On the Impossibility of Good Laws without Religious Devotion and Living according to Nature (Cicero)

On the Impossibility of Good Laws without Religious Devotion and Living according to Nature (Cicero) We have reached a crisis of law in Western society, one predictable enough in light of the rejection of religion in one way or another. The crisis stems from not having an understanding of what stands over law. Lawmakers and judges often say, ‘We are a nation under the law?’, but what happens when the law itself is under nothing?This brief essay raises the question, ‘Can Western society actually be a society of good laws once it gives up respectfulness or even reverence for religion and nature/creation?’ The question is not only asked regarding Christianity, although as a question for Western society in the 21st century, it is largely about the recently emerged, post-Christian context. The essay will explore the arguments of Marcus Tullius Cicero, a renowned Roman legislature in the first century BC. He argues that a society’s laws must fit into a wider cultural context that honours the gods and is willing to live according to nature, not against it.In On the Laws, Cicero argues that wardens of the state (lawmakers and judges) must believe in the gods because laws must be derived fr...