Scottish cardinal rips value-free approach to public policy

April 13, 2009

"Scotland is staring into the abyss of social collapse," warned Cardinal Keith O'Brien in a powerful essay that appeared on Easter Sunday in the London Times. The cardinal said that a "chronic fear of moralizing" has left young people without the guidance of principles, and politicians have indulged in "ever more frenzied regulation" in a vain attempt to substitute for clear moral leadership. He argued that family breakdown-- aggravated by laws that allow easy divorce and a tax system that "ruthlessly penalises long-term legal commitment"-- has endangered the future of society. To escape disaster, Cardinal O'Brien said, "we must educate a new generation in morality and objective truth."

 

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Further information:

• Frenzied laws are failing our young people charge (Cardinal O'Brien/London Times)
• Cardinal Keith O'Brien brands SNP ‘cowards' (London Times)
• Politicians deny "moral cowardice" charge (London Times)