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   Volume 5 Number 3
April 2012

Alexander bench b/wGreetings!     
    

We've had an outstanding spring semester at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion. We're graduating five outstanding young scholars in law and religion. We hosted three full-house lectures on the controversial topics of accommodating Shari`a in the West, Jesus' teachings on marriage and divorce, and human rights arguments supporting same-sex marriage. And, we published another slate of new books and dozens of articles.  

This fall we're turning our attention to the rights of the needy -- those truly vulnerable populations that are no longer protected by the welfare state's safety net as it continues to unravel. Leading off this discussion are two preeminent feminist legal scholars -- Martha A Fineman and Barbara B. Woodhouse, who will deliver back-to-back lectures and take part in a panel discussion September 13 at Emory Law.

We hope you'll join us in the fall as we explore the issues surrounding the rights of the needy and that you will continue to follow our work in Christian Jurisprudence, Jewish Legal Studies, the Pursuit of Happiness and many other issues at the intersection of law and religion.

In the meantime, we wish you a relaxing and joy-filled summer.

 
Sincerely, 
John Witte Signature                                Frank Alexander Signature
John Witte, Jr .                                     Frank S. Alexander  
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fineman
Martha A. Fineman
Fineman, Woodhouse Headline Fall 2012 Lecture Series  

"The Rights of the Needy" is the focus of CSLR's When Law and Religion Meet Lecture Series 2012-2013, with two esteemed Emory Law faculty -- Martha A. Fineman and Barbara B. Woodhouse -- leading off the discussion September 13. Fineman will introduce the theme of "human vulnerability," including those in religious communities.

 

Woodhouse
Barbara B.
Woodhouse

Woodhouse will address the vulnerability of children in different settings. A panel discussion will follow. "This lineup offers a powerful introduction to the theory and practical realities of vulnerability, particularly at the vital intersection of religion, state, and family," said CSLR Director John Witte, Jr. The event takes place in Emory Law's Tull Auditorium. REQUEST MORE INFO 

    

Luke Timothy Johnson
Spring Lectures Confront Shari`a in the West, Jesus & Divorce, Gay Marriage

Full-house audiences turned out this spring to hear distinguished CSLR faculty explore critical questions creating battles in today's courtrooms, legislatures, and places of worship. John Witte, Jr. challenged Muslims to learn from Catholics and Jews on how to adapt to Western legal systems,  Luke Timothy Johnson explained why Jesus "was not a fan of divorce," and Michael J. Perry argued that same-sex marriage is a human right. The lectures concluded CSLR's When Law and Religion Meet Lecture Series 2011-2012. VIEW LECTURES 

Graduates 2012
From left: Williams, Mayo, Hernandez (Goldfeder and Hayward not pictured) 

CSLR Graduates Five Law & Religion Students

Congratulations to this year's Law and Religion graduates! During May 14 commencement ceremonies, Jenny Hernandez, Andy Mayo, and Jennifer Williams will receive Doctor of Law and Master of Theological Studies degrees. Mark Goldfeder and Anita Hayward will receive Master of Laws in Law and Religion degrees. Special congratulations go to Hernandez for winning the Eliza Ellison Prize for Leadership in Law and Religion. READ MORE

 

Scholars Head into Summer of National, Global Lecture Tours

CSLR scholars are fanning out across the country and around the globe this summer to engage the national and world communities in discussions of urban decline, religious liberty, conditional and religious marriages, global justice, and numerous other topics of law and religion. READ MORE 

 

Witte-Benches
John Witte, Jr.

Witte Honored by Library of Congress, Emory Law Students  

CSLR Director John Witte, Jr. has won two prestigious honors this spring: he's been appointed to the Scholars Council of the Library of Congress' Kluge Center, and Emory Law's Class of 2012 Student Bar Association has named him Most Outstanding Professor of the Year, the 11th time he will receive this award. READ MORE

New Book Enlightens about 'No' Establishment Clause 

A forthcoming book edited by CSLR Director John Witte, Jr. and CSLR Senior Fellow T. Jeremy Gunn examines the rich, complex history of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, which forbids the creation of a state-sanctioned religion. No Establishment of Religion: America's Original Contribution to Religious Liberty (Oxford University Press, 2012) explores the original understanding and function of the 1791 Establishment Clause as well as the unique contribution it has made to American religious liberty. READ MORE

 

Alexander bench b/w

New Book Offers Resource for Resolving Church Conflict
A new book by CSLR Senior Fellow Paul R. Valliere offers a resource for resolving conflict in the church today. Conciliarism: A History of Decision-Making in the Church (Cambridge University Press, 2012) explores the movement of conciliarism, a way of ecclesial decision making in the Christian church, from the early church to modern times.Valliere, professor of religion and McGregor Professor of the Humanities at Butler University, points to some of the problems in traditionalist Christian views as well as in progressive Christian views. READ MORE 

EILR Symposium Issue Explores Legal, Religious Pluralism 

Can there be pluralism of religious and legal norms in domestic relations that respects both the religious freedom concerns of religious communities and rule of law concerns of the state? A symposium issue of the Emory International Law Review (Vol. 25, Issue 2, 2011) co-edited by CSLR Senior Fellows M. Christian Green and Abdullahi A. An-Na`im attempts to answer this question. READ MORE l READ ISSUE  
Blog Editor-in Chief Jonathan Noble

CSLR Students Launch Law and Religion Blog  

"Where Law and Religion Meet," an academic blog launched this spring by CSLR students, offers book reviews and an analysis of current law and religion topics. An online journal and alumni contributions also are to be included beginning this summer. READ MORE l READ BLOG 

Sarah Gerwig-Moore

CSLR Alumni Update 

Sarah Gerwig-Moore (JD/MTS '02), associate professor of law at Mercer Law, has been awarded tenure. Charles Hooker (JD '06) is one of the attorneys representing the Anti-Defamation League and others in a case involving claims under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Judd M. Treeman (JD/MTS '09) wrote a comment in Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal (2009) that recently has been relied upon as a principal source of scholarship by two of the national bankruptcy bar's most authoritative publications. READ MORE

Drew Stevens

And the Winner is...

Andrew Clay Stevens, a first year law student at Emory Law, won a $50 gift card from Barnes and Noble for responding to our readership survey last December. "It's good to be able to keep up with the Center and see what projects are ongoing," said Stevens. Congratulations, Drew, and thanks to all of you who participated in the survey.

CSLR 'In the News'

CSLR scholars commented in the media on several issues this spring, from the healthcare reform contraception debate to understanding Shari`a to housing foreclosure settlements. READ MORE  

 

Recent Publications Divider
Freedom of Religion under Bills of Rights
Paul Babie and
Neville Rochow
, eds.  
While the world undergoes a religious revival, the protection of religious freedom, particularly of minority religious groups, seems increasingly under threat. The objective of the essays presented in this volume, taken as a whole, is to provide an overview of the principal models used to protect fundamental freedoms, and especially the right to freedom of belief, expression and practice of one's religion, in major liberal democratic systems. READ MORE 

Faith and Order: The Reconciliation of Law and Religion (EUSLR) (Chinese translation)

Harold J. Berman  

(Central Compilation and Translation Press, Bejing, 2012)

This book argues that despite the tensions existing in all societies between religious faith and legal order, they inevitably interact. In the course of his discussion Berman traces the history of Western law, exposes the fallacies of law theories that fail to take religion into account, examines key theological, prophetic, and educational themes, and looks at the role of religion in the Soviet and post-Soviet state. (It was not possible to include the publisher's link here. The book is available for online purchase through most bookstores in China.) 

The Ten Commandents in History: Mosaic Paradigms for a Well-Ordered Society (Chinese translation)

Paul Grimley Kuntz

(Guizhou University Press, Guizhou, China, 2012)

The author passionately argues that the Ten Commandments are universal principles of social order that have to be applied in concrete circumstances in order for their meaning to be fully understood. In a nearly seamless discourse about the tradition of the Ten Commandments, Kuntz engages the thought of more than 20 philosophers from antiquity to modernity. READ MORE 

IN THIS ISSUE
Fall Lectures: Rights of the Needy
Spring Lecture Wrap-Up
CSLR Class of 2012
Summer Lecture Tours
Witte Honored in D.C., Emory Law
Book: 'No' Establishment Clause
Book: Resolving Church Conflict
Journal: Legal, Religious Pluralism
Student Blog Debuts
Alumni News
Gift Card Winner
CSLR in the News
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IN THEIR
OWN WORDS

"Vulnerability is posited as the characteristic that positions us in relation to each other as human beings and also suggests a relationship of responsibility between state and individual. The nature of human vulnerability forms the basis for a claim that the state must be more responsive to that vulnerability and do better at ensuring the "All-American" promise of equality of opportunity. 

-- Martha A. Fineman,

Emory Law Journal Vol. 60 

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