PREFACE.

• Author: Craddock, Joshua J.

For the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, many in the West are reconsidering liberalism. Those on the left are quick to point out the rise of populism and capitalism's culture of consumption. Critics on the right, such as Professor Adrian Vermeule, question the neutrality of liberalism when it functions as a secular religion, complete with articles of faith and claims of exclusivity that crowd religion out of the public square. Others note the collateral casualties of liberalism's struggle against nature in the realm of bioethics. The "end of history," it seems, was only an intermission. Are liberalism's travails the result of Progressive corruption, or were the roots of its demise embedded in its theoretical underpinnings from the very beginning? Advocates of the former view seek a return to classical liberalism, hoping to prevent the "suicide of the West," while those of the latter persuasion tout liberalism's failures under its own consistent principles. Regardless of which view perceives liberalism more truly, this Issue considers some of liberalism's struggles and proposes ameliorative public policy solutions.

Our first Article addresses itself to the quintessential liberal himself, Justice Kennedy. Laura Wolk and Professor O. Carter Snead observe a tension in the Supreme Court's abortion jurisprudence after Whole Woman's Health, and suggest that Justice Kennedy could provide much-needed clarity to lower courts considering the constitutionality of state bans on dismemberment abortions. Professor Adeline A. Allen addresses another bioethical problem presented by liberal man's Baconian conquest of nature. She argues from a natural law perspective that gestational surrogacy arrangements are not within the freedom of contract and should be prohibited as against public policy.

Taking stock of recent congressional hostility toward religious nominees for public office, Professor Johnny Rex Buckles analyzes the Religious Test Clause and First Amendment norms to assess the constitutionality of congressional votes against nominees on the basis of religion. He then summarizes basic evangelical Christian...