The topic of our conference is "systematic theology" in an East Asian context, and this very topic moves us to a fundamental question. In the face of multiple and complex contextual challenges that so much Asian theology has already addressed, as well as important and ground-breaking documents by the South Asian Bishops Conference in recent years, why turn to systematic theology again? What do we expect systematic theology as such to say to, much less do about the challenges arising from this East Asian context—or any other context, for that matter? After all, systematic theology concerns God, and more precisely the ways in which we can understand how God is revealed and encountered. It takes us into Christology and pneumatology, into anthropology and grace, and into ecclesiology and eschatology. Why specify systematic theology, as opposed to fundamental theology, biblical theology, moral theology, or ethics? Why, indeed, not turn to economics, agronomics, political economy, sociobiology, environmental biology, and other regional sciences? Are we asking too much ofsystematic theology in expecting it to be responsive to a vast East Asian context that involves so many parts, so many challenges? Do we risk reducing theology to a rhetorical construct if it only serves to justify a particular program of pastoral action? The topic forces us to look at the nature ofsystematic theology itself, for it is something other than an adaptation of non-theological projects, or the construction of a quasi-theological scaffolding from various elements of faith and the human sciences in order to build a pastoral program.
Parliamentary parties in the British House of Commons tend to experience high levels of voting unity with individual MPs only occasionally dissenting from party policy. Although constituency influence has been used extensively to predict legislative behaviour in candidate-centred electoral environments, it is argued here that constituency preferences can, under certain circumstances, shape parliamentary behaviour in a strong-party, weak personal-vote, electoral environment such as the United Kingdom. To empirically test this argument, the interest representation of British Muslims in the British House of Commons and specifically the voting record of MPs on proposed domestic anti-terrorism legislation seen to target British Muslims is investigated. The data shows that Labour MPs with certain constituency characteristics (relatively large Muslim, ethnic minority and migrant populations) were more likely to vote against the leadership position on anti-terrorism proposals perceived to target certain minorities.
LETTERS --Passing of Two Exemplars Joseph Johnstun, vi --In Praise of Will Bagley Sherman L. Fleek, vii ARTICLES --Conversion amid Conflict: Mormon Proselytizing in Russian Finland, 1861–1914 Zachary R. Jones, 1 --The Forms and the Power: The Development of Mormon Ritual Healing to 1847 Jonathan A. Stapley and Kristine Wright, 42 --Preserving the Record and Memory of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, 1842–92 Jill Mulvay Derr and Carol Cornwall Madsen, 88 --The Reed Smoot Hearings and the Theology of Politics: Perceiving an "American" Identity Konden R. Smith, 118 --Letters and Mail between Kirtland and Independence: A Mormon Postal History, 1831–33 William G. Hartley, 163 --What We Will Do Now That New Mormon History Is Old: A Roundtable Introduction Keith A. Erekson, 190 --Getting Around the Dichotomy Squared Keith A. Erekson, 191 --The Unexplored Drama within the Drama Rachel Cope, 195 --Restorationist Studies: The Future of the New Mormon History David J. Howlett, 200 --Performing Mormon History Megan Sanborn Jones, 204 --Context and the New-New Mormon History Matthew Bowman, 208 --Fashioning a Newer Mormon History J. Spencer Fluhman, 214 --Mormon Cultural Studies Lisa Olsen Tait, 218 --Post New Mormon History: A Manifesto W. Paul Reeve, 223 --Converting Mormon History Amy Harris, 226 --History That Reveals Itself, History That Names Itself Patrick A. Polk, 230 --Wingfield Watson: A Midwest Visit, 1908 William Shepard, 234 REVIEWS --S. Michael Tracy, Millions Shall Know Brother Joseph Again: The Joseph Smith Photograph Jared Tamez, 251 --William P. MacKinnon, At Sword's Point, Part 1: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858 Joseph Geisner, 258 --Alissa York, Effigy Dawn Hall Anderson and Dlora Hall Dalton, 264 --Val D. Rust, Radical Origins: Early Mormon Converts and Their Colonial Ancestors George D. Smith, 269 --Martha Peterson Taysom. "Glory Is a-Comin' Soon": A History of Mormonism in Indiana Keith A. Erekson, 274 BOOK NOTICES --Christopher Kimball Bigelow. The Timechart History of Mormonism: From Premortality to the Present, 284
LETTER --Update on Louisa Bonelli Todd Compton, vii ARTICLES --The Many Uses of Humor Leonard J. Arrington, 1 --An "American Mahomet": Joseph Smith, Muhammad, and the Problem of Prophets in Antebellum America J. Spencer Fluhman, 23 --The Last Smith Presidents and the Transformation of the RLDS Church William D. Russell, 46 --The Wives of the Patriarchs Irene M. Bates, 85 --Emily Dow Partridge Smith Young on the Witness Stand: Recollections of a Plural Wife H. Michael Marquardt, 110 --The Concept of a "Rejected Gospel" in Mormon History, Part 2 William Shepard, 142 REVIEWS --Melissa Lambert Milewski, ed. Before the Manifesto: The Life Writings of Mary Lois Walker Morris Jennifer L. Lund, 187 --B. Carmon Hardy, ed. Doing the Works of Abraham: Mormon Polygamy, Its Origin, Practice, and Decline. Thomas G. Alexander, 191 --Ron Romig, ed. Emma's Nauvoo Bill Shepard, 196 --Ron Romig, ed. Martin Harris's Kirtland Jeff Needle, 198 --Kent P. Jackson and Andrew C. Skinner, eds. A Witness for the Restoration: Essays in Honor of Robert Matthews Jonathan Stapley, 200 --Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith. Frontier Children Stanford J. Layton, 203 --Glenn Cuerden. Images of America Nauvoo Kenneth and Audrey Godfrey, 205 --W. Paul Reeve. Making Space on the Western Frontier: Mormons, Miners, and Southern Paiutes Samuel Brown, 207 --William A. Wilson. The Marrow of Human Experience: Essays on Folklore. Edited by Jill Terry Rudy Boyd Jay Petersen, 211 --Ronald S. Hanson. Early Mormon Tithing Offices and Mormon Currency Innovations Alan L. Morrell, 214 --Richard Richards. Climbing the Political Ladder, One Rung at a Time Douglas D. Alder, 216 --Christian Euvrard. Louis Auguste Bertrand (1808–1875): Journaliste Socialiste et Pionnier Mormon Gary James Bergera, 219 --Brian C. Hales. Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations after the Manifesto Ken Driggs, 225 --Marcie Gallacher and Kerri Robinson. A Banner Is Unfurled and Be Still My Soul Robert M. Hogge, 228 --Wayne C. Booth. My Many Selves: The Quest for a Plausible Harmony Robert A. Rees, 232 --Jedediah S. Rogers, ed. In the President's Office: The Diaries of L. John Nuttall, 1879–1892 Stephen C. Taysom, 235 --Jeff Benedict. The Mormon Way of Doing Business Michael Harold Paulos, 238 --Dan Vogel. Early Mormon Documents, 5 vols. Jed Woodworth, 242 --Donald G. Godfrey and Kenneth W. Godfrey. The Diaries of Charles Ora Card: The Utah Years, 1871–1886 Jedediah S. Rogers, 246 --Terryl L. Givens. People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture John-Charles Duffy, 248 --Michael K. Winder. Presidents and Prophets: The Story of America's Presidents and the LDS Church Daniel Walker Howe, 254 --Burr Fancher. Captain Alexander Fancher: Adventurer, Drover, Wagon Master and Victim of the Mountain Meadows Massacre Jill N. Crandell, 257 --Susanna Morrill. White Roses on the Floor of Heaven. Mormon Women's Popular Theology, 1880–1920 Kylie Nielson Turley, 263 --Eric Swedin. The Killing of Greybird Dlora Hall Dalton and Dawn Hall Anderson, 268 BOOK NOTICES --Paul D. Lyman. The Willie Handcart Company: Their Day-by-Day Experiences, Including Trail Maps and Driving Directions, 272 --Carol Lynch Williams. In the Time of Joseph Smith: Walk to Hope, 273 --Annette Lyon. At the Journey's End 274 Mario Facione. Mafia to Mormon, 276
CONTENTS LETTERS --Toward Broader Interests? Kent S. Larsen III, vii ARTICLES PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS --Joseph Smith and the Globalization of Mormonism Donald Q. Cannon, 1 TANNER LECTURE --The Construc tion of the Mormon People Charles L. Cohen, 25 --The Inner Joseph Smith Richard L. Bushman, 65 --Shakespeare among the Saints John S. Tanner, 82 --Differ ent Drummers: The Diverse Hymnody of the Reorganization Richard Clothier, 116 --Mormon Hymnody: Kirtland Roots and Evolutionary Branches Nancy J. Andersen, 145 --Law and Order in Winter Quarters Edward L. Kimball and Kenneth W. Godfrey, 172 REVIEWS --Laura L. Bush, Faithful Transgressions in the American West: Six Twentieth-Century Mormon Women's Autobiographical Acts Mary Lythgoe Brad ford- 219 --Clyde R. Forsberg Jr., Equal Rites: The Book of Mormon, Masonry, Gender and American Culture Michael W. Homer, 221 --Gary Topping, Utah Historians and the Reconstruction of Western History Dan Wotherspoon, 226 --The Wasp Matt McBride, 229 --Simon Worrall, The Poet and the Murderer: A True Story of Literary Crime and the Art of Forgery Will Bagley, 231 --F. Enzio Busche, Yearning for the Living God: Reflections from the Life of F. Enzio Busche Mario S. De Pillis, 233 --Craig S. Camp bell, Images of the New Jerusalem: Latter Day Saint Faction Interpretations of Independence, Missouri Ronald E. Romig and David J. Howlett, 236 --Robert S. Wicks and Fred R. Foister, Junius and Joseph: Presidential Politics and the Assassination of the First Mormon Prophet Jed Woodworth, 243 --Heidi S. Swinton, America's Choir: A Commemorative Portrait of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Michael Hicks, 249 --Emmanuel Abu Kissi, Walking in the Sand: A History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana, edited by Matthew K. Heiss Cherry B. Silver, 252 --William G. Hartley and Fred E. Woods, Explosion of the Steamboat Saluda Devery S. Anderson, 256 --D. Michael Quinn, Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth- Century Americans: A Mormon Example John D. Gustav-Wrathall, 259 --New ell G. Bringhurst and Lavina Fielding Ander son, eds., Excavating Mormon Pasts: The New Historiography of the Last Half Century William D. Russell, 262 BOOK NOTICE --Albert C. T. and Allen D. Roberts, A History of Sanpete County, 272
CONTENTS ARTICLES PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS --Creating the Sacred Space of Zion Martha Sonntag Bradley, 1 --The Kinderhook Plates, the Tucson Artifacts, and Mormon Archeological Zeal J. Michael Hunter, 31 --Desert Imagery and Sacred Symbolism: The Design of the Arizona Temple Paul L. Anderson, 71 --The Historic Arizona Temple Richard O. Cowan, 99 --Eliza R. Snow and the Prophet's Gold Watch: Time Keeper as Relic Jennifer Reeder, 119 --A Turbulent Coexistence: Duane Hunt, David O. McKay, and a Quarter-Century of Catholic-Mormon Relations Gregory A. Prince and Gary Topping, 142 REVIEWS --Spencer J. Condie, Russell M. Nelson: Father, Surgeon, Apostle Samuel Brown, 164 --Martha Sonntag Bradley and Mary Brown Firmage Woodward, Four Zinas: A Story of Mothers and Daughters on the Mormon Frontier Linda King Newell, 168 --Simon G. Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church Armand L. Mauss, 172 --Coke Newell, Latter Days: A Guided Tour Through Six Billion Years of Mormonism Laura Compton, 177 --Kathleen Flake, The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle Thomas G. Alexander, 181 --William G. Hartley, Stand by My Servant Joseph: The Story of the Joseph Knight Family and the Restoration Steven C. Harper, 184 --Carlos Illades, Rhodakanaty y la Formation del Pensamiento Socialista en Mexico Dale Beecher, 186 --Ethan R. Yorgason, Transformation of the Mormon Culture Region Armand L. Mauss, 190 --Jesse L. Embry, Mormon Wards as Community Douglas D. Alder, 193 --Clive Scott Chisholm, Following the Wrong God Home Paul M. Edwards, 197 --Douglas J. Davies, An Introduction to Mormonism Val Hemming, 199 --Eric G. Swedin, Healing Souls: Psychotherapy in the Latter-day Saint Community Bron Ingoldsby, 201 --Charles M. Hatch and Todd M. Compton, eds., A Widow's Tale: The 1884-1896 Diary of Helen Mar Kimball Whitney Henry A. Wolfinger, 205 --Dan Vogel, Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet William D.Morain, 210 --Stephen L. Prince, Gathering in Harmony: A Saga of Southern Utah Families, Their Roots and Pioneering Heritage, and the Tale of Antone Prince, Sheriff of Washington County Craig L. Foster, 213 --Janet Bennion, Desert Patriarchy: Mormon and Mennonite Communities in the Chihuahua Valley Brian C. Hales, 214 --Alexander L. Baugh and Andrew H. Hedges, eds., Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: New York and Pennsylvania H. Michael Marquardt, 221 --Morris A. Shirts and Kathryn H. Shirts, A Trial Furnace: Southern Utah's Iron Mission Wayne K. Hinton, 225 BOOK NOTICES --Marilyn Brown, Statehood: A Novel Celebrating Utah's Centennial, Marilyn Brown, Ghosts of the Oquirrhs, and Marilyn Brown, House on the Sound, 229 --Blake T. Ostler, Exploring Mormon Thought: The Attributes of God, 232 --George W. Givens, 500 Little-Known Facts in Mormon History, 234 --Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, 235 --Don Busath, Temple Square in the Light of Its Seasons, 237 --Grant Underwood, ed., Voyages of Faith: Explorations in Mormon Pacific History, 238 --P. J[ames]. Sanders, A Key to Succession in the Presidency of the Church and a Complete Ready Reference for the Missionary, 240 --Milton V. Backman Jr., People and Power ofNauvoo: Themes from the Nauvoo Experience, 242 --Lee Nelson, A Thousand Souls, 243 --Richard E. Turley Jr. and Lael Littke, Stories from the Life of Joseph Smith, 244 --The Journal of Beaver Island History, 245 --Voyle L. Munson and Lillian S. Munson, A Gift of Faith: Elias H. Blackburn, 246 --Reid L. Neilson, From the Green Hills of England to the Red Hills of Dixie: The Story of William and Rachel Thompson Atkin, 247 -John Gates, Brigham 's Day, 249 --Charles W. Baley, Disaster at the Colorado: Beale's Wagon Road and the First Emigrant Party, 250 --John Nicholson, The Martyrdom of Joseph Standing or the Murder of a "Mormon " Missionary, 251 --Launi K. Anderson, Blossoms of Faith, 252 --Chad Daybell, A Prophet in Palmyra, 253 --Richard C. Roberts and Richard W. Sadler, A History of Weber County, 254 --W. Dee Halverson, Building History-History Building: the LDS Conference Center and Its History, 255 --Marianne Perciaccante, Calling Down Fire: Charles Grandison Finney and Revivalism in Jefferson County, New York, 1800-1840, 257 --Greg W. Haws, Hooper and Its Sons of Ditches: The Story of a Town, a Canal and a Boy, 259 --George A. Smith, The Rise, Progress and Travels of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Being a Series of Answers to Questions, including the Revelation on Celestial Marriage, and a Brief Account of the Settlement of Salt Lake Valley, with Interesting Statistics, 260 --Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps. and eds. They Knew the Prophet: Personal Accounts from over 100 People ho Knew Joseph Smith 261 Richard W. Jackson, Places of Worship: 150 Years of Latter-day Saint Architecture, 262 --Shirley Rees, Hannah Stands Tall, 265
It is remarkable to consider how much has been written on the notion of the early Christian and Byzantine attitudes to political theory relying on the singularly useless concept of caesaro-papism.
Collects 13 writings of the distinguished Jesuit scholar on topics ranging from Ong's 1947 study of "Wit and mystery: a reevaluation in medieval Latin hymnody," to 1996 reflections on faith and cosmos and information-communication interactions. Titles in- between include: "Humanism" (1964), "Rhetoric and the origins of consciousness," (1971), and "Yeast: a parable for Catholic higher education" (1990). In the substantial foreword, Farrell (U. of Minnesota at Duluth) finds parallels between Ong's thought and Harold Bloom's ideas about the inwardness of some Shakespearean characters. The French government knighted Ong for his dissertation on 16th-century logician/educational reformer Ramus. Distributed by University Press of America. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR ; https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1415/thumbnail.jpg
CONTENTS LETTERS vi --Missionaries in the American Religious Marketplace: Mormon Proselyting in the 1830s Steven C. Harper, 1 --Mormon Leaders in Politics: The Transition to Statehood in 1896 Edward Leo Lyman, 30 --J. Golden Kimball: Private Life of a Public Figure James N. Kimball, 55 --Mary Bennion Powell: Polygamy and Silence John Bennion, 85 --The Origin of the Word of Wisdom Clyde Ford, 129 --The Curious Meet the Mormons: Images from Travel Narratives, 1850s and 1860s Craig S. Smith, 155 --Making the Most of Leisure: Depression, Recreation, and the Improvement Era Richard Ian Kimball, 182 ENCOUNTER ESSAY --Forgotten History: Recovering Helen Mar Whitney's Story of the Early Church Jeni Broberg Holzapfel Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, 207 REVIEWS --Andrew F. Smith. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of John C. Bennett Donald Q. Cannon, 224 --Jean Bickmore White. Charter for Statehood: The Story of Utah's State Constitution Thomas G. Alexander, 226 BOOK NOTICES --Parker Nielson. The Dispossessed: Cultural Genocide of the Mixed- Blood Utes. An Advocate's Chronicle, 230 --Wayne Ham. Geoffrey F. Spencer: Advocate for an Enlightened Faith, 231 --Barbara B. Smith and Shirley W. Thomas. When the Key Was Turned: Women at the Founding of the Relief Society, 233 --Robert H. Moss. Soldiers N' Saints: An Historical Novel, 233 --Lee Allred. "For the Strength of the Hills," in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Vol. 13, ed. Dave Wolverton, 235 --Colleen Whitley, ed. Worth Their Salt: Notable But Often Unnoted Women of Utah, 235 --Fred C. Collier and William S. Harwell, eds. Kirtland Council Minute Book, 236 --Hartt Wixom. Edward Partridge: The First Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 237
CONTENTS LETTERS viii ARTICLES --Mormon Sugar in Alberta: E. P. Ellison and the Knight Sugar Factory, 1901-17 William G. Hartley, 1 --Ellison Milling and Elevator Company: Alberta Wheat with Utah Roots Gregory P. Christofferson, 30 --Friends Again: Canadian Grain and the German Saints Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, 46 --"The Grand, Fundamental Principle:" Joseph Smith and the Virtue of Friendship Steven Epperson, 77 --Zina Presendia Young Williams Card: Brigham's Daughter, Cardston's First Lady Donald G. Godfrey, 107 --Ernest L. Wilkinson's Appointment as Seventh President of Brigham Young University Gary James Bergera, 128 --The Mechanics' Dramatic Association: London and Salt Lake City Lynne Watkins Jorgensen, 155 --"Every Thing Is Favourable! And God Is On Our Side": Samuel Brannan and the Conquest of California Will Bagley, 185 ENCOUNTER ESSAY --Keeping Company with Wilford Woodruff Thomas G Alexander, 210 REVIEWS --Martha Sonntag Bradley, Kidnapped from That Land: The Government Raids on the Short Creek Polygamists Becky Johns, 221 --Frederick S. Buchanan, Culture Clash and Accommodation: Public Schooling in Salt Lake City, 1890-1994 E. Vance Randall, 231
The theology of liberation has by now entered the common lexicon not only of theologians, but of many people who have until recently expressed little interest in theology.1 It is a theological genre or, better, a "movement" issuing out of and responsive to the experience of the poor and suffering of history, based upon a conviction that the Gospel has direct pertinence to the concrete human condition. It calls for a liberating practice as the way salvation is to be realized in history. A theology of liberation understands the Gospel as a divine challenge to any exercise of political and economic power that would threaten the very survival of human beings. The Gospel itself calls for a transfiguration of the earthly city and human history into an image of the kingdom of God. Thus, a theology of liberation moves in two directions: toward the fulfillment of human history in the absolute freedom of eternal life, and the working out of salvation within history itself.
LETTERS ARTICLES PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS --Seeking the "Remnant": The Native American During the Joseph Smith Period Ronald W. Walker, 1 TANNER LECTURE --Two Restoration Traditions: Mormons and Churches of Christ in the Nineteenth Century Richard T. Hughes, 34 --The Significance of Trivia Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, 52 --Masons and Mormons: Released-Time Politics in Salt Lake City, 1930-56 Frederick S. Buchanan, 61 -Victorian Pornographic Imagery in Anti-Mormon Literature Craig L Foster, 115 --Mormon Polygamy: A Bibliography, 1977-91 Patricia Lyn Scott, 133 REVIEWS -Claudia L. Bushman: Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society by Jill Mulvay Derr, Janath Russell Cannon, and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher --Kimberly Jensen: Letters of Catharine Cottam Romney, Plural Wife, edited by Jennifer Moulton Hansen and Mormon Odyssey: The Story of Ida Hunt Udall, Plural Wife, edited by Maria S. Ellsworth --Roger D. Launius: The Church Through the Years, Volume 1. RLDS Beginnings, to 1860, by Richard P. Howard --Ken Driggs: Undermined Establishment: Church-State Relations in America 1880-1920, by Robert T. Handy and Mormons & Cowboys, Moonshiners & Klansmen. Federal Law Enforcement in the South and West, 1870-1893, by Stephen Cresswell --Martha Sonntag Bradley: Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage, by B. Carmon Hardy --Susan L. Fales: Guide to Archives and Manuscript Collections in Selected Utah Repositories: A Machine- Readable Edition. --R. Lanier Britsch: The Journals of Addison Pratt: Being a Narrative of Yankee Whaling in the Eighteen Twenties, A Mormon Mission to the Society Islands, and of Early California and Utah in the Eighteen Forties and Fifties, edited by S. George Ellsworth --Marjorie Newton: "Come, Let Us Rejoice." The Relief Society Sesquicentennial Exhibition at the Museum of Church History and Art, Salt Lake City --Francine R. Bennion: Women, Family, and Utopia: Communal Experiments of the Shakers, the Oneida Community, and the Mormons, by Lawrence Foster --Richard L. Bushman: The Papers of Joseph Smith: Volume 1. Autobiographical and Historical Writings and The Papers of Joseph Smith: Volume 2: Journal: 1832- 1842, edited by Dean C. Jessee --Douglas J. Davies: Men with a Mission: The Mission of the Quorum of Twelve to Britain, 1837-1841, by James B. Allen, Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker --Geoffrey F. Spencer: Southern Cross Saints: The Mormons in Australia, by Marjorie Newton --Lola Van Wagenen: Eliza and Her Sisters, by Maureen Ursenbach Beecher
By way of introduction to the admittedly thorny and emotionally volatile subject of abortion I want to insist on my title, "thinking constructively" about abortion. I am neither a politician nor a moralist and have no desire to lobby anyone or to convict anyone on the subject of abortion. I want, as a theologian and as a committed believer, to introduce some themes for reflection that might shed some light on the issue for those of us who must, as citizens and as Christians, form our own consciences and vote on this matter. And I want to foster constructive thinking. Every responsible person with whom I have ever discussed the issue of abortion (and that is admittedly a self-selected group of people interested in morality), whether the person is politically prolife or politically prochoice, is resolutely anti-abortion. In other words, decent and reasonable people do not think abortion, even if and when it is chosen as the only possible solution in some case, is anything other than a tragedy; and surely no one is proud of the national statistic of 1.5 million abortions per year in this richest nation in the Western world. The question I am concerned with is not whether abortion is a good thing because no one thinks it is, but how to do something effective to reduce the recourse to abortion
