ReligiousLeftLaw.com

Christians Must Confront Scientific Illiteracy

2013-05-21T15:20:10-07:00

Where science is concerned, responsible Christians are caught in the vice grip of two extremes. On the one hand, there is the defiant and willful ignorance of persons like Congressman Paul Broun (R-Ga.), who famously declared during last fall's election cycle that "evolution and the big bang theory are lies straight from the pit of hell." And on the other hand, there is the cool atheism of someone like Richard Dawkins, contentedly dismissing the whole of religious experience as the magical thinking of the great superstitious mass of humankind. Christians must provide effective witness against both extremes. But before Christianity can engage atheism it must first address the scientific illiteracy in its own house. For the greatest danger Christianity confronts at the present moment is not incipient persecution, but increasing marginalization and irrelevance. If Christians cannot engage reasonably and responsibly with science, there will be no place for them in...

For God's Sake, Mr. President, Reclaim Your Spine.

2013-05-20T13:49:49-07:00

Both Patrick's recent post marking the birthday of Malcom X, and Steve's post before it questioning just how 'scandalous' the IRS pseudoscandal really is, invite some reflection on President Obama's reaction to the mentioned pseudoscandal thus far. In my humble opinion, that reaction has been the very contrary of what it ought to be, and this might owe partly to a handicap that many have long suggested the President might labor under. If that perception of handicap does indeed partly explain the President's weak showing right now, I very much hope he will recognize that he has nothing to worry about, then reclaim his spine and resume his hard work for the nation. Let me explain. To begin with, let us refresh ourselves on the backdrop against which the President has recently professed 'outrage' and accepted the resignation of acting commissioner Steven Miller at the IRS. There is so much...

Teresa Forcades, the radical Catalan nun on a mission ...

2013-05-20T07:43:35-07:00

"Sister Teresa Forcades is one of Catalonia's foremost political figures, but uniquely for a faith-led figure in Spain, her ideology is feminist and left-wing. Against a backdrop of continued economic contraction and austerity, she spoke to the Guardian about the need for an alternative to capitalism and criticised the misogyny of the Catholic church." You can watch the six-minute video about Sister Forcades here.

Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965)

2013-05-19T11:51:36-07:00

Today is the birthday of Malcolm X. By way of celebration, I leave you with three provocative books discussing his life and ideas: Cone, James. Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare? (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992). Marable, Manning. Malcolm X: A Life of Revolution (New York: Viking, 2011). Wolfenstein, Eugene Victor. The Victims of Democracy: Malcolm X and the Black Revolution (London: Free Association Books, 1989).

The Marxist Spirituality of C.L.R. James

2013-05-19T11:50:27-07:00

I found occasion once before to post something on the “cricketing Marxist,” C.L.R. James, and now I’d like to draw your attention to a piece by Kenan Malik on “the 50th anniversary of C.L.R. James’ wonderful, groundbreaking work Beyond a Boundary.” James exemplifies what I can only describe as a Marxist spirituality, the adjective qualifying something like the following: “[A]t the richer end of the spectrum [of spirituality], we find the term used in connection with activities and attitudes which command widespread appeal, irrespective of metaphysical commitment or doctrinal allegiance. Even the most convinced atheist may be prepared to avow an interest in the ‘spiritual’ dimension of human existence, if that dimension is taken to cover forms of life that put a premium on certain kinds of intensely focused moral and aesthetic response, or on the search for deeper reflective awareness of the meaning of our lives and of our...

Should the IRS Pay Special Attention to those Groups Who Believe Taxes are too High?

2013-05-17T05:10:27-07:00

Is it unreasonable to suppose that groups who are ideologically committed to the proposition that taxes are too high are more likely than other groups to play fast and loose with the tax laws? If so, would it not make sense for the IRS to pay special attention to these groups to make sure they comply? Is this significantly different than paying special attention to those who meet a drug courier profile or to those who match a dangerousness profile upon entering the country? Of course, it is possible that the IRS paid special attention to conservative groups because of distaste for their politics. But it is also possible that the IRS paid special attention to these groups without regard to their own feelings about the politics of the groups they looked at. I cannot say that about the Republicans or the Democrats. The Speaker of the House is ready...

Several Updated Bibliographies

2013-05-17T00:01:34-07:00

I’ve recently updated several of my bibliographies: (i) Ecological & Environmental Worldviews: A Basic Transdisciplinary Bibliography (ii) Punishment & Prison: A Bibliography (iii) Terrorism—Moral, Psychological, Political & Legal Perspectives: A Select Bibliography (iv) Torture: Moral, Legal & Political Dimensions—A Basic Bibliography WASHINGTON — “A nonpartisan, independent review of interrogation and detention programs in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks concludes that ‘it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture’ and that the nation’s highest officials bore ultimate responsibility for it.” (New York Times, April 16, 2013)

The Superimposition* of a False Scandal upon a Real One at the IRS

2013-05-16T15:27:20-07:00

Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times provides us with much needed context and perspective on the so-called “IRS Scandal.” As Juan Cole notes, “The IRS scrutiny of Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt charitable status derived from a legitimate concern at the more than doubling of such requests after the Citizens United ruling, and a suspicion that the groups were backed by Republican billionaires intending to use them for politics, not charity. It may be that the scrutiny was sometimes invidious, but it is not obvious on the surface as to whether the bureaucrats actually did anything out of the ordinary (left-wing requests for tax exempt status were flat; if they had suddenly doubled presumably they would have attracted attention too).” See too, Peter S. Goodman at The Huffington Post: “The IRS was Dead Right to Scrutinize Tea Party.” * Adhyāsa (Sanskrit: अध्यास) in Advaita Vedānta philosophy: “Throwing over...

Happy (Radical) Mother's Day!

2013-05-12T09:09:32-07:00

At Huffington Post’s “Religion” page: Diana Butler Bass on “The Radical History of Mother’s Day.” (An introduction to Anna Reeves Jarvis— September 30, 1832-May 9, 1905). See too Ruth Rosen at Slate: “Soap to Ploughshares.”

Why is Religion a First Amendment Stepchild?

2013-05-10T04:54:12-07:00

I do not know, but the law seems to treat religion as less important. If a law is not aimed at speech, but hits communicative conduct (law outlaws destruction of a draft card which might or might not be done in the presence of another), the law can be constitutionally applied only if it furthers a substantial state interest by means no greater than is essential to the furtherance of that interest. But if a statute prohibiting particular conduct (eg., ingesting peyote) whether religious or not religious, hits religion (e.g., a Native American religious ceremony involving the ingestion of peyote), no First Amendment test applies unless another constitutional right is also burdened or the government is singling religion out for special treatment. But suppose a First Amendment test is warranted in a statute directed at the content of a communication or in a statute primarily aimed at a form of...

Motley readings worthy of our attention…

2013-05-08T17:23:03-07:00

The following articles, and one book (in no particular order), I think well warrant our attention: Diane Marie Amann, “The President & the Prison Camp” (cross-posted at IntLawGrrls) Dan Joyner, “Syria Update, and the Evolution of a Right of Counterproliferation Oriented Preemptive Self-Defense” Charles S. Maier, “The Return of Political Economy” Neil deMause, “Contingency Plan: Outsourcing Education” Christopher McCrudden, “In Pursuit of Human Dignity: An Introduction to Current Debates” Adam Hanieh, “The Oslo Illusion” Allegra Pacheco, “Expanding the Legal Paradigm for Palestine: An International Law Conference at Birzeit University” Wajahat Ali, “Against the Brahmins: An Interview with Pankaj Mishra” Richard M. Locke, “Can Global Brands Create Just Supply Chains?” From the editors of Himāl Southasian, a series of articles under the rubric, “Farms, Feasts, Famines” Melvyn Dubosky, “Does Organized Labor Have a Future?” Bill Fletcher, Jr., “Now What? Labor Unions and the Inevitability of Class Struggle” Michael Hirsch, “So Why...

Cambridge's Polynices

2013-05-06T16:46:38-07:00

[N]one shall entomb him or mourn but leave him unwept, unsepulchered, a welcome object for the birds, when they spy him, to feast on at will. Many an educated reader - and many an educated lawyer in particular - will have encountered the line I've just quoted, as well as the name I have quoted in the title to this post. These are words spoken by Antigone, apropos an edict prohibiting entombment of her brother, Polynices, in the Attic tragedy that bears her name. Polynices has made war on his own polis, Thebes, and for this reason Creon, the ruler of Thebes, has decreed he is not to be accorded the rites that both sacred and customary law prescribe. The 'luckless corpse of Polynices' is to be left to be eaten by carrion-birds. A resultant clash of contrary obligations - that to obey ruler-posited law on the one hand, that...

The Corporatization of Higher Education: A Basic Reading List

2013-05-03T16:50:36-07:00

After reading a skeptical query at another law blog about the putative “corporatization of higher education,” I thought to assemble this select bibliography on the topic. Incidentally, it turns out the law professor who posed this question responded in turn to a reply by proclaiming with remarkable confidence that “corporatization has not come to law schools in any meaningful fashion.” Is that true? [Correction: It may not have been a law professor, although perhaps someone who has published law-related articles and now works for a private corporation.] Aronowitz, Stanley. The Knowledge Factory: Dismantling the Corporate University and Creating True Higher Learning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2001. Aronowitz, Stanley. C. Wright Mills and the Making of Political Intellectuals. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012. Bok, Derek. Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003. Chomsky, Noam, et al. The Cold War and the University:...

Happy May Day! (that is to say, the real ‘Labor Day’)

2013-05-01T06:31:41-07:00

“The struggle for the 8-hour day reached a significant moment on May 1, 1886 as the Knights of Labor and numerous other labor organizations called for a national work stoppage on this day to demand that the 8-hour day become the law of the land. Thousands of workplaces shutdown across the country and capital trembled. Linked to the issue of shorter hours was the question of child labor as depicted in this 1908 Lewis Hine photo of a few of the doffers and sweepers in the Mollahan Mills in Newberry, South Carolina. In the U.S. serious legislation governing the hours of work and child labor was a long, long time coming as workers fought and died well into the 1930s before an upsurge in organization pressured the government into making a handful of modest reforms.”—From the Facebook page of the Bread & Roses Centennial (1912-2012) Committee. Prior May Day posts...

Neoliberal Capitalism in Bangladesh: The Violence of "Free Markets"

2013-04-30T14:17:13-07:00

At least 3,000 people are believed to have been in the building on Rana Plaza at the time the building collapsed. More than 380 bodies had been recovered by Monday morning. Hundreds are still missing. And with every day that passes, the chances of finding survivors grows dimmer. The deadly incident in Savar has already been called the worst industrial accident in the country’s history. It serves as a reminder that nothing has changed when it comes to the inhumane conditions under which clothes are made in Bangladesh for European and American textile companies and clothing chains. And the same can be said about the culture of corruption that is rampant in Bangladesh, the abundance of illegally procured construction permits and the lax attitude factory owners take toward safety standards. — Hasnain Kazim, Nils Klawitter and Wieland Wagner, from their piece for Der Spiegel (April 29, 2013), available here. The...

MARRIAGE EQUALITY: How I Changed My Mind

2013-04-30T10:49:24-07:00

From 2003 to early 2009, I wrote a series of historically-grounded papers that reached the common conclusion that marriage equality represented a radical departure from the western tradition of marriage and so, for that reason, should be rejected as a matter of public policy. I have now changed my mind regarding this conclusion. While there is no question that marriage equality represents a dramatic departure from what has gone before, I can now find support within our western tradition for expanding the definition of marriage to embrace loving, committed same-sex unions. Let me begin with my professional background: I am a lawyer and an historian. These two sides of my brain co-exist in what I like to think is, for the most part anyways, a creative tension. The lawyer side of my brain considers public policy issues in the urgency of the present. The historian's training, however, summons me always...

Who Cares about the Poor

2013-04-28T20:21:07-07:00

April’s Harper’s Index reports that only 42% of American women believe they have a personal responsibility to help the poor. The report is even more disappointing for American men. Only 27% believe they have a personal responsibility to help the poor. The source for these statistics is Environics Research. I am not sure what to make of this. In any given year approximately three quarters of American families give money to charities though it is not clear what percentage of these families give money to the poor. We do know that 75 million American give no money to charities of any kind. In any event, most politicians obviously think the public does not care much about the poor. The poor are denigrated by Republicans and largely ignored by Democrats. I have no confidence that political leaders will cultivate concern about the poor. And such leadership certainly will not come from...

Discovering Milner Ball: A Theologian of Hope

2013-04-19T09:13:11-07:00

As I continue my work on a writing project focused on William Stringfellow, I have been greatly encouraged by a growing band of companions on the way. Recently Frank Alexander, law professor at Emory University and director of their Center for the Study of Law and Religion, sent me a wonderful packet of material related to Stringfellow. Among these was a remarkable essay and tribute to the work of Milner S. Ball, a theologian and for many years a professor of law at the University of Georgia. I have just finished an exhilarating essay of Ball's, entitled "Don't Die Don Quixote: A Response and Alternative to Tushnet, Bobbitt, and the Revised Texas Version of Constitutional Law." I confess that it both fascinates and dumbfounds me--Ball's thought is, for this theologian at least, an alternate universe: close to the ground of contemporary constitutional law theory, full of references to Karl Barth,...

Locating the Dignity of the Dead

2013-04-18T00:03:14-07:00

“Even those who think that death is a continuation, and not an ending, can benefit from contemplating the implications of annihilation. That annihilation would be bad for them explains why it is important to live forever: it is the only way to avoid the evil of annihilation. If, on the other hand, annihilation would not be bad for them, the question arises as to why they value the prospect of immortality.”—Steven Luper [1] “The human species is only partly natural. It is the only species about which that can be said.”—George Kateb [2] “Philosophers tend to think that precision is always important, but they have known since Aristotle that that may not always be wise. Sometimes the quest for precision blinds us to certain insights that we can as yet only formulate haltingly; sometimes it blinds us to the importance of pursuing certain questions (and linking them to other questions)...

May Catholic Supporters of Marriage Equality Receive Communion?

2013-04-17T07:45:05-07:00

Can a Catholic who upholds marriage equality receive Holy Communion? This was the question put to Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit, who answered in the negative, declaring that Catholic supporters of marriage equality should refrain from the Eucharist. They "deny the revelation of Christ entrusted to the Church," the Archbishop said, and added: "This sort of behavior amounts to publicly rejecting one's integrity and logically bring[ing] shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury." On April 12, however, retired Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton contradicted Vigneron and reassured Catholics: "Don't stop going to Communion. You're okay." So, in this Motor City clash, who is right? To resolve this question in absolute terms, we need to know more about what Archbishop Vigneron was thinking. It is possible that he meant only to address Catholics who believe that marriage equality is a settled matter of ecclesiastical law and doctrine. That is,...