Journal of Law, Religion and State - Volume 6, Issue 1, 2018

Using historical critical methods of interpretation, many Western and African scholars have dismissed the use of imprecation in Africa as an incantatory, uncritical, and above all, unwholesome Christian practice. But using an Afrocentric method of interpretation, I argue that African Christians’ use of imprecation is a legitimate Christian prayer that is consistent with God’s character of retributive justice, regardless of its unwholesomeness. For many African Christians, to imprecate is to participate in the ongoing and eschatological reality of God’s holy indignation, and judgment against systemic forces of oppression, injustice, and impunity perpetrated by the powers of the enemy.

Contemporary practitioners of political theology make use of Carl Schmitt’s account of sovereignty to criticize liberal political theory. But whereas Schmitt focused on “states of exception,” the new decisionism holds that decision-making is a quotidian feature of jurisprudence: the interpretation of law depends upon judicial decisions that serve to impose meaning on otherwise semantically indeterminate norms. Ironically, it is possible to detect in the contemporary decisionist critique of liberal theory, with its focus on law’s meaning, a liberalizing tendency: by insisting on the ubiquity of decision-making, the exception is made to seem unexceptional. In this way, Schmitt is tamed, and sovereignty is diffused into the mundane world of administrative governance. I want to resist this normalizing account on philosophical grounds: if one is to appreciate the exceptional character of the decision, it is important to retain some background of regularity with which it can be contrasted.

A new feminist movement is on the rise in Israel. It is led by haredi (ultra-Orthodox) women, usually known for their silent acquiescence to the rabbinate. They are not looking to create a revolution, but their activism may have implications not only for women, but for Israel in general. Based on interviews with haredi activists, Knesset (Parliament) members, secular and religious women heads of ngos, and academics, we contend that political activism, especially for haredi women with little education, experience, and resources, is not ironic, but rather, an appropriate vehicle for advancing their agenda. Other avenues of activity are closed for haredi women. Politics, which is assimilated into the category of “secular” activities, is likely to generate less opposition from their community. Haredi women and the state of Israel are trying to dance at two different weddings: at one, the tune being played is that of women’s rights and democracy; at the other, it is Jewish law, with its religious patriarchy.