Religion & Law

Rick is correct in characterizing my taxonomy of conservatives and progressives. Someone, who believes that birth control, homosexuality, and masturbation are always sinful, but votes Democratic is a conservative in my lexicon.

If one rejects the Church?s position on issues such as these and many others, one is not wholly wedded to the Magisterium. I am assuming for purposes of this taxonomy that the Church?s claims of deference owed to the non-infallible moral teachings of the Church are part of the Magisterium. I would put a person who rejects the latter view and who rejects many of the sexual teachings of the Church (while believing that he or she has rejected no part of the Magisterium) as a progressive for my purposes.

The more interesting question is why dissenting Catholics are not Protestants (which Rick did not ask, but would be a fair question). What is Catholic about dissenting Catholics? For some it may be a belief in the sacraments. For many it is the participation in a rich theological tradition, a community of discourse participated in by conservatives and progressives including many of the best liberal theologians in the world. I think there is a rejection of Protestant individualism. I think that there is Andrew Greely?s focus on the Catholic imagination. I think there is a greater emphasis on good and God?s grace working in the world in Catholicism and a greater focus on evil in the Protestant imagination. Although progressive Catholics dissent, they for the most part share a common faith with conservative Catholics (not a lot of debate here about the Apostle?s Creed ? though if we focused on what each phrase meant we law professors could find much to discuss). The differences between conservative and progressive Catholics are usually relevant to legal theory. If I am right, they proceed from different conceptions of God will. People have killed each other over such disputes. Here, feelings just run high; people try to be civil; they sometimes miss the mark. This blog may be better than others in being diverse and tolerating disagreement. I do not know. But it is far from perfect. It could be richer and more diverse.