In an opinion piece on the 2023 political standoff on raising the debt ceiling New York Times pundit David Leonhardt observed that this sort of story was particularly difficult for journalists to cover because it was neither what he called a “100 percent” nor a “50 percent” story. He went on to explain that a “100 percent” story was one in which the facts of the underlying reality were clear, for example, that Joseph Biden had indeed won the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and that global warming was certainly taking place. A “50 percent” story by contrast involved a reality in which issues were so genuinely open to sharply divergent analyses that the only way to be fair in handling these would be to cover in as an even-handed manner as possible all of the various reasonable views. In this category he put “tax rates, abortion, border security and religion in schools,” adding that such “disputes are more about values and priorities than underlying reality.”
Yet there were other stories, he said, that do not fit in either category, since these often involve disputed facts and contested evidence that can be marshalled to one side or the other of the argument. He called this last group the “90 percent stories.” It is in this last category that the most protracted and difficult debates tend to occur since each position can make “claims that are much more grounded in truth although neither side has a monopoly on it.”
Leonhardt’s taxonomy of journalistic categories can be applied with just a bit of tweaking to moral theology, and it reflects what I’m trying to do in this book. Certainly some issues, hotly debated for centuries, are now seemingly settled. For instance, while today some individuals, including a very limited number of professional moral theologians, may still contest the ethical legitimacy of medical termination of an ectopic pregnancy, using Leonhardt’s categories we could term this a “100 percent” case.
As we see, though, in other areas of our shared life these principles are not always supported across the political, social or religious spectrum. For example, a “100 percent” case in official Catholic magisterial teaching that still has a ways to go before it reaches strong consensus in the pews would be the continued use of the death penalty. At the other end of the spectrum we still have many debates in the Catholic moral tradition that could be located in Leonhardt’s “50 percent” stories. Even though there are some magisterial statements in some of these cases, moralists themselves remained divided over what are the morally relevant features and ethical principles that should be considered. Certainly one contemporary debate that would qualify as a “50 percent” issue would be the concrete ethical, ecclesial, social and pastoral responses to make towards individuals or groups of people who suffer from gender dysphoria. Chapter 4, Gender Debates in a Principled Prudence Perspective, will outline these sorts of approaches to an important, yet still very contested, issue.
The majority of the chapters in this book would fall into the “90 percent” category. Here we can find a good deal of consensus in theory, but significant disagreements in discernment and application of the elements of those theories. Perhaps the area in which these “90 percent” debates surface most significantly revolve around our electoral process and Chapter 5, on Exercising Faithful Citizenship in a Principled Prudence Perspective, will unpack both the theory and the conscience-based decisions an informed and responsible electorate must make.
While politics has often been described as the “art of compromise,” we seem to be very short on such artists in the current climate. The concluding Chapter 7: A Principled Prudence Perspective in Working for the Common Good in a Divided World will attempt a survey of the landscape and then suggest a possible path forward drawing on the central moral concept of the common good.
By:
James Bretzke S.J.
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781538199770
ISBN 10: 1538199777
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 05 November 2024
Recommended Age: From 18 to 80 years
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Contents Dedication Acknowledgements Abbreviations Used Prologue: What Is Moral Truth, and How Can We Come to Know It? Chapter 1 Paradigms of Principled Prudence in the Catholic Moral Tradition Overview of Principles in Light of Paradigms and Prudence in Moral Analysis Thomas Aquinas’ Paradigm for Moving from Principles to Prudence Prudence and Casuistry Case Study 1: Bad Principles, Problematic Policy, Imprudent Laws: Missouri House Bill 2810 Prudence in Law and Principles Questions for Reflection and Discussion For Further Reading Chapter 2: Death Penalty in a Principled Prudence Perspective Introduction Development of Moral Doctrine on Capital Punishment Reactions to the Church’s Reformulated Teaching on the Death Penalty Case Study: Catholic Attorney General William Barr’s Resuming Federal Executions The Legal Arguments Barr Advances Responding to the Legal Arguments Barr Advances The Moral Arguments about Church Teaching that Barr Advances Responding to the Moral Arguments about Church Teaching that Barr Advances Questions for Reflection and Discussion on the Death Penalty Resources For Further Study Chapter 3: Abortion Politics in the Post-Roe World in a Principled Prudence Perspective Chapter Overview and Introduction The Church in the Modern World: Joy and Hope, Grief and Anguish The Consistent Ethic of Life Common Ground Initiative From Clinton to Clinton: “Safe, Legal, and Rare” to “Fundamental Human Right” “Wafer Wars” On denying Communion to pro-choice politicians and/or voters Canons 915 and 916 “Manifest Grave Sin” Church Voices Against Weaponizing the Eucharist Reconsidering What It Means to be Genuinely “Pro-Life” in the Post-Roe Era The Law of Unintended Consequences? A Church that Listens as it Teaches: The Example of Archbishop Weakland’s Abortion “Listening Sessions” Case Study Chapter 3: What Does It Mean Politically to be “Pro-Choice”? Questions for Reflection and Discussion Resources for Further Study Chapter 4: Gender Debates in a Principled Prudence Paradigm Introduction Same-Sex Orientation as a Sexual Modality in Development of Church Teaching Principles and Pastoral Prudence Transgender Identity as a Sexual Modality Gender Test Case: Worcester Nativity Middle School Conclusion Questions for Reflection and Discussion Resources for Further Study Chapter 5: Catholic Social Teaching Perspectives on Immigration and Border Security Challenges Catholic Social Teaching Perspectives on Migration, Immigration, and Border Security Texas “Hold the Line” Border Initiative The Economy, Common Good and Social Welfare: Catholic Social Teaching Perspectives Foundational tenets of Catholic economic ethics “Privilege” Difficulties and Strategies Emotional conversion Case Study: “Build the Wall and Build It Tall!” Engaging Students in Social Justice Issues Classroom Related Resources and In-Class Activities Reflections on the Student Reflection Postings Conclusion Questions for Reflection and Discussion on Economic and Social Justice for All Resources For Further Study Chapter 6: Exercise of Faithful Citizenship in a Principled Prudence Perspective Introduction Reflecting on the First Anniversary of the 2022 Dobbs SCOTUS Decision “Pre-Eminent” Issues and Hierarchy of Values Applying Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship in a Morally Complex World Case Study: “Catholic” [sic] Voting Guides for Faithful Citizenship Questions for Reflection and Discussion Resources for Further Study Chapter 7: New Paradigms of Principled Prudence in a Divided World Introduction and Overview Applying the Ignatian Presupposition Pope Francis’ Papal Paradigms as a Touchstone for Ethical Analysis Tribal Binaries which Bind: Good vs. Evil Polarization as a Key Challenge in the Church and Society Today Ignatian Rules for Discernment and Thinking with the Church Synodality as an Alternative Methodology Pope Francis and the Cultural Polyhedron Final Case Study: Interpretations of Fiducia Supplicans Vatican Declaration on Blessings What Is the Declaration All About? A Cross-Section of Reactions to Fiducia Supplicans Conclusion: Synodality as a Principled and Prudent Paradigm Questions for Reflection and Discussion Resources for Further Study Glossary of Key Terms Scripture Referenced Index About the Author
Rev. James T. Bretzke, S.J., is Professor of Theology at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. He previously taught at Boston College’s Graduate School of Theology and Ministry and Marquette University. He also taught for several years in Seoul, Korea at Sogang University and as a Visiting Professor of Moral Theology at the Loyola School of Theology of the Ateneo de Manila, Philippines. He has published over ninety articles and reviews as well as seven books, including A Handbook of Roman Catholic Moral Terms (2013), A Morally Complex World: Engaging Contemporary Moral Theology (1994) and Consecrated Phrases: A Latin Theological Dictionary (1998).
Reviews for Moral Debates in Contemporary Catholic Thought: Paradigms, Principles, and Prudence
In Father Bretzke's hands, we see the Catholic tradition of case-based reasoning at its best: deeply learned, sensitive to particular circumstances, and full of practical wisdom. --M. Cathleen Kaveny, Darald and Juliet Libby Professor of Law and Theology, Boston College James T. Bretzke, S.J. has done it again. With his deft command of the history of Catholic moral theology and his wonted good sense in working through the complicated layers of human intentionality and desire in making moral decisions 'on the ground, ' Bretzke has offered his readers a lucid and brilliant reading of how the Catholic tradition can and should be applied to the always-messy question of 'how do I make a lightly informed moral decision in this case?' The lucidity of his analysis makes it look simple and obvious, but of course complex moral decisions are never simple and obvious: that's the brilliance of his argument. Go out and buy this book: it is one of the most important works on Catholic theology you'll read this year. --Mark Massa, S.J., coeditor of American Catholic History: A Documentary Reader
