Constitutional faith [electronic resource] / Sanford Levinson ; with a new afterword by the author.

ISBN:

9781400839872

Title:

Author:

Levinson, Sanford, 1941-

Personal Author:

Levinson, Sanford, 1941-

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 262 pages) : illustrations

General Note:

Paperback reissue, with a new afterword, 2011.

Contents:

Cover; Title; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter One: The "Constitution" in American Civil Religion; Chapter Two: The Moral Dimension of Constitutional Faith; Chapter Three: Loyalty Oaths: The Creedal Affirmations of Constitutional Faith; Chapter Four: Constitutional "Attachment": Identifying the Content of One's Commitment; Chapter Five: The Law School, the Faith Community, and the Professing of Law; Chapter Six: Conclusion: Adding One's Signature to the Constitution; Notes; Afterword to the 2011 Edition; Index.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Constitutional history -- United States.

Constitutional law -- United States.

Constitutional law -- Religious aspects.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2011

1988

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
342.73029 22	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

This book examines the "constitutional faith" that has, since 1788, been a central component of American "civil religion." By taking seriously the parallel between wholehearted acceptance of the Constitution and religious faith, Sanford Levinson opens up a host of intriguing questions about what it means to be American. While some view the Constitution as the central component of an American religion that serves to unite the social order, Levinson maintains that its sacred role can result in conflict, fragmentation, and even war. To Levinson, the Constitution's value lies in the realm of the discourse it sustains: a uniquely American form of political rhetoric that allows citizens to grapple with every important public issue imaginable.

In a new afterword, Levinson looks at the deepening of constitutional worship and attributes the current widespread frustrations with the government to the static nature of the Constitution.

Author Notes

Sanford Levinson is professor of law and government at the University of Texas Law School and a frequent visitor at the Harvard and Yale law schools. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His many books include Our Undemocratic Constitution .

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Levinson (law, Texas) has written a thoughtful and thought-provoking work that will stand out among the many works written over the bicentennial of the US Constitution as one of singular achievement. The author compares the "civil religion" of the Constitution with religious faith in a way not previously explicated. Others have looked to the Constitution as a "civil religion" which binds the nation together into a unified social order. Levinson, however, suggests that like the history of religious schism, the Constitution helps to account for secular conflict and even war in the US. By examining the religious conflicts in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam as to what constitutes holy text and who is empowered to interpret it, Levinson suggests both "protestant" and "catholic" views of the Constitution. "Protestantism" argues that the Constitution consists of the text of the document alone and that its meaning is to be defined by a multiplicity of interpreters whereas "catholicism" is the view that the Constitution consists of both text and extratextual considerations such as history and tradition with a sole supreme authority as to its meaning (the Supreme Court). Hugo Black exemplifies the former and John Marshall Harlan II the latter. Within this context the author examines tensions between the Constitution and morality, loyalty oaths, and the current state of legal education. Suitable for advanced students. -M. W. Bowers, University of Nevada, Las Vegas