Powerline makes a principled exception to liberalism

John of Powerline employs a non-liberal argument. If Romney is going to keep being questioned on Mormon theology and customs, as Tim Russert questioned him Sunday morning about the Mormon church’s previous ban on black priests, then why shouldn’t Catholic candidates be made accountable for the Church’s ban on female priests, and why shouldn’t various denominations face an inquisition on why they don’t allow homosexuals to be priests? John writes:

Churches are entitled to practice their theologies, and those theologies need not conform to secular notions of equality. If Catholics believe, as a matter of church doctrine, that only men should be priests, it is nobody else’s business. Those who think that women should be ordained (as they are in my own church) should join a different denomination.

It’s not often you hear a neocon nowadays—let alone a devoted Bush champion like John of Powerline—explicitly affirm that there are areas of life to which liberalism should not apply. But does this mean that democracy is not necessarily the desire of every human heart?

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Stephen R. writes:

Regarding the genesis of John’s argument: Last Monday, Hugh Hewitt, who is John’s good friend, sliced and diced Lawrence O’Donnell with this approach. O’Donnell had just been on the McLaughlin group and was ranting that Romney, in declaring his allegiance to the ‘religion of his fathers’, supported racism. O’Donnell, I believe is also a Catholic. so Hugh was able to corner him with his double standard.

I do give extra credit to John for having actually come out and made it clear that equality is not always king.

You can hear how Hugh neatly sets the trap on Townhall.com (its the Dec.10 1st hour).

Posted by Lawrence Auster at December 17, 2007 12:42 AM | Send