Julian Waller – Quirks in the Neo-Integralist Vision

Abstract

The rise of neo-integralism to a place of prominence in current political debates on the American right has been met unhappily in many quarters—most recently in an apopleptic The New Republic piece entitled, “Originalism Is Dead. Long Live Natural Law.” Charged as authoritarian in inclination, or even assigned the dark hyperbole of “fascist,” vitriol has come from expected left-wing and left-liberal critics raising the specter of theocracy, concerns about anti-pluralism, and nervousness over the unreasonableness of strong social conservative beliefs in the public square. Yet the reaction has been even harsher from segments of the American right’s own intellectual establishment, especially its right-liberal and libertarian wings.