Social and ethical issues
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Joe Carter is, I think, too hard on Peter Singer in this post. Singer is wrong about a lot of stuff–his views on disability and on bioethics in particular. But as much as anyone he deserves credit for bringing the abuses of animals in factory farms to public attention, not to mention his work on Read more
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Gaius asks whether a liberal who traces her intellectual lineage to J.S. Mill–i.e. who sees the purpose of politics as permitting the widest possible scope for human liberty consistent with the liberty of others–can consistently be in favor of laws for preventing cruelty to animals or protecting the environment: how [did] liberals, historically, either politically Read more
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Catholic Obama supporter Melinda Henneberger makes the case against the “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA), which, it appears, could result in Catholic hosptials (a third of all hospitals in the US, according to Henneberger) shutting their doors rather than being forced to provide abortions. Many of these hospitals rely on Medicade and Medicare funds to Read more
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Obama’s global ethical challenges, according to Peter Singer: -close Gitmo and end the practice of detaining people whithout charges -withdraw from Iraq -increase and better target foreign aid -take serious action on global warming Sounds about right. (Incidentally, it’s looking like Obama is going to make climate change a priority.) Read more
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Surprise! When you reduce animals to the status of things, they tend to get treated like…things. I don’t want to get all vegetarian self-righteous here, but here’s a thought. Thanksgiving is, among other things, about, well, giving thanks to the Author of our being. And surely part of that thanks-giving is treating that which we Read more
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I don’t know that I’d buy all the theoretical trappings, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there’s something to this. As a kid growing up in a small, largely rural town, I spent a lot of time riding my bike, wandering around in the woods, and spending a lot of more-or-less unsupervised time Read more
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Thanks to Derek for passing along this terrific piece on “Changing the Climate: Spiritual steps for Sustainable Living” by a Benedictine monk, Abbot Christopher Jamison. Abbot Jamison thinks that the classical virtues provide an important part of the response to global warming and other aspects of our changing environmental situation. This reminds me of a Read more
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Sharon Astyk critiques Al Gore’s climate change wish list for the next administration on the grounds that, among other things, it would require a huge up front investment in technology and infrastructure that may put us over a climate change tipping point because of the fossil fuels that would be required for such an undertaking. Read more
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First Things interviews Rene Girard. Read more
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Like many, I’m disappointed by the passage of Proposition 8 in California. Outcomes aside, though, this highlights an ongoing tension between the liberal and democratic aspects of liberal democracy. Liberalism is primarily about protecting people’s rights, specifically the liberty to pursue their own projects and flourish according to their own lights. Democracy, on the other Read more
A Thinking Reed 