Eric Cohen, writing in the National Review,
disparages the statement of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations on stem cells. The Union, usually a staunch
ally of the Christian right, this time takes a divergent
position:
"The Torah commands us to treat and cure the ill and to defeat disease wherever possible; to do this is to be the Creator's partner in safeguarding the created. The traditional Jewish perspective thus emphasizes that the potential to save and heal human lives is an integral part of valuing human life. Moreover, the traditional Jewish perspective does not accord an embryo outside of the womb the full status of humanhood and its attendant protections."
I was particularly struck by the section where Cohen tells the rabbis that they are wrong, and then he lectures:
"Jews seem to have forgotten even the minimal liberal wisdom of tolerance -- the wisdom of not trampling on the moral opinions of their fellow citizens, like pro-life Christians, who believe embryo destruction is not only evil but the gravest evil. As Jews, don't we owe our fellow citizens the minimal decency of not asking them to pay for the activity that most offends them?"
So let me get this straight. To disagree with the Christian right is to "trample on the moral opinions of fellow citizens." But the Christian right can tell the rest of the country what to do, and that's fine. Or they can ask the rest of us to pay for schools that teach theology as science, for example.
Or ask us to pay for an elective war that greatly offends many citizens, who are asked to pay not only in cash, but with lives of loved ones.
I wonder how he justifies trampling on the moral opinions of citizens belonging to religions (Catholics and Quakers to name a few) that are against war, particularly elective war?