Consistent life ethic: Difference between revisions

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The consistent life ethic, or the consistent ethic of life is an ideology that opposes

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago helped publicize the CLE idea in 1983.^[5] Initially, 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 one of the first speeches given on the topic at Fordham University, Bernardin said: "The spectrum of life cuts across the issues of genetics, abortion, capital punishment, modern warfare and the care of the terminally ill."^[6] 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. Cardinal 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."^[6]

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.^[7] 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.

The non-profit organization Consistent Life, 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 organization include Father

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.[23]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Bernardin and some other CLE 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 CLE 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.^[24] 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.^[25] Another notable independent Catholic anti-death penalty organization is Priests for Life.

Health care

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.^[26]

Other issues

Appeal to the consistent life ethic has been made in support of universal health care^[27] and care for immigrants and refugees.^[28][27][29]

Criticisms

One criticism made of the consistent ethic position is that it inadvertently helped provide "cover" for Catholic politicians who supported legalized abortion or wanted to minimize this issue, a circumstance that Bernadin himself both recognized and deplored.^[30][3]

Archbishop José Horacio 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."^[31][32]

See also

• Ahimsa
• Christian pacifism
• Pro-life feminism
• Roman Catholic social teaching

References