That Ridiculous Cartoon
Sometimes I wonder if Catholics are a little too sensitive, or maybe even guilty of overstating when we claim that anti-Catholicism is the last remaining acceptable prejudice in America. Then stuff like this happens:
The Philadelphia Inquirer printed this cartoon a couple weeks ago following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the ban on partial-birth abortion. The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, Virginia, has a nice editorial.
The cartoonist's message is clear: Those who voted to uphold the ban were unable to separate their religion from their decision.
But who is to say that those who voted in the minority were not to some degree influenced by their faith? You can find "progressive" churches that stoutly defend the right to unfettered abortion. And why shouldn't religious understanding, in a broad sense, inform the law? The tablets Moses hauled down from Mount Sinai overall are a pretty fair basis for secular jurisprudence.
The president, who isn't Catholic; Congress, which is mostly non-Catholic; and most Americans, only a minority of whom go to Mass, support the outlawing of partial-birth abortion. But why miss a chance to kick the papists? [source]
1 comment:
Hmm... I guess I hear what you are saying, but I think that you are missing the point of the commentary... Separation of church and state. The artist obviously feels that those Justices depicted with Roman headgear voted to ban PBA solely on their religious faith and not because it was unconstitutional.
According to our fore-fathers, the separation of church and state was a good move because A. it gives everyone the right and freedom to believe whatever they want to believe and B. maintains that freedom by preventing legislation from siding on the side one religion over an other.
You can certainly argue that PBA or other 'pro-life' issues are or are not constitutional, but that is as far as it should go.
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