In Defense of Liberty (Law School, that is)

My earlier post on Liberty Law School has prompted Eric Kniffin to offer this defense of the school's dean and mission:

The press I've seen in the last few days about Liberty Law School makes me wince as well. Especially because I have grown to become quite excited about the school.

The founding dean of the law school is a dear friend and mentor of mine, Bruce Green. He is a gifted leader and a careful thinker, one of the most principled and thoughtful people I've had the pleasure to get to know. Bruce is not given to theatrics and although he probably wouldn't say so, I'm sure he wasn't comfortable with Falwell's proclamation.

Liberty Law School's mission is less to train an army of warriors who will, upon graduation, immediately try to mount a battle against (fill in a social issue, newly minted fundamental right of your choice here). Rather, it is to train law students in the fullness of the Anglo-American common law tradition. In our climate, that means giving students confidence that there is such a thing as objective truth, and that these truths are publicly accessible, not private religious commitments.

Bruce is a deacon in the continuing Anglican Church. He is very much an Anglo-Catholic and is not a Baptist. Bruce has and will, I believe, continue to leave his mark on the law school. I'd encourage you to try to look past Falwell and look at the law school itself, as things unfold in Lynchburg in the weeks, months, and years to come.

In the meanwhile, if you want to get a flavor for where Bruce is trying to take the law school, take a gander at his "Dean's Blog" on the school's web site.

Indeed, Dean Green's vision seems significantly more nuanced than the one offered by his boss, Rev. Falwell, who has promised that the school "will be as far to the right as Harvard is to the left." It will be interesting to see whether the school develops in keeping with the rich Augustinian tradition invoked by the dean or with the one-dimensional right-wing political agenda trumpeted by its founder.

Rob