Sep 08 2008
Joe Biden on the question of Life
I found this quote from Joe Biden over on a blog by Albert Mohler. I recommend reading the article there discussing the following quote from Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for Vice President. He was asked what he would say if Barak Obama asked him when life begins. This is what he said:
“I’d say, “Look, I know when it begins for me.” It’s a personal and private issue. For me, as a Roman Catholic, I’m prepared to accept the teachings of my church. But let me tell you. There are an awful lot of people of great confessional faiths-Protestants, Jews, Muslims and others-who have a different view. They believe in God as strongly as I do. They’re intensely as religious as I am religious. They believe in their faith and they believe in human life, and they have differing views as to when life-I’m prepared as a matter of faith to accept that life begins at the moment of conception. But that is my judgment. For me to impose that judgment on everyone else who is equally and maybe even more devout than I am seems to me is inappropriate in a pluralistic society. And I know you get the push back, “Well, what about fascism?” Everybody, you know, you going to say fascism’s all right? Fascism isn’t a matter of faith. No decent religious person thinks fascism is a good idea.”
I think that this quite a scary statement. How can you have a private conviction about murder? This would be like a politician during the days of debate about slavery saying, “Slavery is a personal and private issue to me. I personally believe that slavery is wrong but I can’t force that belief on someone else. There are many people out there who are as devout or more devout than I am who have a different view about slavery than I do. It would be inappropriate in a pluralistic society to stand up for what I believe.” This is not an issue to ride the fence. What do you think and why?
Brian
2 responses so far
Welcome all! My name is Brian and I am glad you found your way here.
I was reading something the other day about the Puritans and the original idea of “separation of Church and State” (before it was co-opted and stuck in the Constitution.) Apparently, the idea wasn’t originally to keep any one denomination from running the nation. The idea was to keep the Church, i.e. the City on a Hill, away from the necessary evils and temptations towards corruption posed by a nation.
Some days, looking at politics, I think they may have been on to something.
At the same time, if we *are* going to get involved in the politics of our pluralistic nation, I think it should be to vote our consciences, not everyone else’s. Biden’s vision of a democracy in which you tie your vote to all “decent” religious values is nonsense.
The only point where I could see Biden’s point would be if he had a deep conviction that the Constitution mandates the right to Choice. In that case, you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place–follow the Constitution you’ve sworn to uphold and which is the primary defense against the dictatorship of 51%, or forswear that commitment in order to follow God’s commands, as passed down by the Pope (assuming Catholic Dogma mandates the use of the powers of government in defense of life–which I’m thinking it does.) In that case I’d say the right answer is still clear, but at least he’s making a meaningful decision.
But as far as his rhetoric goes–it’s just pure fluff, the stuff in which politicians say nothing and therefore can’t be called hypocrites. Facism isn’t a matter of faith, according to Biden, on dubious (presumably historical) grounds. But Jihadism is profoundly a matter of faith. The duty of a Pharaoh’s servants to be ritually slaughtered to join him in the afterlife was a matter of faith. The Crusades were a matter of faith, assuring good Christian soldiers that they could kill a pagan and cancel a lifetime of moral debt. I don’t think Biden wants any of those practices to remain uncondemned in his “pluralistic society.”
It saddens me to think that people like Senator Biden will make this decision about belief alone, knowing that many Americans dismiss it as any kind of determining factor. There is a biological question here that is constantly sidestepped for the purpose of putting the ultimate decision about abortion off. The more they make it about the right of choice for a woman (trampling on another’s rights, by the way) the longer people can ignore the bigger question.
Belief is important in this decision but I know that in the society we live in, I can’t make other people believe like me. A biological decision must be made on when human life begins in order to stop the debate. But our law makers want to avoid that question so that they don’t have to make a decision.