Individualism, Family and Faith from a Law Student's Perspective

In learning Family Law and Constitutional Law in the same semester, Mr. Eric Young, Regent J.D. Candidate 2011, has put together his thoughts on the notion of individualism and the family in the following piece, integrating his own personal faith into the legal concepts which so desperately have need of a consistent and authentic foundation. His piece follows (click here to read the full article).

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF INDIVIDUALISM:

The Intersection of Supreme Court Jurisprudence on Individual Rights and the Family 

By Eric Young, Regent Law 2011

Individualism and the rights that stem from that concept are part of the American identity. Individualism is such a fundamental concept that it makes bedfellows out of both sides of political debate and is endorsed by the courts, especially in the liberty interest of the individual within the Fourteenth Amendment.

Individual rights are seen in America as existing pre-textually, as either a transcendental right or one endowed inalienably by our Creator and exists in nature. Ironically, the Supreme Court of the United States has not used nature as a justification for individual rights. The assumption is that individualism and its appended rights must be one of the values that make America great. Individual rights, however, also permit a husband or wife to abandon the family unit without fault, allow a woman without consequence to murder her unborn child, allows homosexuals to not only engage in sodomy, but in many jurisdictions consecrate this conduct in matrimony... (read more)