Here’s an interesting looking treatment of the deeply controversial political party which is now in a position of power in Lebanon and elsewhere, Hezbollah: A History of the “Party of God” (HUP 2012), by Dominique Avon and Anaïs-Trissa Khatchadourian (both of the Université du Maine).  The publisher’s description follows.

For thirty years, Hezbollah has played a pivotal role in Lebanese and global politics. That visibility has invited Hezbollah’s lionization and vilification by outside observers, and at the same time has prevented a clear-eyed view of Hezbollah’s place in the history of the Middle East and its future course of action. Dominique Avon and Anaïs-Trissa Khatchadourian provide here a nonpartisan account which offers insights into Hezbollah that Western media have missed or misunderstood.

Now part of the Lebanese government, Hezbollah nevertheless remains in tension with both the transnational Shiite community and a religiously diverse Lebanon. Calling for an Islamic regime would risk losing critical allies at home, but at the same time Hezbollah’s leaders cannot say that a liberal regime is the solution for the future. Consequently, they use the ambiguous expression “civil but believer state.”

What happens when an organization founded as a voice of “revolution” and then “resistance” occupies a position of power, yet witnesses the collapse of its close ally, Syria? How will Hezbollah’s voice evolve as the party struggles to reconcile its regional obligations with its religious beliefs? The authors’ analyses of these key questions—buttressed by their clear English translations of foundational documents, including Hezbollah’s open letter of 1985 and its 2009 charter, and an in-depth glossary of key theological and political terms used by the party’s leaders—make Hezbollah an invaluable resource for all readers interested in the future of this volatile force.

Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

Troy, “Christian Approaches to International Affairs”

Jodok Troy (University of Innsbruck) has written a book which will interest international studies and human rights scholars: Christian Approaches to International Affairs (Palgrave Macmillan 2012).  I am not certain which variety of  “Realism” the author discusses, but the “English School” may refer to the loosely associational, non-fully-cosmopolitan system once described by Hedley Bull.  The publisher’s description follows.

Troy analyses how the understanding of religion in Realism and the English School helps in working toward the greater good in international relations, and studies religion within the overall framework of international affairs, integrating and framing religion, as well as religion within the field of peace studies.
Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

Yilmaz & Aykaç (eds.), “Perceptions of Islam in Europe: Culture, Identity, and the Muslim ‘Other'”

Edited by Hakan Yilmaz (Bogaziçi University, Turkey) and Çagla E. Aykaç, here is a book of essays presenting a series of case studies and more theoretical reflections on the condition of Muslim integration in Europe: Perceptions of Islam in Europe: Culture, Identity, and the Muslim ‘Other’ (Palgrave Macmillan 2012).  The publisher’s description follows.

For centuries, the Islamic world has been represented as the ‘other’ within European identity constructions — an ‘other’ perceived to be increasingly at odds with European forms of modernity and culture. With the perceived gap between Islam and Europe widening, leading scholars in this work come together to provide genuine and realistic analyses about perceptions of Islam in the West. The book bridges these analyses with in-depth case studies from Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and other parts of the European Union. This study goes beyond the usual dichotomies of “clashes of civilizations” and “cultural conflict” to try to understand the numerous, diverse and multifaceted ways — some conflictual, some peaceful — in which cultural exchanges have taken place historically, and which continue to take place, between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

UK Court: Child of Divorced Parents May Convert from Judaism to Christianity Despite Mother’s Objections

What a wrenching — and in its implications for how civil courts understand minority religious traditions, fascinating — case. An English judge has ruled that a 10-year old Jewish girl may be baptized over the objections of her mother, who wishes the girl to remain Jewish. The girl’s father and mother divorced two years ago. Both parents were Jewish, but after the divorce the father converted and joined the Church of England. The parents shared custody of the girl, and, on the weekends he had custody, the father took the girl with him to church. The girl eventually told him she wished to be baptized; unsure of her commitment, he put her off. The girl then approached a minister on her own and also raised the issue with her mother, who quickly filed a court application to stop the process.

In a judgment made public last week, the judge decided that the girl’s interests were best served by allowing baptism to go forward. As in any such case, the judge considered many factors, including the fact that the father and mother had not been observant Jews during the marriage; that since the divorce the mother had neither taken the  girl to synagogue nor arranged for Jewish religious instruction; that the father had not, as the mother and all four grandparents alleged, “brainwashed” the girl; and that baptism, which in the Anglican tradition is only the start of one’s relationship to the church, would not prevent the girl from changing her mind later.

Reading the judgment, one senses how painful this situation has been for all concerned and how hard the judge tried to do the right thing. I don’t wish to intellectualize matters inappropriately, but I was particularly struck by the judge’s reasoning with respect to the girl’s religious upbringing. It seems to me the judge understood Judaism in very Christian terms – or perhaps in very liberal, Western terms, which, in this case, turns out be the same thing. For the Read more

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Pussy Riot and the Legacy of Persecution

This week in Moscow, trial began for Pussy Riot, the feminist punk band that stormed the main altar of Christ the Savior Cathedral last winter to perform a “punk prayer” protesting the Russian Orthodox Church’s support for Vladimir Putin. (I wrote about the protest here). Prosecutors charged members of the band with “hoooliganism,” a crime that carries a seven-year prison term, and have detained them in prison for months. The long detention has created  sympathy for Pussy Riot among Western human rights campaigners and even among the Orthodox faithful, many of whom think the state has punished the protesters enough. This week, Vladimir Putin himself signaled that the state would show some leniency, telling reporters that he didn’t think the band “should be judged too harshly.”

It’s easy to dismiss the Pussy Riot prosecution as an example of typical Russian authoritarianism — the charge of “hooliganism,” so closely associated with Soviet “justice,” doesn’t help — and I’m sure that the Putin regime and its supporters in the Church hierarchy relished the chance to teach protesters a lesson. It’s not clear to me that authoritarianism completely explains things, though. Westerners may not understand the sensitivities that surround Christ the Savior Cathedral. The present building is, in fact, the second Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. The Communists dynamited the first in the 1930s as part of their campaign against the Orthodox Church (above); they replaced it with a public swimming pool. In the 1990s, with the help of donations from Orthodox faithful, the church was rebuilt, almost exactly as it was, in the same spot. The cathedral thus symbolizes for many believers the rebirth of Christianity in Russia after decades of brutal persecution. Pussy Riot has been punished enough; but the history of Christ the Savior Cathedral no doubt explains why so many Russians, even those who detest the Putin regime, resent the disrespect shown it.

Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

District Court Dismisses Claim of Teaching Course from a “Christian Worldview”

The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona has dismissed a claim by a woman who enrolled in a course called, “Introduction to Ethics” at a public community college, and who alleged that the teacher of the course “failed to teach the course according to the course description and instead taught her own Christian worldview,” in violation of the Establishment Clause.  The class, the plaintiff claimed, consisted of “indoctrination” rather than of instruction in various philosophical texts as set out in the course description.

After dismissing the claims for injunctive relief on grounds of mootness (the plaintiff had already completed the course and would not repeat it) the court also held that the plaintiff was not entitled to damages because of the doctrine of qualified immunity.  A little background: qualified immunity protects government officials from suit unless the particular right claimed to be violated  was ‘clearly established’ at the time of the challenged conduct.  The existence of the right needs to be “beyond debate.”

The court agreed with the defendants that although certain religious practices are clearly barred in the classroom (e.g., Bible reading, recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, posting of the Ten Commandments in every classroom, and several others), “the exact contours of what is allowed when using religious materials in a classroom and teaching from a religious perspective are not entirely clear.”  More from the court: “[J]ust becase a book, or chapters within a book, that are used in a classroom are theological in nature, the use of the book in a classroom does not automatically result in a violation of the Establishment Clause.”  And the fact that religion was discussed by the teacher was likewise not enough to make out an Establishment Clause violation.

The case is Smith v. Arizona, 2012 WL 3108818 (D. Ariz. July 31, 2012).

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Memo to the Times Editorial Board: Read the Case

On Tuesday, the New York Times ran an editorial criticizing U.S. District Judge John Kane’s decision in one of the HHS Contraception Mandate cases, Newland v. Sebelius. Judge Kane issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the mandate against a corporation, Hercules Industries. The Times believes this ruling misreads the Constitution:

There is no constitutional precedent for individuals, much less corporations, allowing them to violate generally applicable laws because they may have a religious objection. Conversely, the company’s claim that its owners or officers have a First Amendment right to impose their personal religious beliefs on the corporation’s employees is groundless. The health insurance mandate does not place a substantial burden on religious exercise, so a federal statute protecting such exercise should not be in play.

Some of this critique is wrong, some is sloppy, and some is debatable.  But the key problem is that the critique is entirely inapposite. As my colleague Marc explained last week, Judge Kane expressly declined to address the corporation’s constitutional claims. He based his ruling solely on plaintiff’s RFRA argument. If you’re going to criticize a judicial opinion, you really should read it first.  (H/t: John McGinnis)