Fundamentalism in American Religion and Law
Obama's Challenge to Patriarchy's Threat to Democracy

Argues that fundamentalism in religion and law threatens democratic values, and discusses Obama's resistance to originalism.

David A. J. Richards (Author)

9780521191227, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 March 2010

328 pages
24 x 16.1 x 2.2 cm, 0.66 kg

"[Richards is] to be congratulated for critiquing religious fundamentalism from within a religious perspective and offering alternative readings of religious tradition, rather than simply dissecting it from the outside. ... there is much to admire and chew over in this book." - Paul Horwitz, Concurring Opinions

Why, from Reagan to George Bush, have fundamentalists in religion and in law (originalists) exercised such political power and influence in the United States? Why has the Republican Party forged an ideology of judicial appointments (originalism) hostile to abortion and gay rights? Why and how did Barack Obama distinguish himself among Democratic candidates not only by his opposition to the Iraq war but by his opposition to originalism? This book argues that fundamentalism in both religion and law threatens democratic values and draws its appeal from a patriarchal psychology still alive in our personal and political lives and at threat from the constitutional developments since the 1960s. The argument analyzes this psychology (based on traumatic loss in intimate life) and resistance to it (based on the love of equals). Obama's resistance to originalism arises from his developmental history as a democratic, as opposed to patriarchal, man who resists the patriarchal demands on men and women that originalism enforces - in particular, the patriarchal love laws that tell people who and how and how much they may love.

Introduction: defining the problem
1. The progressive recognition of human rights under American constitutional law
Part I. Fundamentalism in Law: 2. The fundamentalism of constitutional originalism
3. The motivations of constitutional fundamentalism
Part II. Fundamentalism in Religion: 4. Fundamentalism in Roman Catholicism
5. Fundamentalism among Protestants
6. Mormon fundamentalism
Part III. Fundamentalism in Law and Religion: 7. Patriarchal roots of constitutional fundamentalism
8. Fundamentalism in religion and law
Conclusion: patriarchy as the American dilemma.

Subject Areas: Laws of Specific jurisdictions [LN], Law & society [LAQ], Jurisprudence & general issues [LA], Religious fundamentalism [HRAM6]