I recently had a chance to participate in a fundraising gala for a pro-life organization I really believe in. Several friends and I really enjoyed it, were inspired, and gave what seemed right, as we were able.
At the same time, you note I'm sure my disaffection with the current forms of even mainstream "conservative" ideology. I'll never be "the Left," as it were. There is no David Brock-like conversion coming. Yours truly might make a big change over the course of years or a decade, but I'm a writer and an extrovert; I'm gonna telegraph it, if so. I digress. The point being, personhood won't change. No sob story rooted in consequentialism would make even one abortion acceptable. No other heart-wrenching identity crisis makes any anti-human (thus, anti-Catholic) ideology tolerable. Yet I'm reminded of something Archbishop Sheen said, in paraphrase: If a person listens to the Church, he can believe dozens of foolish things besides, without fault. On the other hand, many people use that freedom to enforce of kind of vincible ignorance concerning our social doctrine.
(Sorry, Tony Esolen.)
So I'll just get to it: I'm not a one-issue voter.
In fact, all options are on the table, in terms of voting.
And yet, I cannot disregard the present state of the Democratic Party with respect to abortion. It needs to be said in words: Until major leaders and voters and platform writers understand the basic scaffolding of the pro-life position, and make room for it, and stop denigrating it, they don't deserve to be a majority party that wins elections.
(Nor do their putative opponents deserve to win anything, but that's another post.)
You know, I wasn't too comfortable with the pro-Trump sentiment in the room that night. I don't think it's morally acceptable to treat any immigrants of any kind with the kind of blatant hostility that this administration has. Add to that the violations of international law with respect to seekers of asylum, and too many other things, and yeah, voting against this xenophobia, this flagrant racism, tolerance for violence against the innocent, is a live option for any reasonable person. (And that doesn't even touch general unfitness!)
And yet, I know Joe Biden's or Liz Warren's HHS wouldn't help this pro-life organization like this HHS has. Quite the opposite. I know that none of the Democrats would keep the Supreme Court as an aid to the rising pro-life momentum. This is not news, or it shouldn't be.
To put a point on it, I might say--and have said--"You won't be buying me off with judges!" but that doesn't mean I want progressive judges. If I act against Trump, I must consider the ways that even unintentionally, I would be acting against the things I say I want.
And let us dispense with the false notion that anyone in the so-called "New Pro-Life Movement" is being persecuted for being pro-life in a different way. Weiss and others deserve criticism, if and to the extent that their actual opposition to abortion and willingness to face public criticism for it, is not at all clear. I could agree to turn America into a democratic socialist paradise, but if I don't sign my name at some point to measures actually making abortion less accessible, my opposition deserves to be put into question. The present state of things--in which many politicians oppose any restrictions at all--is morally unacceptable. One is not permissibly working incrementally by standing still.
So here we are. Until I run for office, I feel a bit stuck. How about you?
At the same time, you note I'm sure my disaffection with the current forms of even mainstream "conservative" ideology. I'll never be "the Left," as it were. There is no David Brock-like conversion coming. Yours truly might make a big change over the course of years or a decade, but I'm a writer and an extrovert; I'm gonna telegraph it, if so. I digress. The point being, personhood won't change. No sob story rooted in consequentialism would make even one abortion acceptable. No other heart-wrenching identity crisis makes any anti-human (thus, anti-Catholic) ideology tolerable. Yet I'm reminded of something Archbishop Sheen said, in paraphrase: If a person listens to the Church, he can believe dozens of foolish things besides, without fault. On the other hand, many people use that freedom to enforce of kind of vincible ignorance concerning our social doctrine.
(Sorry, Tony Esolen.)
So I'll just get to it: I'm not a one-issue voter.
In fact, all options are on the table, in terms of voting.
And yet, I cannot disregard the present state of the Democratic Party with respect to abortion. It needs to be said in words: Until major leaders and voters and platform writers understand the basic scaffolding of the pro-life position, and make room for it, and stop denigrating it, they don't deserve to be a majority party that wins elections.
(Nor do their putative opponents deserve to win anything, but that's another post.)
You know, I wasn't too comfortable with the pro-Trump sentiment in the room that night. I don't think it's morally acceptable to treat any immigrants of any kind with the kind of blatant hostility that this administration has. Add to that the violations of international law with respect to seekers of asylum, and too many other things, and yeah, voting against this xenophobia, this flagrant racism, tolerance for violence against the innocent, is a live option for any reasonable person. (And that doesn't even touch general unfitness!)
And yet, I know Joe Biden's or Liz Warren's HHS wouldn't help this pro-life organization like this HHS has. Quite the opposite. I know that none of the Democrats would keep the Supreme Court as an aid to the rising pro-life momentum. This is not news, or it shouldn't be.
To put a point on it, I might say--and have said--"You won't be buying me off with judges!" but that doesn't mean I want progressive judges. If I act against Trump, I must consider the ways that even unintentionally, I would be acting against the things I say I want.
And let us dispense with the false notion that anyone in the so-called "New Pro-Life Movement" is being persecuted for being pro-life in a different way. Weiss and others deserve criticism, if and to the extent that their actual opposition to abortion and willingness to face public criticism for it, is not at all clear. I could agree to turn America into a democratic socialist paradise, but if I don't sign my name at some point to measures actually making abortion less accessible, my opposition deserves to be put into question. The present state of things--in which many politicians oppose any restrictions at all--is morally unacceptable. One is not permissibly working incrementally by standing still.
So here we are. Until I run for office, I feel a bit stuck. How about you?
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