RELIGIÃO NA CAMPANHA ELEITORAL AMERICANA

Destaque habitual para coluna What's New WN), de Robert Park

"1. THE 13TH CRUSADE: "TAKING UP THE CROSS" IN 2012 AMERICA.

At the start of the bewildering Republican Primary process everyone agreed that the overriding issue would be jobs and the economy. But a week before Super Tuesday, with jobs the economy recovering, Rick Santorum is calling for a holy war: "I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute." He should take a minute to read the First Amendment. Meanwhile, Franklin Graham, son of Billy, questions the Christian credentials of both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Halfway around the world, two American officers were shot dead in Afghanistan in "retaliation" for the inadvertent burning of Korans, which of course harmed not a living soul. Here in Maryland, the Legislature sent a gay-marriage bill to Governor O'Malley, which he will sign. That won't hurt anyone either. Next door in Virginia, the State Senate voted to suspend consideration of a bill defining life as beginning at conception, which is the position of to the Roman Catholic Church. The law would instantly create millions of one-celled persons. Perhaps they would be granted souls by heaven, citizenship by the state, and be counted in the census along with millions of frozen embryos? Or would the frozen embryos have to wait till they thaw? Based on a different reading of Genesis, a Jewish zygote wouldn't be a person for another nine months. How do we resolve this? Under case law, protection of a fetus by the state begins only after the fetus is capable of surviving outside the womb. As WN pointed out in the last issue (15 Feb 2012), freedom of religion is not up for discussion. Gods do not compromise.

2. AMNIOCENTESIS: WHO FIGURED IT WOULD BE A CAMPAIGN ISSUE?

Last Sunday on Face the Nation, Rick Santorum opposed amniocentesis testing of an embryo in the womb. One of the great advances in modern diagnostic medicine, amniocentesis can be used to diagnose certain severe medical handicaps long before full-term. On the grounds that bad news might lead a woman to terminate her pregnancy, Santorum, who opposes abortion for any reason, would deny a women the right to make that decision. Santorum, of course, is not a candidate for the test."

Robert Park