-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Iraq and the Second Amendment Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 15:26:32 -0700 From: Bob Sheridan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sanford Levinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED] References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sanford Levinson wrote (in part):
<>Is it irrelevant what happened here, because the American experience, like all national experiences, is sui generis? This would suggest, of course, that the notion of "comparative constitutional law"--and of the advisability of American law professors giving advice based on our/their own expertise about the US constitution--is completely chimerical... .
sandy
***
I'd been wondering whether it made any sense to try to export democracy, as we seem to be trying to do in Iraq, and the above question seems to feed into that despite being triggered, apparently, by Second Amendment concerns.
I've been reviewing the history that produced our written constitution, particularly the 250 years of religious turmoil, war, and massacre in Europe following the Reformation begun when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the cathedral door in Wurtemberg in 1517 and found himself excommunicated after taking his celebrated stand, in 1521 at the Diet of Worms.
In England, following Henry VIII's break with Rome over the Catholic Church's refusal to grant him a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, needed for dynastic reasons since she failed to produce him an heir to the throne, there followed him a repeated flip-flopping of the official religion. It followed that of the monarch. (Edw. VI, Protestant more or less, followed by Mary, Catholic, then Elizabeth I, mainly Protestant). Official religion alternated between Catholocism and Protestantism, i.e. Church of England, High, Low, and Puritan extreme, depending on how much traditional Catholic rite and doctrine was allowed to persist.. Charles I, one of the last monarchs to really believe in the divine right of kings, lost his head in the related battle for supremacy, i.e.sovereignty with Parliament, followed by Cromwell's largely Puritan Protectorate and later the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when William of Orange was imported from the Netherlands in order to preserve the Protestant ascendancy and protect against the risk of the return of Catholocism.
The religious wars of the era, over doctrine that seems to me to be pretty, "Ho-hum, which version of the fairy tale shall we take seriously today?" has been likened to 'theological road rage' with stake-burnings. See Diarmuid McCulloch, "The Reformation." They took it seriously, then. Those theologians were the Con-law profs of the day. They told you who was a heretic who merited burning at the stake. Catholics, incidentally, went straight for the stake. Protestants liked to obtain official consent first, using rigged tribunals. Result was the same.
In Iraq they've got Sunnis and Shiites. The fight between them began as dynastic, over the competing legitimacy of branches of the family of the Prophet Mohammed, fighting over his mantle of leadership, following his death. This quarrel has long been a matter of life and death. Muslim road rage. In a country that has been around for 8,000 years. The country that Abraham walked out of. From Ur. To dialog challengly with G-d. Ever since Islamic warriors established control (when, 1200 years ago?), the place has been under Shaaria, Islamic law, which is antithetical to the doctrine of separation of church and state. I don't see shaaria inviting democracy and equal rights, much less for such disfavored people as women. It would blow the far more fundamental and age-old rule of patriarchy.
Do we have something to contribute to this ancient and foreign culture? After the 2,000 election? Are we going to impose our views, or do the Iraqis get to pick and choose from our constitutional smorgasbord? Have they shown any sign of having made a choice? I'm sure a few of the women would like to be recognized as somewhat more equal. <> So far I'm having trouble seeing exactly what it is we think we can do to help these folks, apart from having toppled Saddam, although I see by today's paper that they're trying to set up an electoral process and have fallen apart arguing over credentials. That part sounds familiar. We do have experience with that.
Exporting democracy.
What an intriguing idea.
Maybe it's fungible.
I suppose we could say, "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt."
Perhaps if we began serving as a good example it might help. <> -rs sfls
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