Beliefs Are Essential For Just Laws

There is an ancient maxim dating back to the Roman jurists: “lex iniusta non est lex” (an unjust law is not law). The insight they were pointing at is that law can only be valid insofar as it is nested within the transcendent value of justice. This justice, independent from social expediency or tyrannical dictate, ultimately finds its basis in the order and justice of the divine.

As such, all human positive law is grounded in the divine eternal law. While the entirety of the eternal law cannot be instantiated in human positive law, our laws only have legitimacy to the extent that they reflect this law of God or do not oppose it.

From this, I would argue that not only can religion influence laws, but that it must. Without the view of the transcendent, laws become merely an attempt to impose one’s will over others.