Reminding Caesar of God’s Existence

A very un-Manhattan-like declaration.
December 1, 2009

Right before Thankgiving, a group of Christians held a press conference in Washington announcing that “because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family.”

Their Manhattan Declaration concluded: “We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.”

One of the declaration’s co-authors, Princeton professor Robert P. George, talked to National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez over the holiday about the statement and the future.

Interview