A reply to Brad's post regarding abortion and the 2012 election here.
Brad -
You said, "What I do not agree is that someone who thinks it might be alright to vote for someone who is pro-choice, on the basis of other reasons besides abortion, holds to an untenable premise."
I wanted to first say that my comments apply to America. Let us now put aside hypothetical Americas and other nations, because that is what the American voter had to do. It won't do to reference the U.K. or Australia just now. We're Americans voting for the President of our country. We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief because our analysis is much clearer now.
Let us also now put aside all pretenses to the supposed urgency of other issues. We would be profoundly foolish to ignore other issues it is true. But the reason there are so many one-issue voters such as myself who will only vote based on the abortion question is not, as you seem to think, that our facility for moral reasoning has shriveled. Indeed, the success of moral reasoning depends not on its complexity, relevance to great philosophers, reference to current moral thinking and norms, or warm encouragement of non-believers or dissenting believers to mutual understanding. No, successful moral reasoning results in a decision that is righteous. The urgency of our time is to stand for the righteous cause of the unborn.
Brad -
You said, "What I do not agree is that someone who thinks it might be alright to vote for someone who is pro-choice, on the basis of other reasons besides abortion, holds to an untenable premise."
I wanted to first say that my comments apply to America. Let us now put aside hypothetical Americas and other nations, because that is what the American voter had to do. It won't do to reference the U.K. or Australia just now. We're Americans voting for the President of our country. We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief because our analysis is much clearer now.
Let us also now put aside all pretenses to the supposed urgency of other issues. We would be profoundly foolish to ignore other issues it is true. But the reason there are so many one-issue voters such as myself who will only vote based on the abortion question is not, as you seem to think, that our facility for moral reasoning has shriveled. Indeed, the success of moral reasoning depends not on its complexity, relevance to great philosophers, reference to current moral thinking and norms, or warm encouragement of non-believers or dissenting believers to mutual understanding. No, successful moral reasoning results in a decision that is righteous. The urgency of our time is to stand for the righteous cause of the unborn.
