Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Much like the rest of the country, American Catholics are politically divided, perhaps more so now than at any point in their history. In this learned but accessible work for scholars, students, and religious and lay readers, ethicist Julie Hanlon Rubio suggests that there is a way beyond red versus blue for orthodox and progressive Catholics. In a call for believers on both sides of the liberal-conservative divide to put aside labels and rhetoric, Rubio, a leading scholar in marriage and family for more than twenty years, demonstrates that common ground does exist in the local sphere between the personal and the political.
In Hope for Common Ground, Rubio draws on Catholic Social Thought to explore ways to bring Catholics together. Despite their differences, Catholics across the political spectrum can share responsibility for social sin and work within communities to contribute to social progress. Rubio expands this common space into in-depth discussions on family fragility, poverty, abortion, and end-of-life care. These four issues, though divisive, are part of a seamless worldview that holds all human life as sacred. Rubio argues that if those on different sides focus on what can be done to solve social problems in "the space between" or local communities, opposing sides will see they are not so far apart as they think. The common ground thus created can then lead to far-reaching progress on even the most divisive issues--and help quiet the discord tearing apart the Church.
Synopsis
Much like American society, the American Catholic Church is sharply divided: conservatives see government as the problem while liberals see government intervention as necessary. From the high point of Catholic consensus in the early 1960s with the election of John F. Kennedy, today Catholics in this country are less united than at any point in their history. Not only do Catholics disagree on abortion, same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide, and social spending, but they also disagree about what the major social problems are. Despite these rancorous divisions, many Catholics share concerns about avoiding cooperation with evil and working within communities to solve social problems. Rubio tries to expand this existing common ground and argues, with a vision of what she calls faithful citizenship, that more can be done at the local level if those on the right and the left could come and reason together instead of remaining mired in tired debates over political v. personal morality. Rubio uses this framework of common ground to analyze four hot-button ethical and policy issues--the family, poverty, abortion, and end-of-life care--in the hope of initiating dialogue and inspiring communal action.
Synopsis
In this learned work for scholars, students, religious, and lay readers, ethicist Julie Hanlon Rubio investigates how Catholics divided by partisan rancor can better solve problems and understand one another. She persuasively argues that Catholics of differing commitments can carve out space for common action and understanding in local communities.