Religion
Does J.D. Vance’s appeal to an ordo amoris (a ranking of love) make any sense?
In January 2025, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance cited the Catholic concept of “ordo amoris” in the context of the debate over immigration. He said that “there’s this old-school [concept]—and I think it’s a very Christian concept, by the way—that you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your…
Quaker Queries
by Rachel MacNair The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) is a pacifist denomination which nevertheless has a large numbers of members who support abortion availability. One of their large organizations called for nationwide discernment, whereby the Meetings and Churches would have their own local sessions in which members threshed out their understandings with the use…
Insights from Mennonites
compiled by Rachel MacNair Mennonites are one of the historic peace churches. Membership in the church can be used as evidence for conscientious objector status to the draft in the United States. The “New Call to Peacemaking” was a cooperative project of the three such churches (including Quakers and Church of the Brethren). From Article…
The Consistent Life Ethic and Traditional Tantra
(Not the Tantra That You May Have Heard Of) by Acyutananda First let me say that I could be wrong in my beliefs. Like any member of any faith tradition who lives in a cosmopolitan environment, I meet people every day whose beliefs seem to flatly contradict my own, and who are not dumb. So…
Fratelli Tutti – Consistent-Life Excerpts
Since Catholics in the United States have been observing October as Respect Life Month, we share excerpts from Pope Francis’ recent encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti (a print version is available), touching on each of the threats to life mentioned in Consistent Life’s mission statement. Compiled by Julia Smucker 18. Some parts of our…
Why the Interfaith Approach is Important
by Rachel MacNair This February in 2020 I went on a trip to Israel and Palestine with a group called In the Steps of Our Ancestors: an Interfaith Peace Pilgrimage. In addition to seeing the holy sites of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Baha’i, we spoke with several groups promoting peace in different ways. (I went…
On Praying for the Military
The following is a letter CLN board member Julia Smucker addressed to her church at the request of one of her pastors after raising these concerns in person. As a nonsectarian organization, we welcome perspectives from various faiths, as well as secular ones, that affirm consistent-life principles. Since attending my current church, I…
An Example of Why the Peace Movement is in Deep Trouble
by Rachel MacNair Ego and Anger Richard Rohr, OFM, is a Franciscan Friar, a prolific author, and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC), a CLN member group. One major point made by CAC is that if we take action on nonviolence without contemplation, there’s a danger we’ll bring in ego-centered thoughts and…
The Vital Need for Diversity
by Sarah Terzo Editor’s Note: This is the second in the series of blog posts based on presentations at our 30th Anniversary conference, held August 4-6, 2017. Diversity is very important in the pro-life movement, as the following story illustrates. In the 2009 book Stopping Abortions at Death’s Door by Roderick P. Murphy, the author…
Abortion and War are the Karma for Killing Animals
by Vasu Murti In the tradition of offering a wide variety of consistent-life views, Vasu Murti offers a Hindu perspective, also using Christian and secular reasoning. This was originally written as a comment to our recent post, War Causes Abortion. Abortion and war are the karma for killing animals. The reincarnationist strategy for ending…