Religious Faith, Secular Nationalism, and the Practice of Law

Catalog description

This course will explore the relationship between an individual's religious beliefs and the practice of law, and will be centered around the important and growing body of literature of the religious lawyering movement. Initially, the course will take up the fundamental question of whether one can be religious and be a lawyer. In this context, the course will explore the extent to which a secular disposition about law, for example, that law is America's civil religion or an expression of American nationalism precludes a space for faith in the practice of law. Subsequently, the course will examine how religious beliefs might be integrated into the practice of law, and what practicing as a religious lawyer might look like.