Certainly social reform is coming, but it's already taking a certain form. The
movement toward same-sex unions is pretty clearly proceeding down the track of
expanding our conception of government marriage, rather than removing the
government from marriage. Such a dramatic shift in the object of reform
efforts at this stage would require reorienting the entire movement, and the
impetus for the reorientation is not obvious. Further, pushing marriage back
to religious (and non-religious) mediating communities is not going to erase
the culture war tension surrounding the issue. As we see in a variety of
contexts, suggesting that the state retreat from contests over religiously
shaped conceptions of the good can prove immensely unpopular. Especially in
the post-Roe environment, many religious voices (most prominently, but of
course not exclusively, evangelicals) are not going to retreat into their
respective corners, content to maintain marriage as a religiously pure, but
legally marginalized, subculture practice. (In theological terms, the work of
Richard John Neuhaus has a much wider following than the work of Stanley
Hauerwas.)
To be clear, I think it's an attractive idea. I just don't see how it's going
to happen.
Rob Vischer
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Steven Jamar
Sent: Tue 3/15/2005 5:57 PM
To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
Cc:
Subject: Re: Rights of clergy regarding same-sex marriage?
On Tuesday, March 15, 2005, at 04:44 PM, James Maule wrote:
> What major social reform effectuated through legal change was NOT a
> political non-starter when it first was proposed?
"Never doubt that the work of a small group of thoughtful, committed
citizens can change the world. Indeed, it s the only thing that ever
has."
Margaret Meade
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 3/15/2005 3:12:30 PM >>>
>
> The idea of cleanly separating religious
> marriage from state-recognized relationship is appealing, but a
> political non-starter, in my view.
>
> Rob Vischer
>
--
Prof. Steven D. Jamar vox: 202-806-8017
Howard University School of Law fax: 202-806-8428
2900 Van Ness Street NW mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Washington, DC 20008 http://www.law.howard.edu/faculty/pages/jamar
"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be
changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the
wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."
Reinhold Neibuhr 1943
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