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Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelical?

By Jeralyn, Section Harriet Miers
Posted on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 12:05:09 PM EST
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Right wing, pro-life blogger Paul Deignan at Info Theory writes that Harriet Miers can be an evangelical and pro-choice.

Please also note that it is possible to be a good evangelical and pro-choice at the same time. One rationale is that people have free will and that the child is in the hands of God anyway. Another is that this serves a purpose on earth by allowing nonbelievers to eradicate themselves over generations, i.e. that is may be part of God's plan. There are still many other rationalizations that explain why 34% of good evangelicals are pro-choice.

I hope she is one of those 34%, but even if she is not, I believe she will keep her personal religion and her judging separate.

< Harriet Miers' Progressive Side | Why a Judge's Values Matter >

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    Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelical? | 14 comments (14 topical)
    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#1)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:57 PM EST
    Did you mean pro "choice" in your headline?

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#2)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:57 PM EST
    ...and first sentance... [thanks, fixed both.]

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#3)
    by Pete Guither on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:57 PM EST
    And can we please remember that it's possible to be against abortion and yet not think that the best way to deal with that is through government! You can be evangelical and pro-life, and yet believe that it should be up to the individual to make the correct moral decision, not imposed by government. I get tired of everyone forgetting that it's OK to be against something without requiring that the government pass a whole bunch of laws criminalizing it.

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#4)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:57 PM EST
    Pete, you realize of course that, for many, you are asking that murder not be criminalized?

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:57 PM EST
    Pete G, thanks. A bunch of people, myself included, forget that it is possible to have two seemingly contradictory opinions but still have very solid reasoning behind both. The ability to consider oneself an evangelical christian and also be against legislating morality, because when you boil it down that is what the movement for outlawing abortion has as it's center, isn't strange and doesn't diminish a persons faith whatsoever.

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:58 PM EST
    And no, Sarcastic, that isn't what he is saying in the least. That is how you perceive it, but that doesn't make it so. It is your opinion and not fact. Please try to learn how to differentiate between the two.

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#7)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:58 PM EST
    Sherm, please try to learn how to read before you make a fool out of yourself. Oops, too late.

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#8)
    by Pete Guither on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:58 PM EST
    Yes, sarcastic unnamed one, as a drug policy reformer, I am aware that some will conflate my views with suggesting that murder should be legal. I've heard it a lot. And the problem is, of course, that they are looking at the reason for passing laws in the wrong way. If they think that laws against murder are there to enforce morality, they're wrong. Murder laws don't prevent murder; societal views do. Criminal sanctions against abortion will not stop abortion, just like laws against drugs, etc., etc. Those pro-lifers who are responsible and really care about both the unborn child and the mother will work to reduce the need and desire for abortions, not fight for the right to criminalize them.

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:58 PM EST
    Yes, it is possible to hold conflicting views. For instance, an evangelical Christian can be a supporter of Adolf Hitler. An evangelical Christian can support the killing of 130,000+ Muslims on the theory that George Bush is the most brilliant person who ever lived, aka Adolf Hitler. Sure, Adolf Hitler was Adolf Hitler, and George Bush is only George Bush, but the people they killed can't tell any difference. Indeed, the people who Miers supports killing can't speak up, can't get to court, can't even get the US to use its legal, legislative, or executive system to protect them. She's not disqualified by her views on abortion, which are OBVIOUS. She's disqualified because she's a personal lawyer of a man she idolizes, and the job is to oversee and NOT idolize that man. 'Harriety, you're doin' a hell of a job.' It's just that this guy she idolizes is in fact a CRIMINAL, and she has pledged to never notice that fact. Rather odd for a would-be judge. The Capo is Never Wrong.

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#10)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:58 PM EST
    "I am aware that some will conflate my views with suggesting that murder should be legal." Pete, um, my point was that, for many, abortion is murder and to them that you are suggesting that it not be criminalized. I wasn't talking about murder in general.

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#11)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:58 PM EST
    Sarc, Those people also refuse to distinguish between a fetus living inside and off of a woman's body, and a born child. There is a clear distinction there that one side refuses to accept. And that is not even dealing with early, Early, EARLY pregnancies when the fetus is microscopic and cellular. I do, however, understand your point and accept that it IS indeed a significant, if illogical, reality.

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#12)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:58 PM EST
    Exactly, Dadler. My comments are about what the reality of the situation is, whether one likes it or not. Sometimes I feel like I'm speaking in a different language here...

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#13)
    by Pete Guither on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:58 PM EST
    True, there are many religious people who feel that abortion is murder. Even in those cases, it is not necessarily true that they should or do support secular sanctions. If they are treating it as a religious/moral belief, they may feel that it is best for people to come to the right moral decision through choice, rather than through secular pressure. And they may feel that the punishment for those who do not find the proper moral view should be divine rather than mundane. They also may be pragmatists and realize that criminalizing abortion will send it underground and out of the light, causing more harm and destruction, whereas working to reduce the need/desire for abortion will have a greater positive affect with less damage (and wouldn't that be a moral choice?)

    Re: Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelica (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:58 PM EST
    I hope she is one of those 34%, but even if she is not, I believe she will keep her personal religion and her judging separate.
    Perhaps, but can she keep her personal loyalty to George W. Bush separate from her judging?

    Miers: Could She Be Pro-Choice and Evangelical? | 14 comments (14 topical)