Off the Record

flight of the bumblebee By Diogenes | October 20, 2008 12:55 PM

 The Delaware News Journal has persuaded Senator Joe Biden to speak directly about how he reconciles his Catholic faith with his support for legal abortion. (Hat tip to American Papist for bringing the exchange to our notice.)  You can read the full interview if you like, but don't try to follow Biden's logic without professional help:

How do you reconcile your Catholic faith with your position on Roe v. Wade?

It's very difficult.

Got that right, Joe. If you'd stopped there, we'd all have gained something.  

It's always a very, very, very difficult, difficult decision. I know that, my church has wrestled with this for 2,000 years.

What church is that, pray tell? My own Church, which is the Catholic Church, got the answer right 2,000 years ago and hasn't looked back. 

 We've always believed from the outset that abortion is wrong.

Aha! Right again.

But throughout the years, debated the degree to which it is wrong.

 Sorry; you lost me again. It's killing but we'll not sure how wrong it is; which church is this?

It is always viewed as a dire decision.

OK; back on track. So it's a dire wrong. 

But throughout the church's history, we've argued between whether or not it is wrong in every circumstance and the degree of wrong. Catholics have this notion, it's almost a gradation.

Almost. The law recognizes different sorts of homicide. They're all homicide-- all felonies, all  punishable by law-- but the legal penalties are different. Is that a gradation? 

One of my avocations is theology. I actually have a real interest in this, I always have, having nothing to do with politics....

Really? It doesn't show. Who are your favorite contemporary theologians? Congar? Grisez? Curran? Pelosi?

 

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Sound Off! Comments

• Posted by: James the Least - Oct. 21, 2008 4:09 PM ET USA

  That is quite a brilliant point, ILM. I'd never thought about it before, but seeing as how God gives us everything we need to live, can it be that that event and that story were supplied providentially for our age? Whether so or not, there's something incongruous about the idea of John leaping in his mother's womb due to the presence of a not-yet-human zygote. If John recognized the developing being in Mary's womb as Jesus, it must have been, well, Jesus.

• Posted by: hduran4035 - Oct. 21, 2008 2:38 PM ET USA

  Theological avocations are surely the Devil's playground. One should attend to those matters which are proper to one's vocation rather than speaking as-if authoritatively in a field outside one's expertise. Perhaps Biden would have liked to be treated by politicians with an avocational interest in brain aneurysm.

• Posted by: wvcatholic - Oct. 20, 2008 5:56 PM ET USA

  A nice little bait and switch argument. It is true that the subjective guilt of a woman who has an abortion may be minimal or altogether lacking depending on the degree of freedom present. However, Biden uses this fact to imply that this diminishes the objective nature of the act, and by extension, those who advocate this as a "right" who are acting themselves with complete freedom.

• Posted by: ILM - Oct. 20, 2008 5:33 PM ET USA

  The Angel Gabrial told Zacharias that his wife would concieve a son who would be sanctfied from his mother's womb. This occured when John leaped in his mother's womb at the arrival of Jesus in Mary's womb to visit Elizabeth. Jesus had only been concieved a few days earlier by the power of the Holy Spirit and John had been in his mother's womb six months. By Senator Biden's reasoning Jesus and John might not have been human when this occured.

• Posted by: Sir William - Oct. 20, 2008 5:02 PM ET USA

  Fortunately for these budding 'theologians' (and the confused Catholic Faithful) an increasing number of our Bishops have spines and are not afraid to use them. May the Lord find it in His great mercy to give the necessary graces to our Bishops to keep up the pressure on this lot of theologically illogical politicians (and some priests) who are as content to feed on publicity & mammon as on Communion. May He have mercy on us all for the sin of abortion which we have allowed.