Strictly Fundamental: A Comparison of Strict Constitutionalism and Religious Fundamentalism

70 pagesThis research investigates the extent to which strict constitutionalists and religious fundamentalists might be intertwined and what implication this might have on the American legal system. Findings suggest close ties between strict constitutionalism and religious fundamentalism, enough so to consider strict constitutionalism itself a form of fundamentalism. Strict constitutionalists were discovered to share ample core values, ideologies, and practices with religious fundamentals. Supreme Court decisions based on originalist and textualist interpretations were found to be openly endorsed by religious groups. The public eye has begun to associate strict constitutionalism with religion, which has resulted in extensive media traction on the topic. The overlap between religious fundamentalists and strict constitutionalists suggests several potential problems for the American public, including a risk to the separation of church and state and a threat to legitimacy of the judicial branch