Still More on Kerry

Martin F. Grace, a professor at Georgia State, emailed me a thoughtful contribution to our continuing conversation regarding Kerry's "Catholic problem":

I think one can have a freedom of conscience that might allow one to dissent from church teaching while one is attempting to discern the truth. I think this is what Sen. Kerry may have been referring to when he asserted his right to have a freedom to dissent.

But, Professor Grace points out, the freedom to dissent is not unfettered, at least for those who take their Catholic identities seriously:

I think the issue for me is that I can dissent and I can earnestly attempt to figure out what my conscience is telling me, but I do not campaign against the positions the church takes. It might be a sin in the classic sense to make people (with imperfectly formed consciences) believe that it is ok to do action X because other famous Catholics do x. In the old days the word scandal is used to describe this type of behavior. I am not a scholar of Vatican II ( I just lived through it as a kid), but I can not believe that the teachings of Vatican II actually gives one the unconstrained right to dissent --especially if it flies in the face of a long held truth or a Bishop's teaching.

The trick, of course, will be to identify the point when someone actually is engaged in a "campaign against the positions the church takes." I assume that Kerry would insist that he is simply carving out space for individuals to maintain their own freedom of conscience, rather than actively subverting long-held truths. Obviously, many observers will find that hard to swallow.

Rob