Hope for common ground : mediating the personal and the political in a divided church /

In a time of vitriolic political discourse, Rubio's carefully articulated call for common ground in four particularly divisive ethical controversies--those surrounding marriage/family, poverty, abortion, and euthanasia--is refreshing. Though honoring the separation of church and state, Rubio (Christian ethics, St. Louis University) draws on her deep commitment to Roman Catholic social teaching in looking at pluralistic ethical perspectives. She attempts to find a "third space": localized strategies for social change that stand between--but do not abandon--the political and the personal. Rubio argues that community initiatives ought to be prioritized, but political, large-scale solutions must also be taken into consideration. In making a case for taking personal responsibility, she grounds her discussion in compelling arguments to avoid complicity in structural evil--which, she believes, activists on both the Left and the Right already readily grasp. Rubio's "hope is that finding a common way to think about cooperation with evil will enable people of different perspectives to act together in the space between the personal and political." But one wonders whether longstanding ideological adversaries such as pro-life and pro-choice activists can really come together to find common ground. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Peter K. Steinfeld, Buena Vista University