Recently the great Catholic scholar George Weigel spoke at Georgetown University, and as the lecture wound down, there was a moment of solemn acknowledgment that the culture war is probably lost. Mr. Weigel, whose talk was based on the life of John Courtney Murray, noted that those who disagree with him and those on his side have no interest in a genuine argument.
As Mr. Weigel put it: "Disagreement is not the beginning of argument, agreement is." In order to have a constructive debate about America, democracy, and our public life, we must agree on certain things. You don't debate the style of a house you're building without agreeing on the foundation. You don't construct the best fantasy football team without statistics.
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