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An Essay On Christian Constitutionalism: Building In The Divine Style, For The Common Good(S), Patrick Mckinley Brennan
An Essay On Christian Constitutionalism: Building In The Divine Style, For The Common Good(S), Patrick Mckinley Brennan
Patrick McKinley Brennan
Theocracy is a matter of growing global concern and therefore of renewed academic interest. This paper answers the following question: "What would a Christian constitution, in a predominantly Christian nation, look like?" The paper was prepared for presentation as the Clark Lecture at Rutgers School of Law (Camden), where papers answering the same question with respect to Jewish and Islamic constitutions and cultures, respectively, were also presented. A Christian constitution would not have as its aim the comparatively anodyne -- and ultimately futile -- business of introducing more "Judeo-Christian values" into the life of the typical nation state. The paper …
Implementing Religious Law In Modern Nation-States: Reflections From The Catholic Tradition, Patrick Brennan
Implementing Religious Law In Modern Nation-States: Reflections From The Catholic Tradition, Patrick Brennan
Patrick McKinley Brennan
This paper originated as an invited contribution to a symposium on "Implementing Religious Law in Contemporary Nation-States: Definitions and Challenges," sponsored by the Robbins Collection, Berkeley Hall, Boalt Hall, U.C. Berkeley, February 2014. The symposium by design brought papers speaking variously from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim perspectives into conversation. My paper proposes that the Catholic tradition of reflection on human lawmaking, even in modern nation-states, must take as its starting point the God who rules His rational creatures through higher or eternal law, where the rational creature’s participation in that higher law is what is known as the natural law. …
Religious Convictions And Lawmaking, Kent Greenawalt
Religious Convictions And Lawmaking, Kent Greenawalt
Michigan Law Review
In Part I, I introduce the subject of liberal democracy, rationality, and religion. I explain briefly why this subject merits our attention. I then indicate variant positions about it and my own summary conclusions. I develop a partial model of our liberal democracy from which the issue can be addressed in context. I next consider two kinds of concrete social issues, consenting sexual acts among adults and the protection of animals and the natural environment. During this treatment I indicate more fully how religious convictions affect judgments about desirable laws, and I analyze the claim that good citizens should not …