Public Officials with Ethical Standards: A Radical Idea For Today's America

Noted, from last week:

"EDITORIAL | Religious values are not obstacles to public service"
St. Louis Review (June 23, 2010)

"There was a time, not so long ago, when Catholics were effectively excluded from the debates that took place at the highest levels of American public policy. Now that we Catholics clearly have a voice, we need to ask ourselves whether what we have to contribute to our national discourse is true to who we are as Catholics and as Americans.

"The good news is that Catholics care deeply about the role morality should play in public life and are willing to fight about it. The bad news is that Catholics on both sides of the ideological divide tend to be confused about what the Church teaches on fundamental moral issues and how this relates to the role of public officials...."

"...We reject the notion that Catholic teaching on issues of morality and social justice are somehow incompatible with effective judicial thinking. We also reject the idea that any government leader, whether elected or appointed, can 'personally' hold the teachings of the Catholic faith while 'publicly' thinking or acting otherwise...."

The old "although personally opposed to abortion, I don't think I have the right to force...." is still around. Although I think more and more folks have given that excuse the stink test by substituting words like "slavery" or "cannibalism" for "abortion."

The 'noble' "although personally opposed..." doesn't sound quite so nice, then.

The editorial discusses "religious" standards: which I think are arguably a sort of ethical standard which, in the case of Catholic teachings, have their origins in the revealed Word of God - and have been discussed and refined for almost two thousand years by some of the best thinkers around.

Bottom line? The editorial claims that it's possible to have moral, ethical standards and still be an official in the United States of America's government.

That may sound like a radical idea, but I think it's one worth considering.

Not-quite-entirely-unrelated posts:

• "Those Heretics May Not Like being Called Heretics"
  (May 16, 2010)
• "Living in America and Living a Catholic Life"
  (April 29, 2010)
• ""I Take No Interest in Politics" isn't an Option"
  (March 29, 2010)
• "Shocker! American Bishops Seek Conscience Exemption from Killing Babies"
  (November 9, 2009)
• " 'Your Life, Your Choices' is Back"
  (August 23, 2009)
• "Dred Scott, the Slavery Compromise, and Who to Trust"
  (February 2, 2009)
• "Elections and Citizenship, Catholic Style"
  (September 24, 2008)

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A tip of the hat to CatholicNewsSvc, on Twitter, for the heads-up on the St. Louis Review op-ed.