
Morality and Politics
I had a fascinating phone call from a constituent of mine. The gentleman was calling to object to my vote concerning the Assisted Suicide bill which passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee this week (I voted no). The gentleman also objected to my comments wherein I stated that I had a right to assert my morality into the political question. Those comments were offered in rebuttal to comments made by the Author of the bill who suggested that we, the committee members, shouldn’t be interjecting our different moralities into the question of whether physicians should be allowed to prescribe life-ending drugs. To my constituent’s way of thinking, the author was right. I, on the other hand, completely disagree.
There has long been debate about whether a representative in a republican form of government should vote the way a majority of his constituents want, or whether that representative should vote his conscience. Most of the time there is no real problem because a representative is often elected precisely because they share the conscience and morality of the ones who elected him. However, in those instances when there is a divide, how should… Read More