More on "Institutional Conscience"

Like Rob, I am at a very interesting conference / consultation at Princeton's Witherspoon Institute, with a group that is exploring the challenge of protecting "institutional conscience."  And, like Rob, I wonder how helpful, and accurate, the language of "conscience" is for dealing with threats to the character, integrity, and freedom of associations, institutions, and churches.  Putting aside, though, for now, my reservations, I am also wrestling with the uncomfortable thought that, at the end of the day, in a democracy, requests for "conscience"-based exemptions from validly enacted regulations, are almost always requests for concessions, for toleration, and not claims of right.  This is because the regulation in question will usually reflect the judgment of the political community about what is moral, or in the service of the common good, and so the political community can realistically only be expected to extend a "conscience"-based exemption if it believes that the "costs" of the exemption to its project -- that is, the project it is trying to pursue through the regulation -- are not too great.

In any event, MOJ-er Michael Moreland and Prof. Steve Smith will be giving papers today about church autonomy, freedom of association, and the freedom of the church.  Stay tuned!