Thinking Christian

From Richard John Neuhaus:

We are two nations: one concentrated on rights and laws, the other on rights and wrongs; one radically individualistic and dedicated to the actualized self, the other communal and invoking the common good; one viewing law as the instrument of the will to power and license, the other affirming an objective moral order reflected in a Constitution to which we are obliged; one given to private satisfaction, the other to familial responsibility; one typically secular, the other typically religious; one elitist, the other populist. These strokes are admittedly broad, but the reality is all too evident in the increasingly ugly rancor that dominates and debases our public life. And, of course, for many Americans the conflicts in the culture wars run through their own hearts.

No other question cuts so close to the heart of the culture wars as the question of abortion. The abortion debate is about more than abortion. It is about the nature of human life and community. It is about whether rights are the product of human assertion or the gift of “Nature and Nature’s God.”

…

The result is the Court’s clear declaration of belligerency on one side of the culture wars, endorsing the radically individualistic concept of the self-constituted self…

[Link: FIRST THINGS: On the Square]

The linked page has a definite political message. It has always been my practice to avoid discussions here on political parties and candidates. What Neuhaus has to say, however, about culture and about abortion—which are not closed topics here—is so insightful that I want to draw attention to it.

(The discussion policy continues to be that there will be no discussion of political parties or candidates. That includes this post.)

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Possibly related posts (automatically generated):

1. The Manhattan Declaration and the “Culture Wars”
2. “Is it still wrong if another culture says it is right? A teacher’s surprising discovery”
3. “We Must Not Despair”