Two Differing Worldviews and Their
Implications for Liberty, Equality, and Justice
America's history is replete with competing visions for a just society. These differences play themselves out in ways that have consequences in America’s political and legal system. As evident from this brief examination of the jurisprudence of Justice Harry A. Blackmun and Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, these dueling Protestants, one a progressive and the other a conservative, hold different ideas about man, man’s moral responsibility, and what the equality of man requires from the American legal system.
Accepting the doctrine that man is sinful by nature, in other words flawed and incapable of perfection in this world as James Madison made clear in The Federalist Papers, a Supreme Court Justice would more likely make decisions that favor separation of powers and would limit the power and reach of government than someone who denies the inherent sinfulness of man. In fact, the very definition of terms such as justice, liberty, and equality take on different meanings depending upon the theological underpinnings of a person’s worldview.
Equality for the progressive Protestant will have far broader implications than for a conservative Protestant, thus the battle for income equality or healthcare equality or marriage equality have become social tenets of the progressive faith traditions. Such ideals are wrongheaded in the view of conservative Protestants because the progressives leave out any moral or personal responsibility of those seeking such advantages and discount the personal rights of others who are affected by the expansion of the coercive power of government. Likewise, similar conflicts exist in how both camps advance concepts of liberty and justice. This chapter will explore these stark differences by providing an educated guess on how the nation's policies would continue to develop under each worldview.
If the nation is as divided as the two different worldview trajectories show, now is the time to address possible solutions if it is not already too late. The authors present various constitutional proposals, from modest to radical, as potential remedies to accommodate the growing national divide.
Implications for Liberty, Equality, and Justice
America's history is replete with competing visions for a just society. These differences play themselves out in ways that have consequences in America’s political and legal system. As evident from this brief examination of the jurisprudence of Justice Harry A. Blackmun and Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, these dueling Protestants, one a progressive and the other a conservative, hold different ideas about man, man’s moral responsibility, and what the equality of man requires from the American legal system.
Accepting the doctrine that man is sinful by nature, in other words flawed and incapable of perfection in this world as James Madison made clear in The Federalist Papers, a Supreme Court Justice would more likely make decisions that favor separation of powers and would limit the power and reach of government than someone who denies the inherent sinfulness of man. In fact, the very definition of terms such as justice, liberty, and equality take on different meanings depending upon the theological underpinnings of a person’s worldview.
Equality for the progressive Protestant will have far broader implications than for a conservative Protestant, thus the battle for income equality or healthcare equality or marriage equality have become social tenets of the progressive faith traditions. Such ideals are wrongheaded in the view of conservative Protestants because the progressives leave out any moral or personal responsibility of those seeking such advantages and discount the personal rights of others who are affected by the expansion of the coercive power of government. Likewise, similar conflicts exist in how both camps advance concepts of liberty and justice. This chapter will explore these stark differences by providing an educated guess on how the nation's policies would continue to develop under each worldview.
If the nation is as divided as the two different worldview trajectories show, now is the time to address possible solutions if it is not already too late. The authors present various constitutional proposals, from modest to radical, as potential remedies to accommodate the growing national divide.
Chapter Nine
Product details
Hardcover
390 pages
Publisher: Lexington Books (December 31, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1498570593
ISBN-13: 978-1498570596
Dimensions: 6 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.74 pounds