By Francis X. Maier, The Catholic Thing - Here in America, except for those 60 million abortions and a few other oddities, we have more decent instincts. And we need to talk about that. Decency is, itself, a matter of cultural consensus, a flexible ethical artifact, and – let’s face it – an update in content is probably overdue. The truth is, “decency” is too often allowed to be just another flabby, humanitarian excuse for cowardice; for an inherited, pre-rational unwillingness to do the bold, the urgent, the necessary.