Sex and the Constitution: Sex, Religion, and Law from America’s Origins to the Twenty-First Century

 藉由美國憲法的進程透視數百年來「性」之攻防戰
  

 美國憲法研究史詩級鉅作

 由美國憲法史切入，探討性、宗教與法律的交互關係
 

　　這部傑作罕見地結合智慧權威之作與愛不釋手的讀物這兩種屬性於一書之內。–Laurence H. Tribe《看不見的憲法》作者

　　回溯至古代與中世紀，憲法學家、芝加哥大學法學教授Geoffrey R. Stone揭示美國開國元勳如何被他們的哲學先賢所影響，視傳統基督教為追求幸福與追求人類進步的阻礙。因此徹底意識到這國家需要政教分離，最終開國元勳創制出一部彰顯啓蒙運動基本價值的憲法。

　　雖然18世紀末至19世紀初發生的「第二次大覺醒運動」宣稱美國為基督立國，19世紀的美國人仍將性當作私人問題。有關性表現與避孕相關資訊皆自由流通，墮胎依然是合法的，當時也幾乎不存在有關雞姦的起訴。

　　然而，19世紀末至20世紀初，一些深具魅力的精神領袖與激情的政治家與當年開國元勳的價值觀背道而馳。美國最可怕的道德執法者Anthony Comstock催生了新的法律，用來禁止色情、避孕與墮胎及其相關資訊的散播，Comstock甚至將同性戀者貼上「不潔淨」的標籤。女性此時逐漸失去對自己身體的控制權，生育控制的倡導者像是Margaret Sanger等人，則因他們的主張而遭到監禁。

　　20世紀逐漸出現了性「道德」與性自由問題的分裂與交戰。雙方支持的組織與人物都試圖左右政治、宗教、輿論與法院。從Griswold v. Connecticut一案（避孕），到Roe v. Wade案（墮胎），到Obergefell v. Hodges案（同性婚姻），Stone生動的描繪出歷史性的最高法院判決，本書讀起來像是戲劇性的關鍵報導，並輔佐當下的時空背景，重新定義美國。

　　此時此刻，雖然在2016的總統大選之後，美國似乎往後倒退了一大步，上半個世紀的進步突然岌岌可危。沒人可以預測憲法保障的人身自由被侵蝕的速度與程度，唯一可以確定的是，本書的重要性正與日俱增，映照歷史的軌跡與泱泱大國的每一道步伐。(文/博客來編譯)

There has never been a book like Sex and the Constitution, a one-volume history that chapter after chapter overturns popular shibboleths, while dramatically narrating the epic story of how sex came to be legislated in America.


　　Beginning his volume in the ancient and medieval worlds, Geoffrey R. Stone demonstrates how the Founding Fathers, deeply influenced by their philosophical forebears, saw traditional Christianity as an impediment to the pursuit of happiness and to the quest for human progress. Acutely aware of the need to separate politics from the divisive forces of religion, the Founding Fathers crafted a constitution that expressed the fundamental values of the Enlightenment.
 

　　Although the Second Great Awakening later came to define America through the lens of evangelical Christianity, nineteenth-century Americans continued to view sex as a matter of private concern, so much so that sexual expression and information about contraception circulated freely, abortions before “quickening” remained legal, and prosecutions for sodomy were almost nonexistent.
 

　　The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries reversed such tolerance, however, as charismatic spiritual leaders and barnstorming politicians rejected the values of our nation’s founders. Spurred on by Anthony Comstock, America’s most feared enforcer of morality, new laws were enacted banning pornography, contraception, and abortion, with Comstock proposing that the word “unclean” be branded on the foreheads of homosexuals. Women increasingly lost control of their bodies, and birth control advocates, like Margaret Sanger, were imprisoned for advocating their beliefs. In this new world, abortions were for the first time relegated to dank and dangerous back rooms.
 

　　The twentieth century gradually saw the emergence of bitter divisions over issues of sexual “morality” and sexual freedom. Fiercely determined organizations and individuals on both the right and the left wrestled in the domains of politics, religion, public opinion, and the courts to win over the soul of the nation. With its stirring portrayals of Supreme Court justices, Sex and the Constitution reads like a dramatic gazette of the critical cases they decided, ranging from Griswold v. Connecticut (contraception), to Roe v. Wade (abortion), to Obergefell v. Hodges (gay marriage), with Stone providing vivid historical context to the decisions that have come to define who we are as a nation.
 

　　Now, though, after the 2016 presidential election, we seem to have taken a huge step backward, with the progress of the last half century suddenly imperiled. No one can predict the extent to which constitutional decisions safeguarding our personal freedoms might soon be eroded, but Sex and the Constitution is more vital now than ever before.