From On the Square, there’s an incisive post by Jody Bottum, following up on the embryonic stem cell research issue and examining the increasingly expressed notion that any point of view on an ethical question that agrees with that of a religion must of necessity be sectarian, and so, invalid.

The form all this takes in our current public discourse is a feeling—typically on the Left, in answer to their opponents on the Right—that because a large group of religious people are against some measure, the motive for opposing it must be religious. John Kerry moved onto this ground back in 2004, when he suggested that pro-life teaching is inherently sectarian and thus, he said, even though he was one of the sectarians who opposed abortion, he was required to support abortion. Think what this means: The fact that the Catholic Church supports a position now becomes the reason a Catholic politician must oppose it.

As he alludes to, I think, these are questions that are extremely pertinent to maintaining a functioning democracy in this country, and I recommend reading it all.

...................
Share this!

Posts which might be related to this one based on a mysterious algorithm:

• Harriet Miers: in like Flynn?
• Kerry’s Advice to Iran
• Take That