Doug Corbitt

I think abortion is obviously morally permissible when continuation of the pregnancy constitutes a significant threat to the woman's life or long-term health. I also think abortion is morally permissible in the case of rape. (We can grant that the fetus has a right to life without holding that its right to life outweighs the woman's right to bodily autonomy.) It is also likely permissible when the fetus suffers from an untreatable condition leading to an inevitable, early, and awful death.

Strongly Disagree

The evidence strongly suggests that the health risks of FDA-approved abortifacients is so slight as to not require in-person consultations. And reporting requirements would likely serve other purposes than gathering evidence on reactions and outcomes. (Besides, such evidence can be gathered through voluntary participation in IRB-approved studies. It doesn't have to be collected non-voluntarily.)

Neutral

In many cases, abortion is the "standard of care" for particular conditions such as ectopic pregnancies in which the embryo has no chance of survival and there is a significant threat of death to the woman. In others, abortion can be the humane choice. For example, if the embryo or fetus is diagnosed with the gene for spinal muscular atrophy (type 1), a woman may choose not to carry her pregnancy to term out of love for the child who would die a horrible death after a tragically short life.

Neutral

I support a patient's right to refuse life-saving treatment. But I would personally like for us to be a society that so surrounds and supports the dying with kindness, tenderness, and palliative care (pain control and comfort care) that they would find assisted suicide and euthanasia unnecessary.

Agree

All rights are grounded in the inestimable value of each and every person. And every right is limited by the rights of others. You cannot claim a right to worship as you see fit gives you a right to practice human sacrifice. Nor can you claim your right to freedom of speech gives you a right to incite others to acts of violence. In the same way, property rights are limited by the rights of others. I cannot dump toxic wastes in my backyard if they pose an undue threat to my neighbors' health.

I believe someone working full-time at a minimum wage job should be able to pay for groceries, afford decent housing, and enjoy adequate health insurance coverage.

Yes

We want to encourage businesses to operate in ways that protect God's green earth and that recognize the essential dignity and value of all God's children.

When a church gathering poses a substantial threat of spreading a lethal contagion beyond the boundaries of the church community itself.

Neutral

We want to give people as much leeway as possible to practice their moral and religious convictions so long as they do not violate the rights of others. One way to balance the competing concerns here is to disallow discrimination in the case of goods or services which are made generally available to the public but to allow individuals and businesses to refuse to provide "made to order" services for purposes, causes, uses, and occasions at odds with their religious convictions.

B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available to all who want it, along with private healthcare options.

When the consequences of not requiring vaccines (e.g., long-term disabilities or death for a significant portion of the population) are decidedly worse than the consequences of requiring vaccines (e.g., temporary discomfort and/or inconvenience).

Strongly Agree

I believe that China is intent on re-shaping the current world order in a way that benefits its autocratic government and economic system.

Yes, the United States' relationship with Israel is extraordinarily important because a) Israel is a democracy, b) Israel is a democracy in a part of the world where there are few democracies, and c) Israel is an important military ally in a decidedly unstable region. That said, our relationships with Israel's enemies are also important because all people--friend and foe alike--are precious.

Agree

But we must also do more to address the issues causing people to flee their homelands. The US has vast power--both "hard" and "soft"--and we should use it to fight the drug cartels, the violence, the poverty, and the lack of opportunity causing people to flee their homes and make the dangerous trek to the United States. Just as Jesus taught us in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, these people are our neighbors, and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Strongly Disagree

The state has a profound obligation to offer quality public education to all its citizens. But when we funnel tax dollars to private schools, we devote public funds to the pursuit of sectarian ends, and that is a violation of the duty to promote the general welfare.

Neutral

Children are vulnerable and most be protected from abuse. YES! And, yes again, children should be protected from those would would groom them for sexual purposes. Absolutely! And, of course, any surgical intervention not aiming at the health and well-being of the child is horribly wrong. But do discussions of gender constitute abuse? I don't think so.

Agree

Yes! In general, parents should have the right to make decisions for their minor children. But parents can violate their fundamental duty to protect their children and to promote their health and well-being. And when the parents' behavior constitutes chronic and persistent abuse, I'd argue that they forfeit even custody rights. In a related matter, US law has long recognized the right of parents to refuse life-saving medical treatment for themselves but not for their children.

Agree

I think the deeper issue is whether "gender transition services" can ever save a life. I know a trans woman who did not want to be trans and who for years resisted the decision to transition. But the internal struggle brought her to the brink of suicide, and I and all her loved ones were daily worried she might take her own life. When she transitioned (without taxpayer assistance, by the way), a burden was lifted, and she was able to embrace life again. I'd rather have her alive than dead.

Neutral

I agree that marriage is a God-ordained, sacred union. But things are more complicated than the above statement makes them appear. Many of the biblical patriarchs (e.g., Jacob) and heroes (King David) had more than one wife. And the biblical record is silent about the morality of their polygamous marriages. So the definition of (legitimate) marriage does seem to have changed over time within the covenantal community of Israel.

I believe in a good, all-loving, all-wise, omnipotent, omniscient God who is the creator of all things. And I believe that God has poured an unparalleled artistic genius into the creation of each person, each animal, each plant, each molecule, each star, and each galaxy. As a result, everything--EVERY THING--is worthy of our attention, our care, our concern, and our love. Therefore, we want to live in such a way that we build up--insofar as possible--every person and every thing!

Agree

Photos are no guarantee of authenticity. People change their hairstyles. They change their hair color. They gain weight. They lose weight. A signature beside a name on an official registry should suffice (and should prevent virtually all fraud).

Strongly Agree

Absolutely. We want the president to be elected by a majority of the people, with every person's vote counting the same as everyone else's. We don't want the vote of people in sparsely populated states to count for more than the votes of people in densely populated states. All people are equally precious!

Yes! Racism pits people against each other. It undermines social trust. It creates disparities and injustices. And by tearing at the social fabric, it creates conditions leading to violence.

Neutral

SOME people who study racism claim that the institutions in the US are fundamentally racist. Others do not. But Critical Race Theory is not itself a monolithic set of beliefs. It is more a conversation between people wishing to uncover and correct the pernicious effects racism has had in our communities. Surely that is an honorable goal?!

Neutral

I don't think many males are going to transition in order to win sports events. As for allowing trans women to participate in women's sports, handicaps might level the playing field. Privacy issues in bathrooms and locker rooms can be easily solved by floor-to-ceiling partitions. Sororities get to choose their members, and if they choose trans women, why should I care? And with respect to women's shelters and prisons, it's not difficult to find simple, commonsense solutions.

B and D jointly come closest to my view.

Wind and solar energy are already cheaper in many places than coal. And the US has vast wind and solar potential. To be sure, it will require some time and political will to build the necessary additions to our power grid.

No

No

"To promote the general welfare and to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."

Moderate

I try to avoid labeling others and myself. Every person is a unique individual, and I think we obscure the brilliant, beautiful, radically important differences when we try to lump people into groups.

Disagree

I think we can adequately fund both police departments and community programs without robbing one to pay the other.

I think traceable ammunition and shell casings would do a great deal to protect gun owners' rights while helping police track down the perpetrators of gun violence. If, say, one had to show ID when purchasing a box of ammunition, and if that ID were linked to the chemical signatures in the ammunition or the microscopic UPC-like bands on the casings, police would know where to look first when they recovered bullets or casings from a crime scene.

No

The risks from accidental discharges or other mishaps are too great, I think.