April 10, 2007
On Friday, March 23, the St. John’s Journal of Legal
Commentary hosted its Fourteenth Annual Symposium, “Religion
and Morality in the Public Square: A Symposium on Philosophy,
History and Law.” The conference, which was organized by the
Journal’s Research and Symposium Editor Lecia Greipp ’07,
Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship Michael A.
Simons, and Professor Nelson
Tebbe, brought together top Law & Religion scholars for a
day of thoughtful discussion and engaging debate.
Following the welcome remarks, the symposium opened with a
keynote address by Noah Feldman, Cecelia Goetz Professor of Law at
New York University School of Law and author of the recent book
Divided by God: America’s Church-State Problem and What We
Should Do About It. Professor Feldman articulated two
visions of the public square: a classically republican vision,
where the goal of public discourse is to reach social consensus on
contested questions; and a pluralistic vision, where the goal of
public discourse is simply to provide a mechanism for democratic
decision-making.
Two panel discussions followed. The first panel assessed the
place that religious convictions ought to have in American
political life. A starting point for the discussion was a recent
comment by Senator Barack Obama that religious reasons ought to be
“translated” into secular terms if they are to play a role in
American political life. Professor Tebbe moderated this portion of
the symposium, and the panelists included Christopher J. Eberle,
Associate Professor of Philosophy, United States Naval Academy;
Kent Greenawalt, University Professor, Columbia Law School; and
Leslie Griffin, Larry and Joanne Doherty Chair in Legal Ethics,
University of Houston Law Center.
Before the second panel discussion, a luncheon was held in the
Mattone Family Atrium, where Justin Kramer, Editor-in-Chief of
St. John’s Journal of Legal Commentary, introduced the
luncheon speaker, Peter Steinfels. Professor Steinfels is the
Co-Director of the Fordham University Center on Religion and
Culture and a religion columnist for the New York
Times. In his talk, Professor Steinfels addressed the
question, “Is religious ignorance a crime against the First
Amendment?” and discussed whether American citizens should be
educated in the world’s religions in order to engage in public
discourse regarding politics.
The second panel, moderated by Professor Simons, debated whether
our constitutional commitments protect not only religious
individuals, but also the rights of religious institutions or
groups. Panelists included Richard W. Garnett, John Cardinal
O’Hara, C.S.C. Associate Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School;
Philip Hamburger, Maurice and Hilda Friedman Professor of Law,
Columbia Law School; John T. McGreevy, Professor of History,
University of Notre Dame; and Bernadette A. Meyler, Assistant
Professor of Law, Cornell Law School.
Closing remarks were given first by Professor Tebbe, and then by
Dean Mary
C. Daly, who thanked everyone who made the event a success.
“The discussion we have had today is of utmost importance for our
national life,” Dean Daly said. “How we resolve the questions we
have discussed will continue to shape our democracy, today just as
in the past.”
The full program is available here.
Papers from the symposium will be published in a forthcoming issue
of the Journal of Legal Commentary.
For more information
Michael A. Simons
Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship
(718) 990-6013
simonsm@stjohns.edu