Daily Archives: April 5, 2010

LifeNews: “A county commission in Indiana has approved a landmark measure that could eventually be seen in other states that helps limit abortions. The three-member governing body in Allen County approved an ordinance cracking down on botched abortions that injure women . . . It requires any abortion practitioners coming to Fort Wayne from out of town to inform a local hospital because they would not have proper admitting privileges to admit women who ware victimized.”

Baptist Press: “‘I can tell you that I love the job, and deciding whether to leave it is a very difficult decision,’ he told The Post. ‘But I want to make it in a way that’s best for the court. “I will surely do it while [Obama is] president.’”

Google News (AP): “With strong backing from the Census Bureau, gay-rights activists are urging maximum participation by their community in the first U.S. census that will tally same-sex couples who say they’re married — even those without a marriage license . . . ”

AP: “Two experienced federal judges and the Obama administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer are widely considered the leading candidates for the next high court opening if Justice John Paul Stevens retires this year.”

ADF Attorney David Hacker writing at the Academic Freedom File: “The University of California System is considering a new speech code in the wake of a few unfortunate speech incidents on its campuses . . . The proposed speech code, which has surfaced from the UC Students Association, will prohibit ‘hanging a noose, burning a cross, or placing a symbol, such as a swastika, without authorization, on university property or at official university functions.’ The restrictions seem benign at first glance. No one should be allowed to encourage criminal activity on campus or incite violence, and for this reason much of the restriction might pass constitutional review. But the restriction on ‘placing a symbol,’ runs afoul of the First Amendment. Vague? Overbroad? Prior restraint? You bet!”

San Francisco Chronicle: “Oakland officials and community leaders are taking steps to fight sex trafficking in the city.”

NBC: “The White House honored the family at the center of Florida’s battle over same-sex adoptions on Monday. Martin Gill, his partner and their two adopted sons were guests at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.”

Diana Kirschner, Ph.D. writes at Psychology Today: “Is marriage in the 21st century toxic to women? Yes, say many. My friends (especially women) from around the world . . . are constantly posting comments like ‘marriage is dying,’ and that living together is ‘so much better.’ . . . Citing what she calls the ‘Marriage Benefit Imbalance’ Gilbert points out that, while women fare poorly, men actually benefit physically and psychologically from marriage. Nonetheless, she winds up, like many other women, getting married herself by the end of her book. Hmm . . . ”

Boston Globe (AP): “In this Feb. 11, 2010 photo, Balluonzima Christ, left, and Rose Ajiba hold a photograph of their child Caroline Aya, allegedly killed for a sacrificial ceremony in Jinja, Uganda. The number of children and adults killed in ritualistic murders rose to a new high in Uganda last year, police figures show. At least 15 children and 14 adults were killed so that their body parts could be used in ceremonies carried out by witch doctors who in many cases persuade paying customers that the sacrifices will bring them wealth or good health.”

Citizen Link: “The Polk County Sheriff’s office said undercover detectives identified two convenience stores selling hard-core pornography. Officers seized more than 250 DVDs and magazines, according to the News Chief . . . ”

“. . . adolescents who initially experience same-sex attraction, or are sexually confused, no longer experience such attractions by age 25 . . . ”

Aol.News: “Islamist militants attacked a U.S. consulate in northwest Pakistan with car bombs and grenades Monday, killing three people, hours after 41 people died in a suicide attack on a political rally elsewhere in the region.”

Times Online: “David Cameron will this week unveil a £1 billion tax break for married couples, as a Sunday Times poll puts the Conservatives on course for a 20-seat majority.”

Christian NewsWire: “The World Congress of Families sadly notes that, without actually voting on the plank, late last week, the Kenyan Parliament approved the draft of a new Constitution which hypocritically affirms a right to life while simultaneously denying the application of that right.”

California Family Council: “[SB 906] (Leno, D-San Francisco) makes several unnecessary changes to the state Family Code related to the definition of marriage by replacing the term ‘marriage’ with the phrase ‘civil marriage,’ attempting to create a new class of marriage. The bill includes language that sponsors assert will clarify that religious institutions would not be required to perform marriages that violate their religious tenets. However, despite Senator Leno’s and supporters’ claims, SB 906 is actually a direct assault against the more than 7 million voters that supported Proposition 8. Supporters have repeatedly stated that this bill is necessary to assist in their efforts to repeal Proposition 8 in a future election.”

Reihan Salaam writing at National Review Online, The Agenda: “Basically, we had a limited government until 1937. Then, after the court-packing imbroglio, we no longer had a limited government. In my view, this is a very bad thing. The death of the nondelegation doctrine and the concept of a federal government limited in its scope to a fairly narrow set of enumerated powers has hollowed out what was a system of government that was unusually conducive to freedom, local democracy, institutional creativity, and much else besides . . . For a wide variety of reasons, some of them having to do with the exigencies of armed conflict and the perceived threat posed by radical political movements, we abandoned one set of institutional tools, and institutional restraints, for a kludgy hybrid that has proven deeply dysfunctional, yet not so dysfunctional as to completely smother the forces of creativity and economic progress. Or at least that’s my stylized take on it.”

Press & Dakotan: “One measure would require women seeking abortions to first be screened to determine whether they’re at risk of having mental or physical problems after the procedure. The other would ban abortions at 20 weeks and not allow mental health problems to be used as a reason to have an abortion after that time. If passed, Nebraska would be the first state to have either law . . . ”

“. . . how on earth this demographic timebomb can be defused . . . Baby Boomers have stolen their children’s future. . . . ”

Family Policy Council of West Virginia: “Did you get that? For every baby lost because his or her mother fails to nurse him or her for a mere six months, the country loses $13 BILLION dollars, which is calculated from the, on average, $10.56 MILLION of lost wages for each child who dies.”

Christian Science Monitor: “The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take the case of a Muslim defendant in Colorado whose lawyer was barred from questioning a prospective juror who, during jury selection, expressed concern that he might be biased against Muslims.”

The Guardian: “Childless couples who acquire a baby using a surrogate mother abroad risk not being recognised as its parents in Britain if they flout British law by paying fees, fertility lawyers have warned. Such payments, which can be as high as £30,000, could lead to those who have made them being refused permission by the high court to become the child’s legal parents, specialist solicitors say.”

Courthouse News Service: “Two U.S. citizens and the Mexican citizens they want to marry say a Michigan county unconstitutionally refused to issue them marriage licenses because one half of each couple has no Social Security number. ”

Newson6.com: “Gov. Brad Henry has signed into law 29 bills that include three anti-abortion measures and a bill to revamp the Commissioners of the Land Office after an embezzlement scandal . . .

SB 1891 Freedom of Conscience Act

SB 1902 Regulation of RU-486

SB 1890 Abortions based on gender of child

The Portland Press Herald: “The point of the march was that a topless woman out in public should attract no more attention than a man walking around without a shirt on, said Ty MacDowell, 20, of Westbrook, who organized Saturday’s event and promoted it on Facebook . . . ‘You (men) can let it all out — why can’t we?’”

WorldNetDaily (include video): “A video of Michelle Obama telling a group of homosexual-rights activists that Kenya was her husband’s ‘home country’ went viral over the Easter weekend. The clip comes from a June 2008 campaign speech she delivered to the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee in New York City, as reported by Reuters . . . ”

Boston Business Journal: “The complaint argues that the commissioner of the Division of Insurance does not have the authority to cap rates, is using an irrelevant metric to decide which rates are ‘unreasonable’ and that the rate caps will threaten the solvency of the plans . . . ”

Catholic League: “. . . even though priests have less access to males, homosexual priests are molesting them at a higher rate. It’s time to end the gay cover-up once and for all . . . ”

AP: “A teenage girl who converted to Christianity and ran away from home is being blocked by her Muslim parents from fighting the possibility of deportation, her attorney told a judge Monday in an ongoing custody dispute . . . ”

KETV 7: “A year after the Iowa Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriages to be legal in Iowa, a rally in Omaha called for Nebraska to follow suit. Gay and lesbian couples and supporters from Nebraska and Iowa marched to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge and met in the middle with a message.”

LifeNews: “Scott Roeder, the former militia activist not affiliated with any pro-life organization, was sentenced to life in prison today for the 2009 murder of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller.”

Louie Verrecchio writes at LifeSiteNews: “The time to insist on real answers is now, not after the John Jay report is delivered and endlessly spun to the advantage of homosexual activists and ecclesial dissidents the world over.”

Austin American-Statesman: “Austin City Council Member Bill Spelman says proposal would make it clear that some centers don’t offer abortion or birth control counseling.”

LifeNews: “April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Many people, including those whose mission is to help women and girls who are victims of sexual assault and abuse, believe abortion is the best solution if a pregnancy occurs. Yet our research shows that most women who become pregnant through sexual assault don’t want abortion, and say abortion only compounds their trauma. ‘How can you deny an abortion to a twelve-year-old girl who is the victim of incest?’”

BBC News: “Devon and Cornwall councils are being warned not to use the recession as an excuse to cut services for gay people. Equality South West, which fights for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, says services in this sector may be the first to go.”

ABC Action News: “Undercover detectives caught two Lakeland convenience stores selling explicit pornography videos, in open view, and arrested three store owners in the bust, the Polk Sheriff’s Office said Friday.”

El Argentino: “The judge in the Administrative, William Scheibler, ordered the city government to celebrate the marriage of two persons of the same sex. Also declared unconstitutional the articles of the Civil Code allowing only heterosexual marriage.” [Google Translation]

The Age: “The publishers of so-called lad mags and their more explicit adult counterparts have hit back at claims the easy availability of the magazines is exposing young children to harmful material . . . ACP Magazines, which publishes titles in both categories, said the current restrictions that force explicit titles to be put in plastic covers and limit sales to those over 18 were adequate to protect children but acknowledged there might be a need for tighter enforcement of existing rules.” | Related: Australia: Child experts want ban on soft porn magazines

E. Christian Brugger writes at the Culture of Life Foundation: “Although I believe that embryo adoption is in principle legitimate and even can be praiseworthy, the problem of unintended harmful consequences is very real.”

KPHO.com: “Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1001 Thursday, a law that allows the governor to sue the federal government over the recently passed health care overhaul bill.”

NJ Law Journal (Law.com): “U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano predicted the state Supreme Court, which insisted on equal protection for same-sex couples in 2006, would be unlikely to ‘legitimize discrimination against gays and lesbians’ by treating a homosexual reference as a slur. The ruling, in Murphy v. Millenium Radio Group, 08-cv-1743, is a loss for freelance photographer Peter Murphy, who complained that Craig Carton and Ray Rossi, hosts of the “Jersey Guys” show on WKXW 101.5 FM, ‘derogatorily inferred’ he was a homosexual during a 45-minute segment.”

DNA: “The Bombay high court today said there was a need for special prison guidelines for transgenders. Court made the observation while dealing with the bail application of a transgender prisoner, who also complained about ‘unfriendly’ attitude of other inmates of the prison. Prashant (name changed), a transgender, in his bail application alleged that though he was being kept in the male ward of central prison, Nasik, other prisoners avoided him.”

El Paso Times: “State Rep. Norma Chávez is employing a risky, negative strategy, publicly saying challenger Naomi Gonzalez is a lesbian and should come out . . . Chávez, though, said it is a valid talking point because it may affect policy decisions in the state Legislature about gay marriage.”

Sydney Morning Herald: “More than 30 child experts are calling for a ban on the sale of pornographic magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse and other soft porn material from newsagents, milkbars, convenience stores, supermarkets and petrol stations. The group has asked censorship ministers to review the rules on which the so-called lads’ mags such as People, The Picture, Zoo and Ralph are reviewed, saying they are increasingly explicit and contributing to the sexualisation of children.”

Euro News: “In Italy, a row has broken out over the availability of the abortion drug, known as RU 486. Two newly elected conservative regional officials say they’re going to stop the distribution of the so-called abortion pill.”

The Daily Bruin: “Case concerns school’s right to deny recognition of student group in violation of membership policy.”

AP: “They heeded a pamphleteer’s call for ‘manly opposition to the machinations of tyranny’ – the 60 American colonists who stormed Griffin’s Wharf and emptied 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. And with that, a revolution brewed. Now, more than two centuries later, come the angry throngs of the modern-day tea party . . . ”

On Top Magazine (“gay advocacy website”): “In his first comments on why he’s intervened to defend against a lawsuit to win gay marriage in New Jersey, Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll says gay relationships are of no ‘societal consequence.’ Carroll, along with Republican Senators Gerald Cardinale and Anthony R. Bucco, are being represented by the Christian-based group Alliance Defense Fund (ADF).”

OneNewsNow: “Homosexual activists are trying to reopen a New Jersey Supreme Court case that instructed the legislature to create the marriage equivalent for homosexuals. The New Jersey legislation created civil unions for homosexuals in a 2006 decision, but ‘the plaintiffs in that original case are now seeking basically to reopen the case and to argue that that civil unions option wasn’t enough, that the legislature actually has to redefine the institution of marriage in order to properly comply with what the court said,’ explains Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney [Jim Campbell].”

LifeNews: “Advocates for Life (a division of Americans United for Life) and Columbia University’s Law Students for Life will host a daylong legal symposium, ‘Looking Back, Looking Forward: Pro-life Strategy & Jurisprudence for the 21st Century’ next Friday, April 9 . . . Other highlights of the day’s speakers include the Alliance Defense Fund’s Matt Bowman and Steve Aden and Catholic University of America law professor Mark Rienzi, who will address ‘Legalized Abortion in the Medical Profession: Protecting the Conscience Rights of Health Care Providers.’”

The Advocate (“gay advocacy website”): “Senators Anthony R. Bucco and Gerald Cardinale, with Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, are being represented by Alliance Defense Fund, the Christian-based group that helped file the suit. ‘There’s more to marriage than just any two people in a committed relationship,’ ADF Senior Legal Council [Austin R. Nimocks], said. “At this time in history, we should be strengthening marriage, not tearing it down . . .’”

KSL: “The ordinances take effect Friday and make it against the law for landlords and employers to deny someone housing or a job because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “In a wide-ranging interview Friday, Fiorina also explained her opposition to abortion rights in the most personal way since her campaign officially started last fall . . .
‘I recognize that a lot of women disagree with me on that,’ Fiorina said. ‘But I also know that women in general are not single-issue voters. When I talk to women on this, it’s not the issue that is on the table in this election.’”

Mark Pritchard, Conservative MP for The Wrekin, writing in the Shropshire Star: “Since the 1996 Arbitration Act, Government ministers have allowed Islamic tribunals around Britain to rule on a range of financial disputes, provided both parties agree to accept the court’s decision. But in recent years, these tribunals have developed into fully fledged Sharia Councils – allowed to settle new disputes, such as divorce, family law, and faith issues. These powers go well beyond the letter and spirit of the original legislation and whilst they provide new ways of dispensing cheap justice they do not always dispense fair justice.”

Associated Press: “A Fargo-based convenience store chain is pulling adult magazines from its shelves. Stop-N-Go chain owner Sheldon Ellig says the move was prompted by customer requests.”

“Military therapists and chaplains say . . . with the explosion of Web 2.0 . . . the seamy side of Porn 2.0 is picking off military marriages and killing promising careers like a shadow army of well-placed snipers.”

Omaha World-Herald: “Republican candidate for governor Rod Roberts said if elected, he would use all of his authority to ensure that Iowa residents get to vote on gay marriage.”

BBC: “A teaching union has called on its members to ‘defend state education’, saying there is a stark choice between public services and a free market.”

AP: “Researchers’ findings so far have helped explain some patterns of abuse in America’s Roman Catholic church and challenge some misconceptions about the underlying causes . . . ”

Omaha World-Herald: “County recorders in all 99 Iowa counties worried about when and how to begin issuing the new licenses in a way that would comply with Iowa law. When a flood of marriage applicants was predicted one that would have almost doubled the state’s annual volume of marriage licenses concerns about workload arose. In the end, the first year of licensing for same-sex couples turned out to be a little like March in like a lion, out like a lamb. . . . In the first seven months of marriages for gay and lesbian couples, 1,783 same-sex marriages were recorded with the state, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.”

Associated Press: “Though he opposes allowing slot machines and casino-style gambling, Gov. John Lynch might support the legalization of online gambling to close a growing budget deficit.”

Tony Mauro writes at National Law Journal (Law.com): “In spite of recent courtroom losses, parents who blame their children’s autism at least in part on childhood vaccines say their legal battle is far from over . . . the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear next fall the case of Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, a non-autism case that asks the justices to decide whether the federal vaccine law pre-empts state law tort claims of vaccine design defects . . . ”

“Two men arrested for breaking a ban on Muslim prayers at a Spanish cathedral which was once a mosque, will be prosecuted, a report said on Saturday.”

New York Times: “‘There are still pros and cons to be considered,’ Justice John Paul Stevens said in his Supreme Court chambers on Friday afternoon, reflecting on his reluctance to leave a job he loves after almost 35 years. But his calculus seemed to be weighted toward departure, and he said his decision on the matter would come very soon.”

AP: “The Supreme Court won’t get involved in a judicial fight in Idaho over whether a local judge violated the residency requirement for his job.”

NY Law Journal (Law.com): A prominent advertising executive’s alleged promises to support his longtime girlfriend if they broke up are unenforceable because the couple never married, a Manhattan judge has ruled . . . “Indeed, even if [the defendant] had made an explicit promise that, upon separation, [the plaintiff] would be entitled to ‘equitable distribution’ of their assets, it would be unenforceable, as it would be contrary to the long-standing law and policy in New York that unmarried partners are not entitled to the same property and financial rights upon termination of the relationship as married people,” Justice Gesmer wrote in Ericson v. Baron, 350065/09.

OneNewsNow: “Marcia Walden is a licensed counselor who referred a lesbian to someone else for counseling because of her religious beliefs. A complaint was filed, and within two weeks, Walden was fired. Her attorney says an appeal is in the works. ‘In this instance, what we’ve seen is that this woman who is a Christian and who has sincerely held religious beliefs, those beliefs were pushed aside, and the agenda of this lady who was seeking same-sex relationship counseling was trumped over the rights of a Christian counselor,’ comments ADF attorney [Jim Campbell].”

Christian Legal Society v. Martinez suit will be subject of law school debates this week

Lourens Du Plessis, Religious Freedom and Equality as Celebration of Difference: A Significant Development in Recent South African Constitutional Case-Law (February, 18 2010). Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1555222

“This contribution focuses on the way in which the South African Constitutional Court has, since 1997, been dealing with the (seemingly) eccentric claims of (assumedly) idiosyncratic ‘religious Others’. Developments in this regard have, for the time being at least, culminated in the Constitutional Court’s landmark judgment in MEC for Education: KwaZulu Natal v Pillay 2008 (2) BCLR 99 (CC), 2008 (1) SA 474 (CC) (hereafter Pillay). Constitutional Court judgments since 1997 manifesting the adjudication of such unconventional claims are assessed, eventually getting to Pillay as benchmark. This remarkable judgment, dealing with a deceptively mundane issue, has played a considerable role in fleshing out a jurisprudence of difference, putting an adherent of a vulnerable, minority religion in the right. This is not just a high point in the adjudication of constitutional entitlements of the religious (and cultural) Other in South Africa, but also a significant contribution to the growth of a jurisprudence sensitive to the predicaments and constitutional entitlements of unconventional, ‘non-mainstream’ claimants of religious (and cultural) rights.”

Francesco Alicino (2010) Constitutionalism as a Peaceful “Site” of Religious Struggles, Global Jurist: Vol. 10 : Iss. 1 (Advances), Article 8. Available at: http://www.bepress.com/gj/vol10/iss1/art8

“The author analyzes the relationship between religion and constitutionalism. The time seems propitious for an examination of the relationships in the West between Church/es, the State, and the general principles of ‘constitutionalism,’ a definition which cannot be separated from the analysis of its historical and secular roots . . . In the West this is an era of unprecedented religious diversity. In some States one religion still predominates; in others, religious representatives have a formal political role, for example, the bishops who sit in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom where, as in Greece, a national Church remains a reality. Nevertheless, the separation between Church and State is, generally, the prevailing principle in the institutions of the Western legal systems and their politics. In any case, the ‘religion issue’ still remains an important aspect of liberal constitutionalism which is a legal model that contains institutionalized mechanisms of power control to prevent tyranny and to guarantee individual rights and liberties, including religious freedom.”

Jennifer Gerarda Brown, Peacemaking in the Culture War between Gay Rights and Religious Liberty (March 25, 2010). Iowa Law Review, Vol. 95, p. 747, 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1578286

“This Article takes seriously two important legal claims. The first claim, increasingly sounded by opponents of marriage rights for same-sex couples, warns that when private or governmental institutions create rights for gay and lesbian people, those institutions simultaneously and inevitably threaten opponents’ rights of religious liberty. The second claim, articulated — surprisingly enough — by at least two federal district-court judges, is that legal disputes involving these potentially conflicting interests can and should be resolved through mediation. The thesis of this Article is that these judges are correct: mediation holds tremendous potential in legal disputes that pit ‘gay rights’ against ‘religious liberty.’”

Mark Rahdert, Forks Taken and Roads Not Taken: Standing to Challenge Faith-Based Spending (March 19, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1577742

“In Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation, Inc., the Supreme Court denied jurisdiction on the ground that the plaintiffs, as taxpayers, lacked standing to attack the constitutionality of alleged efforts to secure preferential federal funding for religious charitable organizations. In doing so, the Court split three ways on the proper scope and application of Flast v. Cohen, a Warren Court decision which allows taxpayer suits to challenge governmental spending allegedly in violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. While the Court did not overrule Flast, its decision casts substantial doubt over Flast’s future. This article explores the implications of Hein, both as a standing decision and as a harbinger of future Establishment Clause developments. After evaluating the theoretical limitations of existing standing jurisprudence, the article turns to reciprocity theory as a medium for explaining Flast’s deviation from Frothingham v. Mellon’s general rule against taxpayer standing. The article demonstrates that Flast is based upon the constitutionally non-reciprocal character of spending in aid of religion. It further demonstrates that Hein’s departure from Flast redefines the concept of constitutional injury in establishment cases, both by treating faith-based funding as reciprocal and thus indistinguishable from other sorts of spending, and by denying the existence of intangible or psychic injury when religious preference in the implementation of such funding allegedly occurs. As a consequence, Hein signals a major shift in Supreme Court thinking about the substantive scope of the Establishment Clause.”

Hans-Martien Ten Napel, Th.D., Protestantism, Globalization and the Democratic Constitutional State (2009). RESHAPING PROTESTANTISM IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT, Volker Küster, ed., LIT, 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1578886

“In this article I want to explore whether Calvinism has the potential to once again act as a force toward cultural liberty in today’s world, and if so, to what extent. Because religion is of profound importance to one’s identity, I will thereby focus on religious liberty. In paragraph two I will, first of all, indicate what the pluralist approach to constitutional democracy is about, that neo-Calvinists have developed during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Paragraphs three and four will then look at the prospects for this approach in the Netherlands, where it originated, and in other cultural contexts, respectively. I will round up with a conclusion in which I will refer to Alister E. McGrath’s thesis about the end of mainline Protestantism.”

Geoffrey P. Miller, Patriarchy: The Political Theory of Family Authority in the Book of Genesis (April 2, 2010). New York University School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 10-23. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1583505

“This paper extends on prior work analyzing political theory in the biblical narratives. The Garden of Eden story offers a prolegomenon, presenting a developed utopian argument and sketching out six other bases for political authority. The narratives of the Dark Age, the Flood, and Noah’s covenant with God argue that government and law are essential for human flourishing. The Bible next takes up the topic of authority in families. The book of Genesis endorses a strong form of patriarchal authority but also recognizes limits to that authority based on kinship, higher authority, and power. It privileges the norm of primogeniture but also recognizes that a patriarch may prefer a younger son or give equal status to all his children. The political theory contained in the book of Genesis compares favorably with family-based theories of authority found in the later Western tradition. The biblical account can be understood as reflecting interests and attitudes of social elites during or after the period of the monarchy in Judah.”

Geoffrey P. Miller, The Dark Age: How the Biblical Narratives Demonstrate the Necessity for Law and Government (March 24, 2010). NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 10-18. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1577725

“In earlier work I argue that the Garden of Eden story in the book of Genesis explores a basic question for political theory: why people have an obligation to obey the law. The narratives that follow describe a ‘Dark Age’ in world history characterized by accelerating violence and ending in a catastrophic flood. These texts expand the analysis of the Eden narratives by asking whether human beings can achieve a good life in the absence of government and law. The narratives describe an experiment in which people interact strategically with one another in an environment where cooperation can generate a surplus but defection from cooperative arrangements is always possible. The message of the Dark Age texts is that, at least under the specified conditions of scarcity, self-interest, and character types, people will not achieve a good life in the absence of government and law.”