Religious Lawyering In A Polarized Society

Amelia J. Uelmen (Georgetown), Religious Lawyering in a Polarized Society, 102 U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. 99 (2024):

I am deeply humbled to be included in the stellar lineup of speakers in this lecture series and delighted for the occasion to be in conversation with the University of Detroit-Mercy Law School community. Thank you for the invitation. I open my reflections with a few autobiographical notes as a way to illustrate some insights into the history and trajectory of what is termed the "religious lawyering movement." Then I would like to offer a few suggestions for developments in the field against the backdrop of our current cultural terrain.

I came to the legal profession as part of an effort to live an integrative spirituality of unity as developed within one of the Catholic ecclesial movements that flourished in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, the Focolare Movement. Having lived the Focolare spirituality since childhood, for me the first work of unity is interior: I see my work not as something to be "balanced" with the rest of my life, but rather as integrated into the whole of my identity as a religious and spiritual person. ...

in the next sections I explore next steps for religious lawyering conversations and scholarship, in light of current debates and challenges. ... [P]art of the cultural milieu of religious lawyering's initial development were several projects to find our similarities, often articulated as a quest for "common ground." I believe that our current cultural milieu requires much more attention to our differences. In a time when echo-chamber dynamics have led to faulty assumptions and distortions about the scope of our agreements, we suffer from the incapacity even to see—much less to appreciate—the contours of a different worldview. After exploring a historical analogy, I consider resources from within legal ethics and religious lawyering scholarship that illuminate paths toward greater appreciation of profound difference. My reflection concludes with some practical suggestions for how to manage some of those differences.

Editor's Note:  If you would like to receive a daily email with links to legal education posts on TaxProf Blog, email me here.