The title is the first of two questions that have been been bouncing around in my head for a few months now. It has to do with a comment made by Jesus. Here’s how it was recorded in The Gospel of St. Mark: For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will…
Religion
Should the Government Promote “Traditional” Families?
Insofar as it is ‘traditional’ to organize families around a legal marriage of two consenting adults, recognized by the state, and securing for them certain rights, I do believe the government has an interest in promoting ‘traditional’ families. But I do not believe the state has a compelling interest in denying marriage to same-sex couples….
Religious Freedom and the Executive
A major problem with Santorum’s view of religion in public life is that he fails to differentiate between the rights of individual citizens and the responsibilities of elected officials. Consider this passage from his RealClearReligion op-ed: In contrast, a major political offshoot of Kennedy’s articulated philosophy, sometimes referred to as the “privatization of faith,” was…
Santorum on Religious Freedom
Rick Santorum, former Senator and current presidential candidate, got into some trouble a few months back when he suggested that John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association made him want to vomit. The speech is a landmark in the history of religion and politics, helping to address concerns that Kennedy, our first…
Constitutional Originalism
Over the last decades, certain conservative political and legal activists have been very effective in selling a vision of the original Constitution as (1) basically perfect and (2) perfectly clear. From this perspective, the only modern approaches to the Constitution are to either (a) maintain it or (b) degrade it. This perspective has been effective in…
A Moderate Path on Same-Sex Marriage, Part II
Courtney! raised a crucial point in her comment on the last piece: Will this prove emotionally satisfying to those who have spent years imagining and planning their perfect wedding (rather than a perfect ‘civil union’)? I think yes, and here’s why: When I got married (in California), my wife and I went to the county registrar…
A Moderate Path on Same-Sex Marriage
One of the challenges of moderate politics is to find creative solutions that will appeal to (or at least resolve the concerns of) those on either end of the political spectrum. This is particularly true for those seemingly binary issues that so easily divide us. Here is what I think we should do about one…
Christian Conservatism, Part II
Grant’s comment on my previous post reminded me of another area of disagreement with conservative Christians that is worth highlighting: I am comfortable with government as an instrument of our communal values and efforts in aiding others. If we as a group of citizenry feel a desire to help “the poor, downtrodden, sick, disadvantaged” (in…
What Separates Me From the Religious Conservatives
I am an active church-goer, a Christian believer who has spent time proselyting for my faith. But my politics almost never align with those conservative Republican evangelicals who get so much attention in the Republican Party. Why not? I think the answer boils down to some fundamental differences in perspective: 1. Religious Belief v. Political Belief…
In Praise of New York Senate Republicans
In the midst of all the discussion of the passage of Same-Sex Marriage legislation in New York, I want to take a moment to congratulate the Republicans for behaving like passionate moderates. First, some praise for those who voted against the bill: This article in the New York Times details the active and effective role…