OPINION:
As a Catholic Christian, I find gentle fault with the frequent presentation of what is factually natural law as an exclusively Christian thing (“House Speaker Mike Johnson is a victim of anti-Christianism,” web, Nov. 9).
Mr. Johnson seems to pursue his conscience and his appropriate positions in the House based on the elemental dispositions that exist in all men, not explicitly because he is a Christian. To present his ideas as Christian presents an artificial barrier to those who are not.
I doubt Mr. Johnson considers his positions somehow exclusive to Christianity and therefore in opposition to other whimsical and arbitrary persuasions based on greed, lust, politics or self-interest.
Our country was founded on several core beliefs: respect for the lives and dignity of others, a refusal to steal or lie, respect for the permanence and purpose of family life and marriage, respect and love for our parents, the notion of personal property and the preeminence of personal responsibility and freedom — all of these are part of natural law.
The Greeks articulated this distinctly human way of life in a kind of anticipation of the Christian. (We might even note that Aristotelian philosophy is taught in most Catholic seminaries before theology.) Our country will abandon this concept at its peril.
BERNARD M. COLLINS
Silver Spring, Maryland
Please read our comment policy before commenting.