Wednesday, March 9, 2011
How did the liberty of conscience become a "conservative" cause?
I have an essay over at The Public Discourse that takes up this question in the context of analyzing President Obama's conscience regulations. Feedback, as always, is welcome.
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2011/03/how-did-the-liberty-of-conscience-become-a-conservative-cause.html
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Rob,
An excellent and informative article. I particularly like this passage:
"The problem with this argument is that it fundamentally rewrites the history and purpose of professional licensing, which has traditionally been aimed at ensuring competence, not on co-opting providers into serving state interests at the expense of their own moral agency. Lawyers, for example, are free to decline representations that they find morally repugnant, and the bar’s licensing inquiry focuses on competence and character, but not on the lawyer’s willingness to take on whomever walks into their office. We want professionals to be morally engaged with the work they do. As the twentieth century made all too clear, we take on significant risks when we encourage (much less require) the professional’s role to define the professional’s conscience."