The Overview (Wednesday, October 7)
Debating Amy Coney Barrett, the politics of religious freedom during the pandemic, and John Tyler's grandson dies at 95 (wait, what?)
Two things: First, you probably noticed this newsletter has migrated over Substack. It's a bit cleaner and more intuitive of a hosting site, so I'll be sharing everything there from now on.
Second, I typically send out this newsletter on Mondays. However, since I wanted to include my latest article for Religion and Politics in the new edition, and since said article was not published until yesterday, I decided to delay the newsletter by a couple days.
So, without further ado, here's a special Wednesday, October 7 edition of The Overview:
1) My latest article for Religion and Politics breaks down what the Amy Coney Barrett nomination means for Christian conservatives, religion and the public square, the future of the Supreme Court, and more. Specifically, I wrote that the while the Christian legal movement has had an impressive run at the Supreme Court in recent years, confirming Barrett would give them their biggest victory ever: "While the other conservatives on the Court are usually allies of this movement, Barrett would be an actual friend."
2) Speaking of the Barrett nomination, Stanford University's Michael McConnell argues the addition of Barrett to the Supreme Court will not lead to a radical transformation of the Court. As evidence, McConnell, a conservative former federal judge, points to the fragile and temporary nature of dominant coalitions on the Court as well as the role of methodology (rather than results) driving conservative legal analysis. And the New York Times' Thomas Edsall covers the recent history of the conservative legal movement's successes in (and, lately, on) the judiciary, pointing to groups like the Federalist Society as instrumental in cultivating a disciplined network of conservative legal thinkers.
3) Andrew Lewis and I recently participated in a virtual symposium sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, titled, "Law, Religion, and Coronavirus in the United States: A Six-Month Assessment." Our article focuses on the polarization of religious freedom in the midst of public health regulations on churches. Specifically, we highlighted the role of the Christian legal movement in exacerbating these conflicts, suggesting that while polarizing religious freedom may lead to political victories in the moment, such a strategy "does little to win the larger war for expanded religious freedom protections for all."
4) Over at National Review, Ramesh Ponnuru and Robert George argue that the "personally opposed, but pro-choice" stance on abortion is ultimately untenable. "The individual pro-life voter is not responsible for ending abortion, because he cannot achieve that goal," they write. "He is obligated, however, to do what he can, which is to cast his vote in solidarity with the unborn victims of abortion.... In a general election where two candidates differ in their commitment to justice for the unborn, the pro-life voter should nearly always back the one who has more of it."
5) Finally, Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. passed away last month at the age of 95. That's a long life to live, but it's noteworthy for one incredible reason: he was the grandson of John Tyler, who was born in 1790 and who served as the 10th president of the United States. How is that possible, you ask? Well, John Tyler had a son when he was 63, and that son had children into his 70s. Amazingly, Lyon's brother, Harrison, is still living, leaving one last living link to an era before the ratification of the Bill of Rights.