The Fundamental Progressives’ Principle, by David Carlin

By David Carlin, The Catholic Thing, Dec. 28, 2021

David Carlin is a retired professor of sociology and philosophy at the Community College of Rhode Island, and the author of The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America.

I doubt many people will agree with me on this. But let me say it anyway.

I contend that the fundamental value of America’s political left is, and has been for a half-century or so, sexual liberty. All of the left’s other values – all of its secondary or derivative values – follow from this.

The most obvious secondary value is abortion. If American culture is to include sexual freedom as a paramount value, isn’t it obvious that we will need to have an almost unlimited right to abortion? For “mistakes” will happen – even in a society that floats on an immense sea of contraceptives. If we are unable to correct such mistakes with abortion, this inability will have a serious “chilling effect” on the practice of sexual freedom. …