culture wars

The god Called Earth

Wesley J. Smith: Orthodox Advocate for Human “Exceptionalism”

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Our culture is at a crossroad about the value of human life, argues author and human rights activist Wesley J. Smith in an interview with Kevin Allen on the “Illumined Heart” podcast (Ancient Faith Radio). Do we value human life simply because it is human, or do we value it based on notions and definitions of “personhood” including such characteristics as sentience, awareness, stages of biological development and others factors? The former allows for a universal definition of human rights. The latter reduces human beings to “subjects” that are bound to shifting and often capricious standards that determine who lives and who dies.

Listen here:

widget here (43:38)

It’s a heated battle (one that even spills over into the comments of this blog on occasion). Often, the the level of vituperation in the attacks against religious defenders of human life arise because the utilitarians understand their view allows for no coherent defense of any human rights, Smith says. “They try to avoid thy weight of their own ideas by diverting [the argument] into, ‘Well, it’s just a matter of religion.'” Yet, “They are the ones obsessed with religion…” Continue reading →

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Obama and Moral Imagination

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Newly elected President Obama, writes John Couretas, Executive Director of AOI in his essay “Obama and the Moral Imagination” frequently makes use of the phrase “common story.” This phrase “may sound strange to the ears. But it is impossible to understand the new president unless his brilliant use of narrative is first grasped,” Couretas says.

It’s a page taken from the Reagan playbook and masterfully executed. Couretas writes:

Reagan biographer Lou Cannon told the Chicago Tribune last year that Obama has “a narrative reach” and a talent for story telling that reminds him of the late president. Reagan “made other people a part of his own narrative, and that’s what Obama is doing,” Cannon said. “By doing it, it expands his reach because he isn’t necessarily just another partisan Democrat.”

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Culture Wars: Fr. Jacobse on Ancient Faith Radio

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Kevin Allen, host of Ancient Faith Radio’s Illumined Heart program, interviews AOI President Fr. Hans Jacobse for a fascinating discussion on “The Culture War and Orthodox Christianity.”

Fr. Hans talks about the need for Eastern Orthodox Christians to engage in the moral and social debates — call them Culture Wars if you will — that are being waged in American society today. In this 35 minute program, Allen also asks Fr. Hans about the recent discussion on this blog about whether “Religious Right” leaning ex-Evangelical converts are taking over the Orthodox churches in America.

Allen asked Fr. Hans if he thought the Culture Wars might be a lost cause, given what we see in society today. Fr. Hans said the battles over moral issues will be difficult, with uncertain outcomes. But he reminded Allen that our faithfulness will determine the shape of tomorrow.

“If it be God’s will that the world be saved — and it is — I think there’s a chance we can turn this around,” Fr. Hans said. “But even if there isn’t, we still have to be faithful.”

As Allen advises his listeners: Buckle your seat belts!

Listen now: widget here

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus — May his memory be eternal

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Fr. Richard John Neuhaus

Roman Catholic priest Fr. Richard John Neuhas died yesterday after a protracted battle with cancer. Anyone familiar with Christianity in the public square will recognize Fr. Neuhaus as one of the first to sound the alarm that a public square stripped of religious values would lead to a culture stripped of benevolent morality. In his seminal work “The Naked Public Square,” Fr. Neuhaus argued that “moral neutrality” was anything but neutral and would lead to a society in which moral universals would be overthrown in favor or utilitarian interests.

What did he mean by this? He meant that once religion has been relegated to a private interest (you believe what you want to believe, I will believe what I want to believe, it really doesn’t matter), the universals by which men govern themselves would erode, and society would becomes susceptible to, and finally shape itself around, an ethic drawn from the decisions of elites. The pressure on Christians to privatize their faith Neuhaus argued, was in fact an attempt to remove religion from cultural life altogether, and Christians needed to meet this challenge.

Fr. Neuhaus, like so many of his generation, came to the conclusion through a circuitous route. He was a Viet Nam protester when he was younger, but the suffering of the boat people after the US withdrawal made him rethink his position on many things. He took some personal responsibility for their suffering I remember reading, because he never fully comprehended how the unconditional withdrawal from Viet Nam would affect the people there. That was many years ago (although still fresh for many of his generation), and while it can be argued whether or not the United States should have ever entered that war (Eisenhower said no, Kennedy said yes), it is clear that it shaped Neuhaus and many of his generation.

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