Were Hitler and Stalin possessed by Satan? The Vatican's exorcist -- is that really an official position? -- apparently believes so. Now I'll be the first to count The Screwtape Letters as a wonderful reminder of the spiritual dimension to good and evil, but pronouncing with any confidence when human evil is the product of satanic power threatens to marginalize the human choice from which evil results. "The Devil made him do it," in a way, serves to disconnect us from the mess we create, minimizing our moral agency.
Rob
UPDATE: A reader reminds me of 1 John 5:19 ("[T]he whole world is under the control of the evil one.") and asks
Isn't all evil the product of satanic power? I don't think pointing that out minimizes our human agency, as long as we're compatibilists about human freedom (as we should be). As I see it, saying that God makes people do good things doesn't take away genuine praise of those people, and saying that the Devil makes people do bad things doesn't take away genuine condemnation of those people.
I agree generally, but if Satan's hand is everywhere, I wonder whether it makes sense to distinguish Hitler and Stalin from everyone else. And I still question what blaming Satan does to the moral culpability of the possessed individuals. if the really, really evil folks are possessed by Satan to a greater extent than the rest of us somewhat evil folks, are the really evil ones culpable because they’ve allowed themselves to fall into Satan’s possession, or are they culpable because they still exercise control over their own actions? If the latter, what is Satan’s role – a matter of influence, rather than possession? I don’t at all deny the spiritual world and its relevance, I’m just much more reluctant than the exorcist is to identify particular instances of its manifestation.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
I have followed with great interest the discussion among several MOJ contributors regarding the Georgetown University Ministry decision regarding the Protestant ministry office. I do not have answers to the questions posed by Rick and Susan about Georgetown. I did, however, find the justification offered for the decision not to rely on "outside groups" to be rather thin. My reason for stating this is based on an examination of several Jesuit tradition university campus ministry websites, including Georgetown's. With hyperlinks from these sites, one can discover varying degrees of connections with many outside groups when it comes to a variety of programs including "social justice" volunteer opportunities. These links would apply to students of all faiths at these universities. In this category, one will come across links to the ACLU and Amnesty International. Some of these two organizations' existing programs or new programs under consideration challenge Catholic teachings on important subjects. Yet, these outside organizations are institutions to whom Catholic students are referred directly and indirectly by the Catholic chaplaincy offices. I wonder if anyone at Georgetown or other Jesuit tradition schools has considered the effects that such organizations could have on their Catholic students? Or, Protestant students? As I said, earlier, I really don't have answers to Susan's and Rick's questions. Rather, I have some new issues that may intensify discussion on this topic. RJA sj
In Books & Culture, Penn law prof David Skeel reviews The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics and Human Nature (a volume to which MoJ-er Patrick Brennan contributed) and notes the growing interest in exploring the intersection of Christianity and law:
From the early 20th century until the 1940s, evangelical Christians disengaged from American public life. Law schools were hostile territory, generally to be avoided. As a result, the few evangelical legal scholars tended to operate under cover, assiduously separating their faith and their scholarly life. By the 1970s, Presbyterian minister and apologist Francis Schaeffer and other evangelical leaders, building on the efforts of predecessors such as Carl Henry and Harold Ockenga, had begun asking why there weren't more Christian lawyers, doctors, and businessmen. The evangelical re-engagement that followed has spread to academic circles, but more slowly than to business and the professions. Even now, it is an unusual law school that has more than one or two scholars who identify themselves as Christians, and whose faith explicitly informs their scholarship.
The publication of The Teachings of Modern Christianity, and the major Pew Charitable Trust funding that launched the project, signifies the major change underway. With the visible influence of Catholic intellectuals and evangelical leaders on the current White House, there suddenly is a deep interest in perspectives on religion, politics, and law. Legal scholars are not oblivious to these developments, as reflected in the increasing numbers of law review articles with "Christianity" in the title. Much of the new scholarship, too much perhaps, emphasizes philosophy and philosophical theology at the expense of other methodologies. The bias is understandable. For a generation chastened by Mark Noll's brilliant indictment, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, it's hard to resist the assumption that philosophy must be the truest and highest scholarly end.
Read the whole thing here.
Rob
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
The rape and resulting pregnancy of an eleven year-old girl presents one of the more sympathetic cases for abortion rights. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church in Columbia has responded by excommunicating anyone involved in the girl's abortion, including the judges, legislators, politicians, and parents who made it possible. (HT: Open Book)
Rob
UPDATE: Hold on. The prelate denies saying that the parties involved will be excommunicated. But another interesting wrinkle emerges regarding a professional's right of conscience:
In May, Colombia's constitutional court legalized abortion in cases where fetuses were severely malformed, the pregnancy was the result of a rape or incest, or the mother's life was in danger. Initially, doctors refused to perform abortions, wary of later facing prosecution. But the court issued a ruling compelling doctors to abide by its decision if the woman's case fell within the criteria.
If you, like me, have been intrigued by the prospect of someday supplementing your legal education with graduate work in theology, you'll find R.R. Reno's informal ranking of theology programs very helpful.
Rob
Professor Friedman reports:
California Governor Signs GLBT Bias Bill With No Religious Exception
In California, the Campaign for Children and Families is
criticizing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signing on Monday of
SB 1441 that adds "sexual orientation" to the law that prohibits discrimination by any program that receives state financial assistance. Critics are concerned that there is no exception for religiously affiliated institutions. Religiously affiliated colleges enroll students who receive state financial aid, and many religiously affiliated children's day care centers and after-school programs receive state aid.
CNSNews today, reporting on these developments, says that other bills calling for equal treatment of gays and lesbians are also pending in the California legislature.
In the blogs and on the op-ed pages, it looks like the "Wal-Mart Debate" is heating up. Our own Steve Bainbridge has some interesting thoughts on the matter, here.
In a case called New York City v. Fifth Ave. Presbyterian Church, No. 06-163, the City has filed a cert. petition which includes, according to U.S. Law Week, the following Question Presented:
> "Did the holding of Second Circuit that church's maintaining of nightly
> encampment on its steps is constitutionally protected religious conduct err
> by failing to consider that church's failure to provide security, toilets
> and sanitary facilities, and shelter from elements stands in direct
> contravention to religious doctrine of serving needy, which church cites as
> basis for maintaining encampment?"
Wow. "Please tell the Second Circuit to tell the church that it is wrong about its religion." (Thanks to Walter Weber for the news.)
