While the Christian Right has long voiced grave concerns about the Supreme Court and cases such as Roe v Wade, until recently its cultivation of the resources needed to effectively enter the courtroom had paled in comparison to its efforts in more traditional political arenas. A small constellation of high-profile leaders within the Christian Right began to address this imbalance in earnest in the pivot from the 20th to the 21st century, investing in an array of institutions aimed at radically transforming American law and legal culture. Separate but Faithful is the first in-depth examination of these efforts – their causes, contours and consequences. Drawing on an impressive amount of original data from a variety of sources, the book examines the conditions that gave rise to a set of distinctly “Christian Worldview” law schools and legal institutions. Further, the book analyses their institutional missions and cultural makeup and evaluates their transformative impacts on law and legal culture to date. Separate But Faithful finds that this movement, while struggling to influence the legal and political mainstream, has succeeded in establishing a resilient Christian conservative beacon of resistance; a separate but faithful space from which to incrementally challenge the dominant legal culture by training and credentialing, in the words of Jerry Falwell, “a generation of Christian attorneys who could…infiltrate the legal profession with a strong commitment to the Judeo-Christian ethic.”

You can use this link to access the book launch talk for Separate But Faithful graciously hosted by UC Irvine Law‘s Center for Empirical Research on the Legal Profession. The talk involves both a 20 minute formal presentation giving an overview of the book, as well as a 30 minute Q&A session with participants.