{"id":2495,"date":"2012-07-06T00:01:04","date_gmt":"2012-07-06T04:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/?p=2495"},"modified":"2020-06-22T16:54:37","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T20:54:37","slug":"the-pluralist-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pluralist Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

That\u2019s the title of my latest entry over at The Catholic Thing. \u00a0Here\u2019s how it begins:<\/a><\/p>\n

This is how it works. The political liberal, unable to win much support for the goodness of the activity he wants permitted, makes this suggestion to his adversaries: why don\u2019t we let each individual decide for himself whether or not he wants to do X.\u00a0 His doing X does not affect you, since the state is not forcing you do to X. So,\"\"<\/a> this is a perfectly neutral position consistent with individual liberty. By acquiescing to permit others to do X, you are not approving of X. All you are doing is allowing each person to choose to do or not do X.<\/p>\n

The Pluralist Game<\/a><\/em> is the name of a book that consists of a collection of essays by the late political philosopher and Fordham professor, Francis A. Canavan, S. J.<\/a> (It is also the name of a lecture I have given for several years at Summit Ministries<\/a>, from where I am writing this present essay). Fr. Canavan makes the point that the pluralist game is a sort of bait and switch. First promising neutrality in exchange for your support, the pluralist winds up giving you something far different than what he promised. \u00a0What you are forced to acquiesce to is a set of beliefs that are in fact hostile to what you believe. They become over time part of the unquestioned infrastructure of our public life, and thus make it more difficult for you and your dissenting compatriots to live consistently with what you believe about the nature of the good life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

>>>continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That\u2019s the title of my latest entry over at The Catholic Thing. \u00a0Here\u2019s how it begins: This is how it works. The political liberal, unable to win much support for the goodness of the activity he wants permitted, makes this suggestion to his adversaries: why don\u2019t we let each individual decide for himself whether or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,27,253,146],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-barack-obama","category-catholic","category-religious-liberty-2","category-the-catholic-thing"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Pluralist Game<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"That's the title of my latest entry over at The Catholic Thing. \u00a0Here's how it begins: This is how it works. The political liberal, unable to win much\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Pluralist Game\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"That's the title of my latest entry over at The Catholic Thing. \u00a0Here's how it begins: This is how it works. The political liberal, unable to win much\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Return to Rome\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-07-06T04:01:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-22T20:54:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/files\/2012\/07\/header_graphic-300x37.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Francis J. Beckwith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Francis J. Beckwith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/\",\"name\":\"The Pluralist Game\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-07-06T04:01:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-22T20:54:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/#\/schema\/person\/ea4cf1e3d64003e8376d3a7ac9e43bce\"},\"description\":\"That's the title of my latest entry over at The Catholic Thing. \u00a0Here's how it begins: This is how it works. The political liberal, unable to win much\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Pluralist Game\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/\",\"name\":\"Return to Rome\",\"description\":\"Francis J. Beckwith's Reflections on Faith, Ethics and Culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/#\/schema\/person\/ea4cf1e3d64003e8376d3a7ac9e43bce\",\"name\":\"Francis J. Beckwith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0c2b4e2611fc34908134be56ffecb130?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0c2b4e2611fc34908134be56ffecb130?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Francis J. Beckwith\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/author\/francisbeckwith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Pluralist Game","description":"That's the title of my latest entry over at The Catholic Thing. \u00a0Here's how it begins: This is how it works. The political liberal, unable to win much","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Pluralist Game","og_description":"That's the title of my latest entry over at The Catholic Thing. \u00a0Here's how it begins: This is how it works. The political liberal, unable to win much","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/","og_site_name":"Return to Rome","article_published_time":"2012-07-06T04:01:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-06-22T20:54:37+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/files\/2012\/07\/header_graphic-300x37.gif"}],"author":"Francis J. Beckwith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Francis J. Beckwith","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/","name":"The Pluralist Game","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-07-06T04:01:04+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-22T20:54:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/#\/schema\/person\/ea4cf1e3d64003e8376d3a7ac9e43bce"},"description":"That's the title of my latest entry over at The Catholic Thing. \u00a0Here's how it begins: This is how it works. The political liberal, unable to win much","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2012\/07\/the-pluralist-game\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Pluralist Game"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/","name":"Return to Rome","description":"Francis J. Beckwith's Reflections on Faith, Ethics and Culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/#\/schema\/person\/ea4cf1e3d64003e8376d3a7ac9e43bce","name":"Francis J. Beckwith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0c2b4e2611fc34908134be56ffecb130?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0c2b4e2611fc34908134be56ffecb130?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Francis J. Beckwith"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/author\/francisbeckwith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}