Rights and Freedoms

Abstract

Abstract This chapter considers the place of constitutional rights within Christian political thought. The emergence of codified and justiciable abstract rights has been one of the most notable features of constitutional development across the world since the Second World War. It has been accompanied by the parallel development of international human rights, and the two processes have mutually reinforced each other. The tradition of constitutional rights has complex ideological and institutional roots, which makes the question of its relationship to Christian political thought difficult to interrogate. This chapter identifies three areas of critical interaction. First, there is a longstanding foundational debate about the value of the concept of constitutional rights. Second, there is a debate about the content of constitutional rights. Finally, there is a debate about the construction or interpretation of constitutional rights. Given the enormous breadth and flexibility of modern constitutional rights doctrine, this third area is increasingly where political and ideological conflicts are played out. Even here simple either-or narratives of Christian and anti-Christian conceptions of rights should be avoided.