Respect for Life: Research Notes on Cardinal Bernardin's "Seamless Garment"

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin has argued that a moral principle, which he calls "respect for life," must be constructed to apply to a range of threats to life: the arms race, abortion, capital punishment, and euthanasia and suicide for the terminally ill. This paper is a sociological examinati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of religious research 1986-12, Vol.28 (2), p.129-142, Article 129
Main Author: Cleghorn, J. Stephen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Attitude Studies
Capital punishment
Catholicism
Christianity
Contemporary period
Corporal life ethics
Decision Making
Euthanasia
General subjects
History and sciences of religions
Humanitarianism
Medical ethics
Moral theology
Morality
Political attitudes
Religion
Respect
Social ethics
Social moral
Suicide
Theoretical Problems
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Summary:Cardinal Joseph Bernardin has argued that a moral principle, which he calls "respect for life," must be constructed to apply to a range of threats to life: the arms race, abortion, capital punishment, and euthanasia and suicide for the terminally ill. This paper is a sociological examination of some empirical questions suggested by Bernardin's preaching. How do attitudes about various threats to life correlate with one another? Has the American public shown any movement toward a more consistent ethic of life? Will religion play a key role in forming such an ethic? Data from the 1977/78 and 1982/83 General Social Surveys reveal that there are two distinct dimensions underlying responses on the life issues, one having to do with personal liberties and the other with defense of society. Furthermore these dimensions seem to involve a competition for value formation between the church and the state.
ISSN:0034-673X
2211-4866
DOI:10.2307/3511467