THE DISSENT OF THE GOVERNED: A MEDITATION ON LAW, RELIGION, AND LOYALTY.
BUCKLEY, THOMAS E.
THE DISSENT OF THE GOVERNED: A MEDITATION ON LAW, RELIGION, AND
LOYALTY. By Stephen L. Carter. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University,
1998. Pp. xi + 167. $19.95.
I suspect John Courtney Murray would enjoy this book. In this
expanded version of the Massey Lectures at Harvard in 1995, Carter
celebrates reasoned dissent and urges the need for "public moral
dialogue" (98). Choosing examples from familiar conflicts between
religion and law, he argues cogently that those in control of government
today too often delegitimize the perspectives of groups, particularly
religious communities, who strive to promote an alternative vision to
the secular bias dominating politics, the media, and the courts. He
identifies the chief villain as "liberal constitutionalism"
(19), the view that an omnicompetent central government should foster a
homogenized national community with uniform values and equal rights for
all.
But what about the rights of dissenters? Even disobedience can
contribute to moral progress, C. insists, as Martin Luther King and the
civil rights protests demonstrated. Ignoring the religious principles
underlying that movement, secular liberals embraced King and his
followers. Yet they reject out of hand the arguments of anti-abortion
and voucher advocates. C. wants religious values brought into policy
discussions, but finds the witness most convincing when shown in speech
and example rather than in electoral politics.
While not choosing sides in the voucher debate, C. argues that if
the government provides monies for private education, religious freedom
demands that it include church-related schools as well. Indeed, C.
reserves his most withering critique for the Supreme Court's
failure sufficiently to accommodate religious belief; and his review of
recent church-state cases makes particularly interesting reading. To
continue a civil polity of indifference or hostility toward religious
values, he warns, threatens to transform dissent into disallegiance.
This gracefully written book should prove useful for anyone interested
in a civil argument over contemporary public affairs.
THOMAS E. BUCKLEY, S.J.
Jesuit School of Theol., Berkeley
