Mirror of Justice

A blog dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory.
Affiliated with the Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame Law School.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Gotta Serve Somebody

So suggested / noted / warned Bob Dylan (responding, perhaps, to Milton's Lucifer).  I thought about Dylan's song during yesterday's First Reading:

Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem,
summoning their elders, their leaders,
their judges, and their officers.
When they stood in ranks before God,
Joshua addressed all the people:
"If it does not please you to serve the LORD,
decide today whom you will serve,
the gods your fathers served beyond the River
or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling.
As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

But the people answered,
"Far be it from us to forsake the LORD
for the service of other gods.
For it was the LORD, our God,
who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt,
out of a state of slavery.
He performed those great miracles before our very eyes
and protected us along our entire journey
and among the peoples through whom we passed.
Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."

Relatedly (maybe):  The legal enterprise proceeds from certain premises and "serves" certain ends, for better or worse.  That enterprise can be evaluated, it seems to me, in part by (i) evaluating those premises and ends, and (ii) evaluating how well the enterprise respects those premises and serves those ends, whether or not they are worthy of respect and service.  It seems to me that part of the "Mirror of Justice" / "Catholic Legal Theory" project should be to remind . . . everyone that "thinking like a lawyer" should involve (i), as well as (ii).

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Garnett, Rick | Permalink

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