A pro-choice culture

Living with pragmatism when moral arguments do not avail | Marvin Olasky

Maybe it's because, as a professor, I deal with lots of 20-year-olds. Maybe it's because I live in Austin, a charmingly weird town. But here's something I'll say straight out, and then wait for the slings and arrows of outraged readers: Much of the conservative Christian rhetoric we hear today misses the mark because it is either too hard or too soft.

I noted four weeks ago in this column that many college students cannot grasp moral arguments. If we say, in relation to abortion or many other issues, Thou shalt do X because it's the right thing to do, blank stares or incredulous glances result. Moral absolutes resonate poorly among students who desire absolute freedom and have never heard G.K. Chesterton's wise reminder: "The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."