Category: Uncategorized

In a previous thread, we’ve been having a good discussion about Natural Law and the basis for morality. In light of yesterday’s funeral of Coretta Scott King, I tried to highlight the link between Natural Law theory and the civil rights movement. The question I’m asking is “what reasons justify the civil law?” As I mentioned in the other thread, this question of “reasons” isn’t merely academic. Our ideas about “reasons” have enormous consequences for our ideals of justice and freedom.

What I’d like to do now is highlight how the concept of Natural Law led to the revolution that is the civil rights movement in America.

I’ll be working on some changes to the site over the next few days. Stay tuned.

Ecclesiastes 7:2 tells us

It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of every man;
the living should take this to heart.

Last week my friend Jeff at The Dawn Treader posted the horrible news that a friend of his — Clete, a sixteen-year-old young man, the son of his former pastor — was killed by a drunk driver. Today Jeff posts about Clete’s funeral. I encourage you to visit that house of mourning. You’ll see there the story of someone in whom the love of Christ overflowed, in simple things like bear hugs. You’ll see what really matters most in life.

I didn’t know Clete or his family at all, and I know Jeff only from our blogging interactions and a few emails and Skype calls. But I’m profoundly grateful today for Jeff’s generosity in sharing Clete’s story. My heart is broken for the tragedy that has visited Clete’s family and friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, but my faith and sense of purpose have been refreshed by the story of this yound man’s life. May my epitath be as profound.

Rich Garnett at Mirror of Justice raises an interesting question about whether the Church should adopt the principles of the free software movement. Rick’s entry refers to an article suggesting that the ideals of the free software movement are consistent with Catholic social teaching regarding the dissemination of information, and that the Church should publish its electronic materials in non-proprietary formats.

Researching a new paper on a Christian view of intellectual property, I came across the following journals, which some readers may find interesting: the Journal of Markets and Morality and Faith and Economics.

I’ll never understand some of the odd administrative things in academia. When I worked at a big law firm, there was at least the appearance of reason in the way things like office supplies were handled. Today in my college mailbox, I received, without explanation, one pack of yellow stickies, one box of paper clips, and one box of staples. All of the faculty in our department had the same supplies in their inboxes. Is this my Christmas bonus?

Last Sunday night apparently was “bad genes” night on the TLC television network. There were two shows about people with terrible genetic conditions: one about this girl, who was “born without a face,” and the other about this guy, who was born with a condition that made his skin sluff off at the slightest bruise. They struck me as remarkably different portrayals people cope with bad circumstances.

For those who are interested in the arcana of legal scholarship, my article on international patent law and access to medicines has been published in the Vanderbilt Law Review. In addition, tonight I will participate in a panel discusson of a paper by Siva Vaidhyanathan of New York University. My notes are online.

You can keep track of such news, if for any reason you might want to, on my home page.

Today’s New York Times features a well-balanced article about the differing perspectives of two different groups of rafters floating through the Grand Canyon. One group was a “young earth” creationist tour, the other a tour organized by evolution apologists.

I was pleased to see an article in the Times that presented “fair and balanced” reporting of the different views in play. The YEC (young earth creationist) folks didn’t come across as backwoods yahoos or right wing nutcases, but rather were presented as sincere religious believers who were trying to make sense of their faith. I’m glad for that.

Yet, I ultimately found the article depressing for what it says about the evangelical subculture’s relationship to both the Bible and science.

Well, ok, it was best ball, but I did hit a few good shots.