Constitutional Faith and Dynamic Stability: Thoughts on Religion, Constitutions, and Transitions to Democracy

Gray, David

Abstract

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Constitutional Faith and Dynamic Stability: Thoughts on Religion, Constitutions, and Transitions to Democracy

David C. Gray

University of Maryland-Francis King Carey School of Law

2009

Maryland Law Review, Vol. 69, p. 26, 2009
U of Maryland Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010-7

Abstract:
This essay, written for the 2009 Constitutional Schmooze, explores the complex role of religion as a source of both stability and instability. Drawing on a broader body of work in transitional justice, this essay argues that religion has an important role to play in the complex web of overlapping associations and oppositions constitutive of a dynamically stable society and further contends that constitutional protections which encourage a diversity of religions provide the best hope of harnessing that potential while limiting the dangers of religion evidenced in numerous cases of mass atrocity.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 14

Keywords: Transitional Justice, First Amendment, Religion

JEL Classification: K10, K30, K40, P26

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Date posted: January 5, 2010 ; Last revised: March 3, 2010

Suggested Citation

Gray, David C., Constitutional Faith and Dynamic Stability: Thoughts on Religion, Constitutions, and Transitions to Democracy (2009). Maryland Law Review, Vol. 69, p. 26, 2009; U of Maryland Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010-7. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1531674

Contact Information

David C. Gray (Contact Author)

University of Maryland-Francis King Carey School of Law ( email )

500 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
United States
410-706-5986 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.umaryland.edu/faculty/profiles/faculty.html?facultynum=598