Church autonomy is not a better path to “truth”

Journal of Law and Religion

Volumn 22, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 215-223

  Hamilton, Marci A ^a  

^a YESHIVA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 85023021752     PISSN: 07480814     EISSN: 21633088     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0748081400003258     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. Kathleen A. Brady, Religious Group Autonomy: Further Reflections about What is at Stake, 22 J.L. & Religion 153 (2006–2007).
2. See Kathleen A. Brady, Religious Organizations and Free Exercise: The Surprising Lessons of Smith, 2004 BYU L. Rev. 1633 (2004)
3. Kathleen A. Brady, Religious Organizations and Mandatory Collective Bargaining Under Federal and State Labor Laws: Freedom From and Freedom For, 49 Vill. L. Rev. 77 (2004).
4. See Marci A. Hamilton, God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law 3–11 (Cambridge U. Press 2005).
5. See James Wilson, The Works of James Wilson vol. 2, 605 (Robert Green McCloskey ed., Harv. U. Press 1967)
6. Ralph Ketcham, James Madison: A Biography (Am. Political Biography Press 2003)
7. Drew R. McCoy, The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy (Cambridge U. Press 1989).
8. Quakers, Methodists, and Baptists generally opposed slavery in the 18th century. See Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, Christianity and Slavery: Movement towards Abolition, http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_slav3.htm (accessed Feb. 22, 2006).
9. The most influential opponent of slavery in early America was the Pennsylvania Quaker Anthony Benezet, Some Historical Account of Guinea, Its Situation, Produce, and the General Disposition of Its Inhabitants, written in 1772, available at Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11489 (accessed Feb. 22, 2007).
10. See also Granville Sharp, An essay on slavery, proving from Scripture its inconsistency with humanity and religion: in answer to a late publication, entitled, “The African trade for Negro slaves shewn to be consistent with principles of humanity, and with the laws of revealed religion.”, available at Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection, Cornell University Library, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, http://dlxs.library.cornell.edu/m/mayantislavery/index.htm (accessed Mar. 9, 2007). By Granville Sharp, Esq; with an introductory preface, containing the sentiments of the monthly reviewers on that publication; and the opinion of several eminent writers on the subject; to which is added, An elegy on the miserable state of an African slave, by the celebrated and ingenious William Shenstone, Esq., (Burlington (N.J.), Isaac Collins 1773).
11. Robert Abzug, Abolition and Religion, http://www.historynow.org/09_2005/historian5.html (accessed Feb. 22, 2007).
12. Lest there be those who believe that the hierarchy's cover-up has abated, Cardinal Chaput of Denver recently settled a handful of clergy abuse cases and did not agree to release the files of the perpetrators. Howard Pankratz, Groups Demand Release of Accused Priest's Files, Denver Post B-08 (Nov. 3, 2006) (available at http://www.devenpost.com/ci_4592824, last updated Nov. 2, 2006). In addition, the Archdioceses of Chicago kept secret the abuse allegations against active priests in late 2005, which led to the abuse of at least one more child.
13. Michael Sneed & Eric Herman, Panel Advised Cardinal in October to Remove McCormack, Chi. Sun-Times 6 (Feb. 24, 2006).
14. See Thomas P. Doyle, A.W.R. Sipe & Patrick J. Wall, Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse 40–41, 47–49, 56, 259–260 (Bonus Books 2006).
15. See Jason Berry, Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children (U. III. Press 2000)
16. Jason Berry & Gerald Renner, Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II (Free Press 2004).
17. Brady, Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II, at xx.
18. Brady, Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II, at xx.
19. One recent study lists the percentage of secular, atheist, and agnostic Americans at 10.7%. See John C. Green, The American Religious Landscape and Political Attitudes: A Baseline for 2004, at 3, http://pewforum.org/publications/surveys/green-full.pdf (accessed Feb. 22, 2007).
20. Brady, The American Religious Landscape and Political Attitudes: A Baseline for 2004, at xx.
21. See Hamilton, The American Religious Landscape and Political Attitudes: A Baseline for 2004.
22. Brady, The American Religious Landscape and Political Attitudes: A Baseline for 2004, at xx.
23. Brady, The American Religious Landscape and Political Attitudes: A Baseline for 2004, at xx.
24. Hamilton, The American Religious Landscape and Political Attitudes: A Baseline for 2004, at 297.
25. The truth is that the United States began with many state laws and then federal laws outlawing these types of speech. The internal logic of the First Amendment, though, has worked to leave those laws in the past, and to permit a most robust right of belief. See generally, Leonard W. Levy, Legacy of Suppression: Freedom of Speech and Press in Early American History (Harv. U. Press 1960)
26. Leonard W. Levy, Treason Against God: A History of the Offense of Blasphemy (Schocken Books 1981).
27. W. Va. St. Bd. Educ. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 642 (1943).
28. Brady U.S, at xx.
29. Brady accuses me of failing to “recognize that when it comes to ideas for social life and human relationships, examples can be more powerful than words alone. Indeed, in some cases, it may be necessary for groups to live their ideas out for them to be fully understood by others.” Id. at xx. She is undoubtedly correct about how examples can be very persuasive, and the Catholic Church's handling of clergy abuse provides exactly the morality tale that proves how dangerous her autonomy thesis is.