The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law welcomes Dr. Leslie Griffin, Larry and Joanne Doherty Chair in Legal Ethics, University of Houston Law Center to deliver the 10th Annual McElroy Lecture on Law & Religion, Tuesday, March 18, 2008 @ 5:30 PM
No Law Respecting the Practice of Religion
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” What if the drafters used the words “practice of religion” instead of “religion”? How would this change the jurisprudence surrounding this part of our Constitution? Dr. Leslie Griffin, Professor of Law at the University Houston Law Center will address this compelling question, focusing on government funding for religious organizations, public school prayer and free exercise claims. Through this exercise, Dr. Griffin will explore the meaning our courts have given to the term “religion” as they have addressed these critical issues.
For more information please contact Prof. Andrew Moore, (313)596-0220 or mooreaf@udmercy.edu
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
More Details on the BC Meeting!
Boston College has announced further details for the April 6-8 meeting of the Religiously Affiliated Law Schools. Check here for information on the event, including registration and lodging info.
Below is the schedule for the conference:
SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2008
5:00 p.m. Roman Catholic Mass, Trinity Chapel, BC Law School
(for those interested)
6:00 p.m. Opening Reception
7:00 p.m. Dinner
SPEAKER: JOHN GARVEY, DEAN, BOSTON COLLEGE LAW SCHOOL
TABLE DISCUSSION: IDENTIFY 10 THINGS YOU DO DIFFERENTLY AT YOUR LAW SCHOOL BECAUSE YOU ARE A RELIGIOUSLY AFFILIATED INSTITUTION
MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008
9:00 – 10:15 a.m. TEACHING THROUGH THE LENS OF FAITH: SUCCESSFULLY ENGAGING RELIGIOUS ISSUES IN THE CLASSROOM
• Ladislas Orsy, S.J., Georgetown
• Mark Osler, Baylor
• Chaim Saiman, Villanova
• Amy Uelmen, Fordham
10:15 – 10:45 a.m. Break and informal discussion
10:45 – 12:15 p.m. STUDENT VOCATIONAL DISCERNMENT: SPARKING THE SPIRITUAL, MORAL, AND PROFESSIONAL FORMATION OF YOUNG ADULTS (AND US TOO!)
• Jeff Brauch, Dean, Regent
• R. Michael Cassidy, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Boston College and BC Law School students
• Natt Gant, Regent
• Jerome Organ, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Univ. of St. Thomas (Minneapolis)
• Susan Stabile, Univ. of St. Thomas (Minneapolis)
• Ronald Volkmer, Creighton
12:30 p.m. LUNCH & SPEAKER: CUTBERTO GARZA, PROVOST, BOSTON COLLEGE, GASSON HALL, CHESTNUT HILL CAMPUS
2:30 – 3:45 p.m. HIRING (AND ADMITTING) FOR MISSION: WHAT IT MEANS AND HOW TO DO IT
• Mary Bowman, Seattle Univ.
• Cari Haaland, Director of Admissions, Univ. of St. Thomas (Minneapolis)
• Kenneth Starr, Dean, Pepperdine
• Kevin Worthen, Dean, BYU
TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2008
9:00 – 10:30 a.m. SCHOLARSHIP THROUGH THE LENS OF FAITH: WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE AND WHY DO YOU WANT TO REACH THEM?
• Michael Broyde, Emory
• Vince Rougeau, Notre Dame
• David Skeel, Univ. of Pennsylvania
10:45 – 12:15 p.m. THE CHALLENGE OF INCLUSION: AVOIDING THE US AND THEM
• Sam Levine, Pepperdine
• Lucia Silecchia, Catholic Univ. of America
• Norah Wylie, Dean for Students, Boston College, and BC students
12:30 p.m. CONCLUDING LUNCH
Below is the schedule for the conference:
SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2008
5:00 p.m. Roman Catholic Mass, Trinity Chapel, BC Law School
(for those interested)
6:00 p.m. Opening Reception
7:00 p.m. Dinner
SPEAKER: JOHN GARVEY, DEAN, BOSTON COLLEGE LAW SCHOOL
TABLE DISCUSSION: IDENTIFY 10 THINGS YOU DO DIFFERENTLY AT YOUR LAW SCHOOL BECAUSE YOU ARE A RELIGIOUSLY AFFILIATED INSTITUTION
MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008
9:00 – 10:15 a.m. TEACHING THROUGH THE LENS OF FAITH: SUCCESSFULLY ENGAGING RELIGIOUS ISSUES IN THE CLASSROOM
• Ladislas Orsy, S.J., Georgetown
• Mark Osler, Baylor
• Chaim Saiman, Villanova
• Amy Uelmen, Fordham
10:15 – 10:45 a.m. Break and informal discussion
10:45 – 12:15 p.m. STUDENT VOCATIONAL DISCERNMENT: SPARKING THE SPIRITUAL, MORAL, AND PROFESSIONAL FORMATION OF YOUNG ADULTS (AND US TOO!)
• Jeff Brauch, Dean, Regent
• R. Michael Cassidy, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Boston College and BC Law School students
• Natt Gant, Regent
• Jerome Organ, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Univ. of St. Thomas (Minneapolis)
• Susan Stabile, Univ. of St. Thomas (Minneapolis)
• Ronald Volkmer, Creighton
12:30 p.m. LUNCH & SPEAKER: CUTBERTO GARZA, PROVOST, BOSTON COLLEGE, GASSON HALL, CHESTNUT HILL CAMPUS
2:30 – 3:45 p.m. HIRING (AND ADMITTING) FOR MISSION: WHAT IT MEANS AND HOW TO DO IT
• Mary Bowman, Seattle Univ.
• Cari Haaland, Director of Admissions, Univ. of St. Thomas (Minneapolis)
• Kenneth Starr, Dean, Pepperdine
• Kevin Worthen, Dean, BYU
TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2008
9:00 – 10:30 a.m. SCHOLARSHIP THROUGH THE LENS OF FAITH: WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE AND WHY DO YOU WANT TO REACH THEM?
• Michael Broyde, Emory
• Vince Rougeau, Notre Dame
• David Skeel, Univ. of Pennsylvania
10:45 – 12:15 p.m. THE CHALLENGE OF INCLUSION: AVOIDING THE US AND THEM
• Sam Levine, Pepperdine
• Lucia Silecchia, Catholic Univ. of America
• Norah Wylie, Dean for Students, Boston College, and BC students
12:30 p.m. CONCLUDING LUNCH
Friday, January 25, 2008
God and Man in Malibu
Pepperdine has organized a fascinating conference for February 21-22 on the question of "Is there a higher law? Does it matter?" Speakers include (but aren't limited to) Mark Tushnet, Kenneth Elzinga, Steven D. Smith, and Doug Kmiec. For more info, go to Pepperdine's website.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
An update on the upcoming RALS conference!
Boston College, host of this year's meeting of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools, now has some info up on their web site here. The conference is slated for April 6-8, which is often a beautiful early-spring week in New England.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
An interesting take on pacifism and just war
I often troll for knowledge and provocation over at the social science research network (www.ssrn.com), and I usually find a fistful of both.
Most recently, I came across a piece written by David B. Kopel, titled "Evolving Christian Attitudes Towards Personal and National National Self-Defense." The full text is available for download here. The passage below is drawn from Kopel's abstract:
In the nineteenth and early in the twentieth centuries, the traditional Christian concepts of Just War and of the individual's duty to use force to defend himself and his family remained uncontroversial, as they had been for centuries. Disillusionment over World War One turned many Catholics and Protestants towards pacifism. Without necessarily adopting pacifism as a theory, they adopted pacifism as a practice. World War Two and the early Cold War ended the pacifist interlude for all but a few radical pacifists.
Beginning in the 1960s, much of the American Catholic leadership, like the leadership of mainline Protestant churches, turned sharply Left. Although churches did not repudiate their teachings on Just War, many Catholic and mainline Protestant leaders seemed unable to find any circumstances under which American or Western force actually was legitimate. Pacifism and anti-Americanism marched hand in hand. Today, pacifism now has greater respectability within orthodox Christianity than any time in the past 1700 years.
Most recently, I came across a piece written by David B. Kopel, titled "Evolving Christian Attitudes Towards Personal and National National Self-Defense." The full text is available for download here. The passage below is drawn from Kopel's abstract:
In the nineteenth and early in the twentieth centuries, the traditional Christian concepts of Just War and of the individual's duty to use force to defend himself and his family remained uncontroversial, as they had been for centuries. Disillusionment over World War One turned many Catholics and Protestants towards pacifism. Without necessarily adopting pacifism as a theory, they adopted pacifism as a practice. World War Two and the early Cold War ended the pacifist interlude for all but a few radical pacifists.
Beginning in the 1960s, much of the American Catholic leadership, like the leadership of mainline Protestant churches, turned sharply Left. Although churches did not repudiate their teachings on Just War, many Catholic and mainline Protestant leaders seemed unable to find any circumstances under which American or Western force actually was legitimate. Pacifism and anti-Americanism marched hand in hand. Today, pacifism now has greater respectability within orthodox Christianity than any time in the past 1700 years.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Is the hunger there?
Every year over on my personal blog I solicit suggestions on how we can make Baylor Law a better place. This year, the post yielded up 82 comments from students and former students.
One intriguing part of the process this year was that not one of those comments related to the religious mission of the school.
I don't think the issue is that the students don't care about that part of our mission, which I think is very important. Rather, I suspect that they simply don't see that as an area which urgently needs change one way or the other... or so I hope.
One intriguing part of the process this year was that not one of those comments related to the religious mission of the school.
I don't think the issue is that the students don't care about that part of our mission, which I think is very important. Rather, I suspect that they simply don't see that as an area which urgently needs change one way or the other... or so I hope.
Monday, October 8, 2007
When Justices Go To Church
I was in Washington for the start of the Supreme Court's term this year, having written one of the briefs in the Kimbrough case. One item on the news the Sunday before the start of arguments was that six of the Justices attended the annual "Red Mass" at the Cathedral of St. Matthew, which is held every year to commemorate the opening of the court. With five Catholic Justices (who were joined at the service by Justice Breyer, who is Jewish), the service seems fitting.
Not all agree, though. In this article, Marci Hamilton at Findlaw argues that "there is good reason to question the judgment of the Justices who attended." In the article, Hamilton seems to link attendance at the service to the outcome in Gonzalez v. Carhart.
Not all agree, though. In this article, Marci Hamilton at Findlaw argues that "there is good reason to question the judgment of the Justices who attended." In the article, Hamilton seems to link attendance at the service to the outcome in Gonzalez v. Carhart.
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