Reasoning About Faith: On the Religious Lawyer

Abstract

The religious lawyer is an individual who understands his or her religious practice to be a way of life and who, within the context of a commitment to his or her religious practice as such, takes up the professional practice of law. Unquestionably, this individual is worthy of our respect, given the seriousness with which the individual approaches his or her faith. At the same time, it is precisely this seriousness that points us in a direction that is perhaps difficult for many to go. Specifically, because a way of life represents a total activity of the self from which one can never separate, this individual can never accept We the People as sovereign, which is a necessary condition for engaging in the professional practice of law in this country. Accordingly, as challenging as it might be for many to accept, this individual is in fact precluded from taking up the professional practice.

This Article offers a response to the various scholars who have promoted the concept of the religious lawyer since the late 1970s. In offering this response, this Article emphasizes the existential character of the life of the individual who understands his or her religious practice as a way of life, of the individual who takes up the practice of political life in the United States, and of the individual who takes up this country’s professional practice of law. Its goal is to begin a conversation with those who continue to promote the concept of the religious lawyer in the hope of advancing our understanding of both religious practice and professional legal practice in America.

Keywords: legal theory, legal ethics, professional responsibility, law and religion