"The problems arise, of course, in her treatment of reproductive issues. Ruether, following Catholic ethicist Christine Gudorf, rightly points out the contradictions involved in the Church’s “pro-life” positions on various issues in that it takes an absolutist natural law ethical approach on abortion while taking what Ruether and Gudorf consider a consequentialist approach on issues such as war. These are indeed real contradictions felt by anyone who surveys the various ecclesial statements on “life issues” with any sort of seriousness. The problem with Ruether’s critique is that she situates it within the unexamined assumption that because this contradiction is real, the Church is therefore wrong on abortion and needs to get its act together so to speak. It does not seem to occur to her that 1) this is indeed an assumption that at least needs to be argued lest she settle for preaching to the choir, or 2) that perhaps a Catholic that is deeply passionate about the full range of life issues could come to the opposite conclusion: the Church needs to straighten up its position on war."
from m on catholicanarchy.org
Book review: “Catholic Does Not Equal the Vatican”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment