Mirror of Justice

A blog dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory.
Affiliated with the Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame Law School.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Question for Rick re Indiana's Proposed Consent Law

By Susan Stabile

In connection with a proposed Indiana law, Rick asks "in what sense is the statement that 'human life begins when a human ovum is fertilized by a human sperm' anything other than a 'scientific[]' claim?"  Rick: doesn't the answer depend on the basis on which the legislature has determined that women should be informed that life begins when the ovum is fertilized?

The belief that life begins at conception can be based on both religion and science.  I think there is sufficient genetic and other scientific evidence to support the claim, but I personally also accept the claim as a matter of religious belief.  There are people, however, who dispute the scientific claim and who don't accept the religious claim. 

So it seems to me the bigger question relating to Ulmer's statement, is: if the legislature is going to say women must be informed that human life begins when the ovum is fertilized, should it be incumbent on the legislature to have made the determination based on science and not on religious belief?

"Taking No Positions on the Issus of the Day"

By Susan Stabile

Rick references Will Baude's comments about Catholic Universities and greatness.  I, too, was struck by the assertion that a crucial function to be performed by universities can only be performed by a university that takes no position on the issues of the day.  I do not disagree that it is important that all universities (Catholic or otherwise) engage with positions that are contrary to their own views and beliefs, and that a university that is unwilling to so engage is not performing a crucial function of a university. 

However, it is illusory to think that there exist any institutions, universities or otherwise, that take no position on the issues of the day.  That the positions are not expressed in religious or moral terms does not mean they do not reflect an underlying view of the humam person and the person's relation to others.  And that underlying view of the human person has an impact on how one views "the issues of the day."   

I explore this question in the context of views of the nature of the corporation in my article, Using Religion to Promote Corporate Responsibility (39 Wake Forest Law Review), where I argue that secular views of the corporation that purport to be value-neutral are just as value laden as religious views.

Monday, February 6, 2006

Vagina Monologue

By Susan Stabile

I was interested to read the posts by MIchael and Rick linking the statements of the Presidents of Loyola and Notre Dame regarding performances on campus of the Vagina Monologues.  I should start by saying that I have never seen a production of the play and therefore can not speak to whether it treats women as sexual objects and degrades them, as one critic has charged, or whether it promotes the authentic human development of women.

Without regard to the merits of the play, I wonder whether part of the difference how Jenkins (Notre Dame) and Wildes (Loyola) speak about the issue has to do with the question of repeat vs. single performance.  Jenkins raises a concern about endorsement and refers a couple of times to the fact that the performance of Vagina Monologues has been an annual event at Notre Dame and the fear that the repeated performances convey a message of endorsement.  Although I may be wrong, I read Wildes to be speaking of a single event.

I think the endorsement question is an interesting one and wonder whether people think one ought to think differently about an annual event vs. a single showing of something that is inconsistent with Catholic views.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Jurisprudential Legacy of Pope John Paul II

By Susan Stabile

Some of you may have received a "save the date" card for St. John's University School of Law's upcoming symposium on the Jurisprudential Legacy of Pope John Paul II, which be held at the law school on March 23-24.  The four panels will explore both the theoretical underpinnings of the thought of Pope John Paul II and his views of justice as well as the application of his thought to different areas of the law.  Papers will be delivered by a number of theologians and law professors, including MOJ bloggers Robert Araujo, Mike Scapalander and Greg Sisk.  Commentary on the papers will be delivered by MOJ'ers Michael Perry, Rob Vischer, Amy Uelman and myself.  John Allen, NCR's Vatican correspondant, will be our keynote speaker.  I look forward to welcoming you to St. John's for what I know will be an exciting and informative program.

 

Sunday, December 25, 2005

God so loved the world

By Susan Stabile

When all the gifts have been opened and the holiday feast consumed, when all the relatives and friends have gone home and the day has come to an end, this startling reality remains:

God so loves us that not only were we created in God's image, but God became human, like us in all things save sin.   The theologian Michael Himes once observed that "the great mystery hidden from all generations and revealed in the Incarnation is God's secret ambition.  From all eternity God has wanted to be exactly like you and me.  This is the ultimate statement of the goodness of being human, the rightness of humanity.  The immense dignity of the human person is at the heart of the Christian tradition because it flows directly from the doctrine of the Incarnation itself.  Indeed, the Incarnation is the highest compliment ever paid to being human."

Blessings to all on this Christmas night.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Consistency and Continuity

By Susan Stabile

A couple of people have made reference to the consistency or continuity of Church teaching on homosexuality.  I think it important to keep in mind the time period we are talking about.    The teachings being referenced in this thread were all written within the last 30 years, which in the life of the Church is not very long.

In thinking about the period, it may be useful to remember that prior to the 1970s, homosexuality was viewed as an illness.  It was only in 1973 that the American Psychiatric Association took homosexuality off of its list of medical disorders and in 1974 (shortly before the first of the Vatican documents cited) that the American Psychological Association took it off of its list of mental disorders.

I've already expressed  my disappointment with the most recent document.  I agree with those who thinkg it treats homosexuals as inferior.  I'm also not convinced that the document's position that all those with deep seated homosexual tendencies are thereby completely unfit for the ministry of the priesthood, regardless of their ability to lead celibate lives and regardless of their commitment to the Church's sexual teachings, is consistent with the prior documents.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Another Disappointed Voice

By Susan Stabile

I've been depressed all day about the Vatican's latest statement on homosexuality and the priesthood, perhaps more so because I somehow let myself become convinced the document was not going to be as bad as people were worried it might be.

Although I share the lack of understanding of what it means to be a supporter of "gay culture" that others have expressed, what really troubles me is the exclusion of those with "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies."  There is no question that so long as celibacy is a requirement of the priesthood (whether it should or should not be is a different debate), that all candidates who appear incapable of living a celibate lifestyle - heterosexual or homosexual -  must be excluded.  But to categorically exclude, as the statement appears to, all persons with a homosexual orientation, regardless of their ability to live a celibate life, is difficult for me to reconcile with the Church's recognitions in earlier statements that homosexual orientation is innate and ought not be a ground for discrimination. 

I suspect we have all known gay priest who live and have lived their lives faithful to their vows and to the teachings of the Church.  We will all suffer the loss of such men in the future.

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

Torture

By Susan Stabile

I was interested to read Tom's question whether one can make an argument, consistent with Christian moral thought, that torture should be treated as a question of prudence rather than an intrinsic evil.  It is the asking of the question that I find interesting.

I teach a  first semester/first year Introduction to Law and the Legal Profession course, a couple of classes of which are devoted to an introduction to Legal Ethics.  I have used different vehicles for teaching this part of the course.  This year, I decided to use the DOJ's torture memo as a basis for discussion, thinking it would offer a good tool to think broadly about lawyers' obligations both to and beyond the client.  It did not work as well as I had hoped it would.

The reason it did not is that for the discussion about the lawyer's behavior to work effectively, there needs to be a shared starting point understanding that torture is wrong.  I went into the discussion (naive as I can sometimes be) assuming that such a shared understanding exists.  I know that we live in a world where most things seem to be up for grabs, but really did not think torture is one of them.  I thought we were all sitting in horror about the reports of Abu Ghraib etc.

Based on the responses of my students, I was wrong.  Their responses suggest to me that there are a significant number of people (of varying religions; my class is quite mixed on that score) who accept the prudence over evil way of thinking about the issue.   It is difficult for me to see how that view can be squared with Catholic moral thought and I share Tom's interest in hearing the thoughts of others on the question. 

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Catholic Communities

By Susan Stabile

I have read with interest the various posts regarding Catholic communal attachments (or lack thereof).  My own background is much as that described by Mark:  I grew up in Sts. Simons and Jude (the only meaningful way to identify where in Brooklyn I came from); we went to SSJ grammar school; we played volleyball in a parish league in the SSJ school yard every Saturday, except for my brother, who played CYO softball; my parents ran the parish youth center and served on the parish council; my mom taught CCD and was a Columbiette, my dad was in the K of C, etc, etc., etc.  Everyone's lives were built around the parish.

My current experience in Port Washington (a burb on the North Shore of Nassau County) is very different but I'm not convinced the difference is primarily city vs. suburban issue.  First, I think Greg is quite correct that the presence or absence of a parish school makes an extraordinary difference.  My experience in SSJ bears out the truth of his observation that familial involvement in the school leads to a greater involvement generally in the life of the chuch.  My current parish does not have a school and, while people generally do hang aound after mass (no one leaves immediately after communion), it takes a lot more effort to keep people involved.

Another factor that I think is very important is the declining number of religious - both priests and nuns.  SSJ always had at least 5 priests and several deacons, not to mention a flock of nuns the whole time I was growing up there.  My current parish (albeit much smaller) has one priest and two nuns.  When I grew up, the priests and nuns were a constant fixture in the neighborhood - just walking around, constantly at the home of one neighbor or the other, attending our volleyball games etc.  Now it is true that people walked around a lot more in Brooklyn than they do in Port Washington (I'm not saying there is no truth to the city vs. suburb point), but the numbers make a big difference.

I also agree with Greg that there is a problem in what he calls the "prevailing mind-set in the typlical Catholic parish."  My sense is that Catholic parishes too easily buy into a view that people have a lot of things demanding their attention and that the Church should not be adding to their burden of responsibilities.  I, for example, once heard a nun say that all Holy Days of Obligation should be changed to Sunday so that people don't have to go to mass an additional time during the week.  I find it hard to accept that it is a great burden to spend one additional hour (actually most masses take less than one hour) each week in communal workshop on those few Holy Days of Obligation that we still celebrate.  While I agree we all must take responsibility, I also think the leaders of the parish must set a tone that suggests something more than attending mass once a week is called for.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Rosa Parks, RIP

By Susan Stabile

Rosa Parks, who almost 50 years ago precipitated a major civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, died yesterday at the age of 92.  Her act of courage is an inspiration to all who work for justice and peace.  Thank you, Rosa.  Click here for the New York Times piece today about her life and death.

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