Consistent life ethic

The consistent life ethic, or the consistent ethic of life is an ideology that opposes abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Adherents are opposed, at the very least, to unjust war, while some adherents also profess pacifism, or opposition to all war.[1] The term was popularized in 1983 by the Catholic Cardinal Joseph Bernardin to express an ideology based on the premise that all human life is sacred and should be protected by law.[2] Some authors have understood the ethic to be relevant to a broad variety of areas of public policy.[3]

History

The phrase "consistent ethic of life" was used as far back as a 1971 speech delivered by then-Archbishop Humberto Medeiros of Boston.[4]

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Eileen Egan

In 1971, Roman Catholic pacifist Eileen Egan coined the phrase "seamless garment" to describe a holistic reverence for life.[5][6] The phrase is a Bible reference from John 19:23 to the seamless robe of Jesus, which his executioners did not tear apart. The seamless garment philosophy holds that issues such as abortion, capital punishment, militarism, euthanasia, social injustice, and economic injustice all demand a consistent application of moral principles that value the sacredness of human life. "The protection of life", said Egan, "is a seamless garment. You can't protect some life and not others." Her words were meant to challenge those members of the anti-abortion movement who were in favor of capital punishment.

J. Bryan Hehir

J. Bryan Hehir, staff writer for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on political affairs, is credited by Charles Curran with coining the term "consistent ethic of life"[7][8]

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago helped publicize the consistent life ethic idea, initially in a lecture at Fordham University, Dec 6, 1983. At first Bernardin spoke out against nuclear war and abortion. However, he quickly expanded the scope of his view to include all aspects of human life. In that Fordham University lecture, Bernardin said: "The spectrum of life cuts across the issues of genetics, abortion, capital punishment, modern warfare and the care of the terminally ill."[9] Bernardin said that although each of the issues was distinct, nevertheless the issues were linked since the valuing and defending of (human) life were, he believed, at the center of both issues. Bernardin told an audience in Portland, Oregon: "When human life is considered 'cheap' or easily expendable in one area, eventually nothing is held as sacred and all lives are in jeopardy."[9]

Bernardin drew his stance from New Testament principles, specifically of forgiveness and reconciliation, yet he argued that neither the themes nor the content generated from those themes were specifically Christian.[10] By doing this, Bernardin attempted to create a dialogue with others who were not necessarily aligned with Christianity.

Bernardin and other advocates of this ethic sought to form a consistent policy that would link abortion, capital punishment, economic injustice, euthanasia, and unjust war.[2] Bernardin sought to unify conservative Catholics (who opposed abortion) and liberal Catholics (who opposed capital punishment) in the United States. By relying on fundamental principles, Bernardin also sought to coordinate work on several different spheres of Catholic moral theology. In addition, Bernardin argued that since the 1950s the church had moved against its own historical, casuistic exceptions to the protection of life. "To summarize the shift succinctly, the presumption against taking human life has been strengthened and the exceptions made ever more restrictive."[2]

Other supporters
The Consistent Life Ethic has spread from Catholic theology to supporters such as Nat Hentoff

The non-profit organization Consistent Life Network, founded in 1987 as the Seamless Garment Network, promotes adherence to the ethic through education and non-violent action. Individual endorsers belonging to the Consistent Life Network organization include Father Daniel Berrigan, theologian Harvey Cox, Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff, Father Theodore Hesburgh, actress Patricia Heaton, L'Arche founder Jean Vanier, death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean, pro-life activist Abby Johnson, author Ken Kesey, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Nobel Peace Prize laureates Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.[11] Rachel MacNair, for ten years (1994–2004) President of Feminists for Life, a pro-life organization,[12] is the director of the Institute for Integrated Social Analysis, the research arm of Consistent Life Network.[13][14]

In the US, several groups have promoted the "consistent ethic of life" approach, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Democrats for Life of America, as well as the Prohibition Party and American Solidarity Party, a Christian Democratic political organization.[15][16][17] Groups without a religious orientation that support the ideology include Democrats for Life of America, the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL), and All Our Lives (a pro-contraception feminist group), all of which are members of the Consistent Life Network. Other secular groups supporting a consistent ethic of life position include Rehumanize International (formerly known as Life Matters Journal), led by Aimee Murphy, Maria Oswalt, and Herb Geraghty,[18][19] and New Wave Feminists, led by Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa.[20][21] Other prominent authors who have written in support of the consistent life ethic include Frank Pavone,[22] James Martin,[23] John Dear,[24][5][25] Ron Sider,[26] Tony Campolo,[27][28][29] Joel Hunter,[29] Wendell Berry,[30][31][25] and Shane Claiborne.[29][32][33]

Issues

According to Michael Leach, "If one contends, as we do, that the right of every fetus to be born should be protected by civil law and supported by civil consensus, then our moral, political and economic responsibilities do not stop at the moment of birth."[6] This viewpoint was emphasized by Pope John Paul II in his 1995 encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life).[34] This book-length document outlined the Pope's emphasis on fostering a culture of life based on the New Testament and the life of Jesus. Specifically, he emphasized the value and inviolability of human life, from conception until natural death.

Abortion
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Rather than "thinking of a pregnant women and her fetus as being adversaries battling over exclusive rights, the right of a woman to control her body versus the right of the fetus to live long enough to control hers", a consistent life ethic would view both as valuable and important, and seek to provide both all the support they needed to live and live well.[35]

Capital punishment
See also: Catholic Church and capital punishment

Traditionally, arguments for the death penalty focus on the idea that it: 1) deters further violence; 2) enacts just retribution on the criminal, effectively gaining a sense of justice for society and those affected by the crime; 3) seeks to reform other criminals with the threat of such severe punishment and; 4) protects society from those criminals which the government has deemed to be the most heinous.

Bernardin and some other consistent life ethic advocates recognize the right of the state to use capital punishment. However, they reject the necessity of this type of punishment for many reasons, arguing that there are more appropriate and effective ways for the state to defend its people. Many consistent life ethic advocates call for a total abolition of the death penalty. The consistent ethic's opposition to capital punishment is rooted in the conviction that an atmosphere of respect for life must pervade a society, and resorting to the death penalty does not support this attitude.[36] Adherents argue that the result of the death penalty – removing the criminal from society, enacting justice on the criminal, and bringing about feelings of revenge for those affected and the greater society – do not necessarily have to be accomplished by taking a life.

One out-spoken anti-death penalty activist is Sister Helen Prejean. Her books Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account to Wrongful Executions are autobiographical accounts of the time she spent ministering to death row inmates.[37] Another notable independent Catholic anti-death penalty organization is Priests for Life.

Health care

Bernardin understood the consistent life ethic as implying a societal responsibility to provide adequate health care for all, especially the poor.[38][39][39]

According to Ron Hamel,

...a moral vision constituted by the consistent ethic of life sensitizes one to procedures, technological developments, and aspects of the health care system that fail to promote or do not adequately promote human dignity and do not sufficiently enhance human life. ...it is not sufficient to only oppose euthanasia, but one must also be concerned about and address those factors that give rise to euthanasia and find ever better ways to care for the dying and ensure the dying the opportunity to forgo treatment and to live their lives fully while dying.[40]

As such, appeals to the consistent life ethic have been made in support of universal health care.[41]

Abuse of alcohol and other drugs
Further information: Temperance movement

Writing for Life Teen, Caitlin Sica held that the abuse of alcohol and other drugs must be considered a pro-life issue, reporting that the "number of deaths from drug overdoses now supersedes the deaths from gun homicides and car crashes combined".[42]

In the same vein, James Hedges, in an article titled "Prohibition Platform incorporates a Consistent Life Ethic", stated that "Alcohol in many ways causes 'premature deaths,' and it degrades the quality of life before death."[15]

Chris Christie opined that "pro-life just doesn't pertain to matters of abortion; it means fighting for a person's life at all stages, no matter how complicated or messy that person's life gets" and noted that in the United States, "only 2.5 million of the 23.1 million people who needed treatment for drug or alcohol abuse actually received it".[43]

Refugees

The consistent life ethic has been invoked to include care for immigrants and refugees.[44][41][45][46] While not directly appealing to the consistent life ethic, other Catholics have sought to apply the "pro-life" ethic to the issue of immigration.[47][48][49]

Racism

Leonardo Blair, in The Christian Post, discussed how speaking out racism is a pro-life issue, specifically commenting on the murder of George Floyd in May 2020:[50]

I would go on to write about my experience and raise my voice in media interviews but there are many more people of color in America who have suffered through far worse. Some have lived to tell their stories and many others have not. For those that live, the trauma lives with us and we simply learn to cope while praying and pushing for a more perfect union in America. ... Evangelicals are pro-life people and I strongly believe if nothing else, standing against anything which threatens the life of our brothers and sisters in Christ must also be treated as a pro-life issue. We have all been witnesses to a killing that leaves very little doubt about why it happened. Let’s stand for justice in the name of Jesus.[50]

Wearing of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

James Martin, a Jesuit priest, who affirmed a belief in a consistent life ethic, specifically stating that a "reverence for life includes a desire to care for the unborn child in the womb, the elderly person in danger of euthanasia, the refugee starving on the border, the L.G.B.T. youth tempted to suicide and the inmate being readied for execution on death row".[51] Martin stated that to that list, sacred lives also include "the woman standing in line at the grocery store checkout counter, the elderly man seated in a church pew or the office worker who has just stepped aboard public transportation."[51] Because masks prevent of contagion, the act of wearing a mask in Martin's view is being pro-life.[51]

Criticisms

One criticism made of the consistent life ethic position is that it inadvertently helped provide "cover" or support for politicians who supported legalized abortion or wanted to minimize this issue, a circumstance that Bernardin himself both recognized and deplored.[52][4] A critic of Joseph Bernardin, George Weigel rejected the claims that the consistent life ethic had been created to cover up for abortion rights, saying that Bernardin was "a committed pro-lifer".[53]

Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles criticized the "seamless garment" approach in 2016 because in his view it results in "a mistaken idea that all issues are morally equivalent."[54]

gollark: I mean in the sense of there literally being a formal version of "you" and associated verb endings.
gollark: German has a formal/informal distinction *too*, I wonder if they use formal verbs/pronouns/whatever and stupid owospeak together.
gollark: Why would they *do* that?! WHY?
gollark: I wonder if they try and translate the owo gamer speak to other languages.
gollark: And then remove "owo gamer 1337".

See also

References
  1. Worthen, Molly (15 September 2012). "The Power of Political Communion". New York Times. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  2. Bernardin, Joseph. Consistent ethics of life 1988, Sheed and Ward
  3. Overberg, Kenneth R. (2006). Ethics and AIDS: Compassion and Justice in a Global Crisis. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7425-5012-4.
  4. Gregg, Samuel (13 August 2015). "The Consistent—and Not So Seamless—Ethic of Life". Catholic World Report. Retrieved 2 February 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  5. Dear, J. (2005). The God of Peace: Toward A Theology of Nonviolence. Wipf & Stock Publishers. p. 158ff. ISBN 978-1-59752-112-3. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  6. Leach, Michael (6 November 2012). "Cardinal Bernardin's gift fits all sizes". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  7. Curran, C.E. (2006). Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian. Moral Traditions series. Georgetown University Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-58901-363-6. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  8. Other attribute the term to Bernardin himself, eg. Cosacchi, D.; Martin, E. (2016). The Berrigan Letters: Personal Correspondence between Daniel and Philip Berrigan. Orbis Books. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-60833-631-9. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  9. Overberg, Kenneth R. S.J.:"A Consistent Ethic of Life", Catholic Update, St. Anthony's Press, 2009
  10. Walter, James J. and Shannon, Thomas A.: Contemporary Issues in Bioethics: A Catholic perspective, Rowan and Littlefeild Publishers, 2005.
  11. "Consistent Life Individual Endorsers As of January 9, 2017" (PDF). Consistent Life Network. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  12. MacNair, R.M. Achieving Peace in the Abortion War. iUniverse (22 December 2008) 180 pages. ISBN 1440113254. ISBN 978-1440113253
  13. "Institute for Integrated Social Analysis". Consistent Life Network. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  14. Derr, M.K.; MacNair, R.; Naranjo-Huebl, L. (2005). Prolife Feminism: Yesterday and Today. Feminism and Nonviolence Studies Association. ISBN 978-1-4134-9577-5.
  15. James Hedges (June 2020). "Prohibition Platform incorporates a Consistent Life Ethic". National Prohibitionist. Mercersburg Printing. 10 (2): 4. ISSN 1549-9251.
  16. Hughes, Mariann (30 October 2016). "The search for a third way in U.S. politics". Our Sunday Visitor. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  17. "Complete Platform". American Solidarity Party. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  18. http://www.rehumanizeintl.org/
  19. Graham, Ruth (11 October 2016). "The New Culture of Life". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  20. Halper, Daniel (9 June 2016). "WH Denies Endorsement Will Intimidate FBI Investigators". Weekly Standard. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  21. "About". New Wave Feminists. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  22. Pavone, Frank (1 January 1999). "The Consistent Ethic of Life: Myths and Realities". Priests for Life. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  23. Gun Control is a Pro-Life Issue, America, 17 December 2012
  24. Dear, John (15 July 2008). "The Consistent Ethic of Life". FatherJohnDear.org. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  25. "Consistent Life Network Endorsers". Consistent Life Network. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  26. Sider, Ron (1987). Completely Pro-Life. Intervarsity Press. ISBN 978-0-8308-1706-1.
  27. Campolo, Tony (18 October 2006). "Who is Really Pro-Life?". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 January 2017. (revised 25 May 2011)
  28. Merritt, Jonathan (17 December 2013). "Tony Campolo hits hard on abortion, gay marriage, Israel and more". Religion News Service. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  29. Pally, Marcia (28 December 2011). "The New Evangelicals: How Christians are rethinking Abortion and Gay Marriage". Australian Broadcasting Commission. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  30. Berry, Wendell (22 June 1986). "The consequences of treating a fetus as a human being: Reader survey on abortion". Whole Earth Review. Letter to. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  31. Berry, Wendell. The failure of war.
  32. Claiborne, Shane (22 January 2013). "A Dialogue on What it Means to be Pro-Life". Red Letter Christians. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  33. Claiborne, Shane. The Irresistible Revolution. Zondervan.
  34. John Paul II (1995), Evangelium Vitae, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana
  35. Kelly, Kevin (22 June 1986). "The consequences of treating a fetus as a human being". Whole Earth Review.
  36. Bernardin, Cardinal Joseph A.: The Seamless Garment: Writings on the Consistent Ethic of Life Orbis Books, 2008.
  37. MacNair, Rachel M., and Zunes, Stephen: Consistently Opposing Killing: from abortion to assisted suicide, the death penalty and war, pages 58–60. Praeger Publishers, 2008.
  38. Bernardin 1985.
  39. Bernardin 1986.
  40. Hamel, Ron (November 2008). "Twenty-Five Years Later: Cardinal Bernardin's Consistent Ethic of Life". Health Progress. p. 56–59. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  41. "On health care, a consistent ethic of life". The Long Island Catholic. 48 (23). 30 September 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  42. Sica, Caitlin. "Why Addiction is a Pro-Life Issue". Life Teen. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  43. Zezima, Katie (23 June 2014). "Chris Christie has very complicated views on drugs". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  44. Scribner, Todd (31 July 2014). "The Gospel of Life and the Catholic approach to the refugee crisis". Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  45. Adkins, Jason (13 August 2014). "Catholic Spirit: Border children and a consistent ethic of life". Minnesota Catholic Conference. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  46. Kangas, Billy (22 January 2015). "Keeping "Pro-Life" Consistent". The Orant. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  47. Snyder, L.; et al. (20 January 2015). "Catholic Leaders to Congress: Immigration Reform is a Pro-Life Issue". Faith in Public Life. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016.
  48. Allen, John L. Jr. (5 April 2014). "Immigration reform becomes a Catholic 'pro-life' cause". Boston Globe. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  49. Winters, Michael Sean (21 January 2015). "Catholic leaders push immigration as pro-life issue". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  50. Blair, Leonardo (29 May 2020). "Why speaking out against the killing of George Floyd is a pro-life issue". The Christian Post. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  51. James Martin (21 July 2020). "Father James Martin: Wearing a mask is pro-life". America. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  52. Neff, Ronald N. (16 August 2005). "The "Seamless Garment" Revisited". Sobran's. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  53. Weigel, George (February 2011). "The End of the Bernardin Era: The rise, dominance, and decline of a culturally accommodating Catholicism". First Things. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  54. Staff Reporter (4 February 2016). "Archbishop Gomez: The Root Violence in Our Society Is the Violence Against the Most Vulnerable". National Catholic Register. Retrieved 2 February 2017.

Sources
  • Bernardin, Joseph Cardinal (1985). The Consistent Ethic of Life and Health Care Systems (Speech). Foster McGaw Triennial Conference. Chicago, IL.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Bernardin, Joseph Cardinal (18 May 1986). The Consistent Ethic of Life: The Challenge and the Witness of Catholic Health Care (Speech). Catholic Medical Center Jamaica, New York. Retrieved 29 July 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Bernardin, Joseph Cardinal (4 October 1986). Address: Consistent Ethic of Life Conference (Speech). Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 29 July 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Bernardin, Joseph (1988). Consistent ethics of life. Sheed and Ward.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Byrnes, Timothy A. "The politics of the American Catholic hierarchy". Political Science Quarterly 108 (3): 497. 1993.
  • McClintock, Jamie S., and Perl, Paul. "The Catholic 'Consistent Life Ethic' and Attitudes Toward Capital Punishment and Welfare Reform." Sociology of Religion. 62(2001): 275–299
  • McCormick, Richard A. "The Quality of Life, the Sanctity of Life." The Hastings Center Report 8, No 1 (1978): 30–36.
  • McHugh, J. T. "Building a Culture of Life: A Catholic Perspective". Christian Bioethics, 2001 (Taylor & Francis)
  • Wallis, Jim. God's Politics, 2004.

Further reading
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