April 5, 2013 - LAW AND RELIGION FORUM

Posted on April 5, 2013July 28, 2016 by JCPW

Around the Web This Week

Some interesting law & religion stories from around the web this week:

Federal judge rejects atheists’ lawsuit seeking to block display of steel cross at 9/11 memorial
Indiana Supreme Court upholds the nation’s broadest school voucher program, rejecting claims that the law primarily benefits religious institutions
In Tennessee, conservative legislators threaten to block a voucher bill over fear of funding Muslim schools
The U.S. Air Force now has its first Jewish female chaplain
Religion matters to the “new, new atheists”
Johns Hopkins student government association denies official status to student pro-life group over concerns about “harrassment”
Ohio school removes Jesus portrait after insurance company declines to cover litigation expenses
Tensions between ultra-Orthodox religious establishment and reform-minded women over prayers at Jerusalem’s Western Wall
Austria’s Muslim community claims Lego’s “Jabba Palace” is anti-Muslim; Lego withdraws the set, but says it’s not because of concerns about discrimination against Muslims
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina file a resolution to declare an official state religion
“Jew in a Box” exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Berlin stirs controversy
And the Russian Army introduces the flying Orthodox church-in-a-box to serve Orthodox Christian soldiers in the field

Posted on April 5, 2013July 28, 2016 by JCPW

Klabbers & Piiparinen (eds.), “Normative Pluralism and International Law”

This April, Cambridge University Press will publish Normative Pluralism and International Law: Exploring Global Governance edited by Jan Klabbers (Helsinki University) and Touko Piiparinen (Finnish Institute of International Affairs). The publisher’s description follows.

This book addresses conflicts involving different normative orders: What happens when international law prohibits behavior, but the same behavior is nonetheless morally justified or warranted? Can the actor concerned ignore international law under appeal to morality? Can soldiers escape legal liability by pointing to honor? Can accountants do so under reference to professional standards? How, in other words, does law relate to other normative orders? The assumption behind this book is that law no longer automatically claims supremacy, but that actors can pick and choose which code to follow. The novelty resides not so much in identifying conflicts, but in exploring if, when, and how different orders can be used intentionally. In doing so, the book covers conflicts between legal orders and conflicts involving law and honor, self-regulation, lex mercatoria, local social practices, bureaucracy, religion, professional standards, and morality.

Posted on April 5, 2013July 28, 2016 by JCPW

Keown & George (eds.), “Reason, Morality, and Law: The Philosophy of John Finnis”

This May, Oxford University Press will publish Reason, Morality, and Law: The Philosophy of John Finnis edited by John Keown (Georgetown University) and Robert P. George (Princeton University). The publisher’s description follows.

John Finnis is a pioneer in the development of a new yet classically-grounded theory of natural law. His work offers a systematic philosophy of practical reasoning and moral choosing that addresses the great questions of the rational foundations of ethical judgments, the identification of moral norms, human agency, and the freedom of the will, personal identity, the common good, the role and functions of law, the meaning of justice, and the relationship of morality and politics to religion and the life of faith. The core of Finnis’ theory, articulated in his seminal work Natural Law and Natural Rights, has profoundly influenced later work in the philosophy of law and moral and political philosophy, while his contributions to the ethical debates surrounding nuclear deterrence, abortion, euthanasia, sexual morality, and religious freedom have powerfully demonstrated the practical implications of his natural law theory.

This volume, which gathers eminent moral, legal, and political philosophers, and theologians to engage with John Finnis’ work, offers the first sustained, critical study of Finnis’ contribution across the range of disciplines in which rational and morally upright choosing is a central concern. It includes a substantial response from Finnis himself, in which he comments on each of their 27 essays and defends and develops his ideas and arguments.