Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Judicial Compromises
So is this deal a good one?
I have been listenind and reading to the coverage of the great 11th hour compromise of the 14. Does it matter?
Look, in a fallen world system of government no one wins 100%. While I am against filibustering of anyone, Republican or Democrat, the reality is that while this move is probably unconstitutional, it is also not unexpected.
The deeper question is: “Can conservatives, especially religious conservatives, ever bargain when principle is involved? As Shelby Foote, the great Southern writer says, “Americans are great compromisers, that is what formed this country. We like to think of ourselves as uncompromising, but the truth is our whole system of government is built upon compromise. The Civil War came about because we could no longer compromise.”
I think Foote is right on this. At the end of the last election there were those on the Left suggesting it was time for the Blue Stats to suceed. Are those on the Right going to be able to live with any compromise that is made (even this really bad one) for the purposes of holding together the Republic?
For those on the Left, compromise is far easier. I do not mean to be insulting, but the Left, especially the Secular Left, does not feel that it has to answer to a higher power on issues, only to the electorate. The Left therefore can bargain in good conscience, and so move incrementally towards whatever they desire.
The Right, espcially the Relgious Right (which, I dare say, means me) does have someone to which they are accountable. Does bargaining away judges that might have help end Rowe vs. Wade and paved the way for the end of abortion mean that those who compromise are guilty of complicity to murder? What about gay marriage? Religious Liberty? You see, conservatives have an outside force, beyond mere conscience, which makes political bargains so difficult, and, makes politics a field that, while called to by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is laden with far more landmines than I think any of us realize.
Am I for compromise? I’ll get back to you on that?
Comments?
