Religious left.Our campaign to take religion back from the fight recently became less lonely. "More than 350 political liberals of many faiths gathered in Washington," reports The Washington Post, "to begin what some pollsters say is a quixotic quix·ot·ic also quix·ot·i·cal adj. 1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality. 2. task: restoring the voice of the religious left in the nation's political debate." The gathering was brought together by John Podesta podesta (Italian: “power”) In medieval Italian communes, the highest judicial and military magistrate. The office was instituted by Frederick I Barbarossa in an attempt to govern rebellious Lombard cities. , Clinton's last chief of staff, who now heads the Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress is a progressive American political policy research and advocacy organization. Its website describes it as "...a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all. . One of the speakers was Taylor Branch, the author of Parting the Waters and one of the most distinguished of the Monthly's alumni. Branch explained that the great surge of the Christian left that was a major factor in the civil rights revolution fell apart and lost its steam over the issue of abortion, with most liberals becoming rabidly pro-choice. To reach out to moderate Christians, Branch argues, the left must move beyond polemics po·lem·ics n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) 1. The art or practice of argumentation or controversy. 2. The practice of theological controversy to refute errors of doctrine. : "Not many people who call themselves pro-choice actually want to celebrate abortion, and not many of those who call themselves pro-file want to put women in jail for having abortions. It's more of a show than a debate with polarizing options that aren't real. Both sides profess that they love children, but you really don't have the two sides doing very much to cooperate to reduce the number of neglected and unwanted and abandoned children, or to care for them." Branch's speech reminded me of a 1972 article by Suzannah Lessard we published while he was here entitled "A Legal Right, A Moral Choice" its point was that liberals were justified in insisting that abortion was a legal right, but that all too often they were wrong in not acknowledging the gravity of the moral decision involved. A similar absolutism absolutism Political doctrine and practice of unlimited, centralized authority and absolute sovereignty, especially as vested in a monarch. Its essence is that the ruling power is not subject to regular challenge or check by any judicial, legislative, religious, economic, or keeps many liberals from acknowledging that abortion may cause pain to the fetus. As Steve Chapman recently pointed out in The Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune Daily newspaper published in Chicago. The Tribune is one of the leading U.S. newspapers and long has been the dominant voice of the Midwest. Founded in 1847, it was bought in 1855 by six partners, including Joseph Medill (1823–99), who made the paper , surgeons seeking to correct birth defects birth defects, abnormalities in physical or mental structure or function that are present at birth. They range from minor to seriously deforming or life-threatening. A major defect of some type occurs in approximately 3% of all births. now operate on fetuses, and when they do they use anesthesia, not just for the mother but for the fetus as well. Chapman goes on to quote pediatricians who say fetuses can feel pain. Maybe they're wrong, he concedes. But why not err on the side of caution and seek to find ways to terminate pregnancies in the most humane ways possible for both the woman and the fetus? |
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