Of course history (people) can make sectarian views nonsectarian and vice versa. A religious belief under the Constitution is what the religious believer says it is right now, not what history said it was or should be. Alito is following Vatican (religious) dogma. In current US society, the push against gay marriage is based on religious believers who believe it is sinful for same sex couples to marry. That is the discourse regardless of the source of their current beliefs.
Marci Marci A. Hamilton Verkuil Chair in Public Law Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School Yeshiva University @Marci_Hamilton On Jun 29, 2013, at 4:18 PM, Richard Dougherty <dou...@udallas.edu> wrote: > I understand why it can seem that way, but history can't make a nonsectarian > view sectarian. The claim that the majority -- but not all -- of the > arguments one hears are sectarian is per se evidence that it is not > sectarian. There is a reason why the arguments track, but are not derived > from, Vatican teaching, and that is that the Vatican teaching is largely > drawn from philosophical principles, not theological ones. The natural law is > the common source. > > Richard Dougherty > > On Sat, Jun 29, 2013 at 11:25 AM, Marci Hamilton <hamilton.ma...@gmail.com> > wrote: >> At this stage in history, Alito's view is in fact decisively sectarian. The >> vast majority of opposition is theological w theological sources. That is >> the political reality. And his sources and arguments are derived directly >> from Vatican doctrine. >> >> Marci A. Hamilton >> Verkuil Chair in Public Law >> Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School >> Yeshiva University >> @Marci_Hamilton >> >> >> >> On Jun 29, 2013, at 12:10 PM, Richard Dougherty <dou...@udallas.edu> wrote: >> >>> >>> Well, I don't know what Alito may say about Posner's characterization, but >>> I'm guessing he would not embrace the view he forwarded as "emotional and >>> sectarian, rather than rational." Indeed, I'm finding it hard to imagine >>> that anyone would characterize their own view that way. (Well, maybe >>> Westboro Baptist, but Alito is not of that persuasion, I would imagine.) >>> While it may be true that the view he suggests is close to the Vatican's >>> view (which Posner derisively calls its "sex doctrine"), it is also the >>> dominant view of marriage over the past thousands of years. There's >>> nothing necessarily sectarian about it, and it's certainly not >>> non-rational. It might not be persuasive to all, or to many, but it would >>> be an injustice to dismiss it so cavalierly. >>> Richard Dougherty >>> On Sat, Jun 29, 2013 at 10:19 AM, Marty Lederman <lederman.ma...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>>> As a couple of you have pointed out to me, Judge Posner has addressed the >>>> Alito dissent; in Slate >>>> (http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_breakfast_table/features/2013/supreme_court_2013/supreme_court_and_doma_justice_alito_s_defense_is_all_emotion.html), >>>> he writes: > _______________________________________________ > To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see > http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw > > Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as > private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; > people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) > forward the messages to others.
_______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
