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Religion & Law

Mirror of Justice

Dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory.

Post Frequency: 46.4/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 15:50:36

Vischer on the CLS case

Posted on July 09, 2010
Rob has an excellent essay on the CLS case ("Diversity and Discrimination in the Case of the Christian Legal Society") up at Public Discourse. He writes (among other things) that: Put simply, the case is a lesson in the legal...

A Canon Law conference of interest

Posted on July 09, 2010
On August 3 & 4, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse and Archbishop Raymond Burke are hosting a "Canon Law Conference for Canonists and Civil Attorneys," One of the speakers is my friend and colleague,Fr. John Coughlin,...

Some thoughts on the "Dictatorship of Relativism"

Posted on July 09, 2010
I am late weighing in to the discussion about then-Cardinal Ratzinger's use of the term "dictatorship of relativism". It seemed to me then, and still seems to me now, that the term is helpful and insightful. To be sure, as...

More on CLS v. Martinez

Posted on July 09, 2010
I've written a short essay for the Witherspoon Institute's "Public Discourse" website about the Christian Legal Society case. Here's an excerpt: So if the significance of Martinez cannot be explained away as the enforcement of a neutral open membership requirement...

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"Winter's Bone"

Posted on July 09, 2010
Last year, several of us recommended some films, including "The Hurt Locker", which went on to win the Academy Award for best film, and "Precious". I haven't seen "Winter's Bone", but after reading this review, I'm eager to see it....

A cynical thought about the DOMA decision

Posted on July 09, 2010
Michael P. calls our attention (here) to a decision by a federal trial-court judge in Massachusetts invalidating the federal Defense of Marriage Act. According to that judge, "[t]he federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly...

Is there really "only one 'absolute'?"

Posted on July 09, 2010
Michael P. writes: Misunderstanding is predictable here, so I hesitate to say, but will say nonetheless, that in my view, there is only one invariable, only one "absolute": "I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love...

Herein of Clarity and Confusion(s)

Posted on July 08, 2010
1. In his most recent post, Robby misunderstands what I meant when I said that then-Cardinal Ratzinger?s critique was ?less than clear?. To move the discussion along, let me take responsibility for the misunderstanding. (Was I less than clear?) Here?s...

Continuing the conversation . . .

Posted on July 08, 2010
I'm grateful to Michael P. for continuing the conversation about a "dictatorship of relativism." Michael thinks that Pope Benedict's talk of such a "dictatorship" is "less than clear." It does not strike me as especially obscure or unclear, and I've....

'Bigots,' 'Relativists,' and 'Tolerance'

Posted on July 08, 2010
I've followed the past several days' helpful discussion of Pope Benedict's professed concern about a 'dictatorship of relativism' with interest. I am reminded -- I hope not in merely Pavlovian fashion -- of a puzzle that confronted me some years...

Joseph Laycock, "Modern Exorcism: Trading Autonomy for Demonology"

Posted on July 08, 2010
[Joseph Laycock is Doug's son. More about Joseph below. Thought his piece in today's Sightings would be of interest to many MOJ readers.] Last month, a feature in the online magazine Details told the story of Kevin Robinson, a gay...

Aidan O'Neill responds to Michael Scaperlanda

Posted on July 08, 2010
I posted something from Aidan O'Neill yesterday, here. Michael S. weighed in, here. Now, Aidan's response: [Michael S. asks:] ?What gives this court the authority to determine whether a particular religious interpretation is misguided?" I think that by using the...

"When Is a Life Form Worthy of Life?"

Posted on July 08, 2010
MOJ friend and Trinity College Dublin law prof Gerry Whyte sends this piece our way; from Der Spiegel Online.: 'When Is a Life Form Worthy of Life?' Many worry that screening embryos pre-implantation, during fertility treatments, opens the door to...

Presbyterian Leaders Approve Gay Clergy Policy

Posted on July 08, 2010
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 9:23 p.m. ET MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Presbyterian leaders voted Thursday to allow non-celibate gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy, approving the first of two policy changes that could make their church one...

MOJ readers in New York State?

Posted on July 08, 2010
You may be interested in this narrative concerning gay marriage and the next governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo: the famous son of a famously Catholic family: Doubts About Cuomo?s Support of Gay Rights By MICHAEL BARBARO 3:51 PM...

Gay Marriage, States' Rights, and the U.S. Constitution

Posted on July 08, 2010
Judge Rules Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 37 minutes ago A U.S. judge in Boston has ruled that a federal gay marriage ban is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define marriage.

Interesting news from the United Kingdom

Posted on July 07, 2010
MOJ friend Aidan O'Neill send this our way: MOJ readers might be interested in the attached decision out today from the UK Supreme Court (here) on the issue of whether gay people can be required/expected under international asylum/refugees to conceal...

Troubling opinions in the UK's asylum case

Posted on July 07, 2010
Michael P. brings us news of an asylum case out of the UK, which grants asylum to homosexuals based on their membership in a particular social group. Under the law, a person can be granted asylum if they are threatened...

Followup to Rob Vischer's post yesterday

Posted on July 07, 2010
Here is Rob's post. And here is the followup, in the form of commentary by Ross Douthat.

The Prudence of Law School Administration Regulation of Law Student Organizations in the Aftermath of the Hastings Case (Part Two)

Posted on July 07, 2010
Yesterday (post here), I offered several principled reasons why law schools should provide ample room for student organizations to define their own purpose and values, including expectations for members and leaders. In addition, several practical reasons counsel a law school...

Treating scientific statements as apolitical

Posted on July 06, 2010
William Saletan weighs in on Elena Kagan's "reframing" of ACOG's medical analysis of partial birth abortion.

Rise of the Religious Left

Posted on July 06, 2010
By Charles M. Blow Op-Ed, NYT, July 2, 2010 Which political party?s members are most likely to believe that Jesus will definitely return to earth before midcentury? The Republicans, right? Wrong. The Democrats. This was revealed by a report issued...

Christianity Going South

Posted on July 06, 2010
Sightings Christianity Going South -- Martin E. Marty Sightings authors often comment on religion in the United States rather than "the rest of the world," but through the years have shown regularly how artificial or at least permeable such geographical...

Notre Dame's Fr. Richard McBrien on the Phoenix abortion controversy

Posted on July 06, 2010
Here.

The Prudence of Law School Administration Regulation of Law Student Organizations in the Aftermath of the Hastings Case (Part One)

Posted on July 06, 2010
Because it was such a dramatic setback for constitutionally-protected freedom of expression and association on public university campuses, the Christian Legal Society v. Martinez case naturally has been been the focus of attention primarily in terms of the constitutional questions...

"Dictatorship of Relativism"

Posted on July 05, 2010
Rigorously consistent moral relativists (or subjectivists) are hard to find. Less than rigorously consistent moral relativists are extremely common. If you doubt the latter proposition, just teach a freshman philosophy class or attend a cocktail party (especially a cocktail party...

Continuing the conversation ...

Posted on July 05, 2010
I appreciate Robby's effort to clarify what then-Cardinal Ratzinger may have meant in his less-than-clear talk about "a dictatorship of relativism." Robby: "The point that Pope Benedict is trying to communicate, I believe, . . ." Robby writes: "[W]hen morality...

Relativism and all that

Posted on July 05, 2010
I have been following with special interest the robust debate these past couple of days on the issue of relativism which my friends have been presenting here at the Mirror of Justice. Two items that help me think through the...

Well, frankly, I don't know what else to say ...

Posted on July 05, 2010
I think that my four posts (here, here, here, and here) are responsive to Michael S.'s query (here). Time to move on, I think.

Dear Michael P.,

Posted on July 05, 2010
Ratzinger argued in the week before he became Pope that "[w]e are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires." You dismiss this by...

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