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The fundamental logic behind all of these things is THE EXACT SAME, and I& #39;m increasingly perplexed that I haven& #39;t seen more Catholics highlighting the connections:
Anti-slavery
Anti-racism
Anti-fascism
Anti-abortion
Anti-slavery
Anti-racism
Anti-fascism
Anti-abortion
It& #39;s one thing to say "I believe slavery should be eradicated from society".
It& #39;s something very different (and deeply inadequate) to say "I don& #39;t believe in owning slaves, personally".
It& #39;s something very different (and deeply inadequate) to say "I don& #39;t believe in owning slaves, personally".
It& #39;s one thing to say "I believe abortion should be eradicated from society".
It& #39;s something very different (and deeply inadequate) to say "I don& #39;t believe in abortion, personally".
It& #39;s something very different (and deeply inadequate) to say "I don& #39;t believe in abortion, personally".
It& #39;s one thing to say "I believe all forms of racism should be eradicated from society".
It& #39;s something very different (and deeply inadequate) to say "I& #39;m not racist, personally".
It& #39;s something very different (and deeply inadequate) to say "I& #39;m not racist, personally".
It& #39;s one thing to argue that these evils should not exist, and to actively work toward achieving a reality in which they are eradicated.
It& #39;s quite another thing to be "personally opposed, but" fundamentally comfortable with giving your neighbor the choice to pursue them.
It& #39;s quite another thing to be "personally opposed, but" fundamentally comfortable with giving your neighbor the choice to pursue them.
If you& #39;re not actively supporting the eradication of racism or abortion (or slavery or fascism), then you are merely absolving yourself of personal responsibility while saying: Hey *I* don& #39;t support it... but I *am* comfortable with enabling my neighbors& #39; choice to support it.
If you& #39;re not actively fighting to eliminate an evil from your community, then you are implicitly affirming that you consider it to be at least a *tolerable* evil (if not a "necessary" evil) in your society, and that you believe your neighbor should have the freedom to choose it.
Now indeed, some evils *are* to be prudently tolerated in society, "lest certain goods be lost, or certain greater evils be incurred: thus Augustine says (De Ordine ii.4): “If you do away with harlots, the world will be convulsed with lust.” (Aquinas, ST II-II, q. 10, a. 11)
But if you are NOT willing to declare yourself anti-racist, or anti-fascist, or anti-abortion – at least, according to the principle of what it means to be "anti-(X)" – then you HAVE to own up to the fact that you believe these things to be tolerable, and defend your reasons why.
