"The members of such a society consider that the transgression of a religious ordinance should be punished by civil penalties, and that the violation of a civil duty exposes the delinquent to divine correction"
About this Quote
Maine is sketching the mental wiring of a society where church and state aren’t merely allied but mutually interchangeable. The line’s quiet force comes from its symmetry: religious rules get enforced like law, and legal duties get sanctified like creed. He’s not describing zealotry so much as a legal imagination that can’t yet separate sin from crime, or contract from covenant. That doubling is the tell: in such a system, punishment is always overdetermined. The court can act with the confidence of a pulpit, and the pulpit can threaten with the authority of a court.
The specific intent is comparative and diagnostic. As a Victorian historian of law, Maine is interested in how “early” or “traditional” societies stabilize order. His subtext is that what modern readers treat as distinct spheres - conscience versus compliance - are, historically speaking, late achievements. When every breach is both a civic offense and a cosmic one, obedience becomes more than prudence; it becomes metaphysical self-preservation.
Context matters: Maine writes in an era when Britain is both theorizing progress and administering empire. His framework often implies an evolutionary march from status to contract, from communal obligation to individual rights. This sentence participates in that narrative, offering a tidy snapshot of an integrated moral-legal world that modern liberalism claims to outgrow.
Why it works is the uncomfortable implication it leaves hanging. When the state borrows sacred legitimacy, dissent can be recast as blasphemy. When religion borrows state coercion, faith can start to look like compliance. Maine’s cool, almost clinical phrasing makes the power grab sound like common sense - which is exactly the danger he wants you to notice.
The specific intent is comparative and diagnostic. As a Victorian historian of law, Maine is interested in how “early” or “traditional” societies stabilize order. His subtext is that what modern readers treat as distinct spheres - conscience versus compliance - are, historically speaking, late achievements. When every breach is both a civic offense and a cosmic one, obedience becomes more than prudence; it becomes metaphysical self-preservation.
Context matters: Maine writes in an era when Britain is both theorizing progress and administering empire. His framework often implies an evolutionary march from status to contract, from communal obligation to individual rights. This sentence participates in that narrative, offering a tidy snapshot of an integrated moral-legal world that modern liberalism claims to outgrow.
Why it works is the uncomfortable implication it leaves hanging. When the state borrows sacred legitimacy, dissent can be recast as blasphemy. When religion borrows state coercion, faith can start to look like compliance. Maine’s cool, almost clinical phrasing makes the power grab sound like common sense - which is exactly the danger he wants you to notice.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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