Sacred Choices (Sacred Energies Series) [Paperback]

Daniel C. Maguire (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sacred Energies | Publication Date: January 3, 2001

Breaking the silence about choice

As the world teeters on the edge of overpopulation, this new addition to the Sacred Energies series aims to show how ten major religious traditions in fact contain strong affirmations of the right to family planning, including contraception and even, when necessary, abortion.

Maguire first shows how interrelated overpopulation is with poverty, ethnic injustice, gender injustice, and the maldistribution of economic resources. Often the world’s religions (most notoriously perhaps, Roman Catholicism) are thought to contribute only to the problem, rather than solutions, through their hostility to sex, education and equal rights for women, and birth control. In fact, argues Maguire, the ten scholars who consulted for several years about how these traditions treat issues of contraception and abortion find in them a true religious awe at the sacredness of life, a genuine openness to sexuality as a dimension of the sacred, and “alongside the ‘no choice’ position . . . a ‘pro-choice’ position that is too little known, even by adherents to the religion. That is the key message of this book.”

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Many have argued that the world's religions constitute the greatest obstacle to contraception and abortion, since most religions hold human life to be sacred. In Sacred Choices: The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions, ethics professor Daniel Maguire counters that "although many people believe that contraception is forbidden by their religion... the world's religions are open to family planning, including contraception and also abortion as a backup when necessary." He argues that many religions have selectively presented only the anti-contraception, anti-abortion threads of their tradition. However, he commits the same error by offering a highly selective reading of the same traditions in order to prove the opposite point.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Daniel C. Maguire is Professor of Ethics in the Theology Department of Marquette University. He is also President of the Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health and Ethics. Among his many books are Death by Choice (1974), The Moral Choice (1975), The Moral Revolution (1986), and The Moral Core of Judaism and Christianity (1993).

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Fortress Press (January 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800634330
• ISBN-13: 978-0800634339
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #682,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SACRED CHOICES, February 18, 2002

By 

Mary E. Hunt (Silver Spring, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sacred Choices (Sacred Energies Series) (Paperback)

Controversial issues in religion are not new, but creative, inclusive, honest ways of dealing with them are. Catholic ethicist Daniel C. Maguire, President of the Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health and Ethics, convened an international, interreligious team of scholars to look at birth control and abortion from a variety of faith-based starting points.
They concluded that in every case, even the most recalcitrant, there is evidence of competing views within each tradition. This volume is a highly readable summary of the findings. It is suitable for college classes, congregational study group and public policy discussions. Do your religious professional a favor and give this book as a gift.
The backdrop for this discussion is the complicated web of population and development issues that has been fanned by religious fervor. Policy makers who leave aside religious views do so at their peril. Worse, when they accept as true the word of those who purport to speak for a faith tradition without examining the practice and beliefs of the majority of its adherents, they miss a great deal and do a grave disservice.
Catholicism is a good example. While it would seem to be the airtight case against both contraceptives and birth control based on the Vatican's pronouncements, Dr. Maguire et al find that the tradition is far more nuanced. Theologians like Professor Christine Gudorf give good Catholic reasons to limit births. They see the teaching in a state of development not fixed, as the Vatican would have it. They take women's well being as a central ethical need, thus approve of abortion as a woman's right to choose.
Islam would seem to be another case where it would be hard to find women-friendly ethics. But Muslim Professor Riffat Hassan offers a feminist challenge to her faith. Indeed many Muslims consider first trimester abortion to be licit; many forms of birth control have long been a part of Islamic culture. Who knew? As these views come to the fore it will be harder and harder to pin anti-choice positions on religions.
Likewise, Chinese religions see these matters in quite open terms. The move toward universal harmony requires some limits on population. This worldview is very practical in claiming the need to put the common good before the desires of individuals. This is admittedly a position many in the West find problematic, but one that has its deep roots in an ancient and venerable culture.
There is no suggestion in this volume that one will agree with all of the positions expressed, nor even find them morally tolerable. Sex selection abortion, for example, is one difficult issue. But what Dr. Maguire, with his scholarly guides, does so brilliantly is make the data accessible, lift the shroud of stereotype, and let the reader decide for her/himself. This methodological point, as opposed to rigid positions as all there is, distinguishes this marvelous volume as one that will launch discussions in a useful direction.

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sacred Choices probes religions for rich insights, July 29, 2001

By 

Ed Mitchell ([e-mail]) (Winchester, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sacred Choices (Sacred Energies Series) (Paperback)

Who first told us "there are two sides to every story?" Maybe our mother, maybe life itself hammering into our heads that truth is never simple.

In recent years the conservative Right, condemning contraception and abortion, has dominated that ethical debate. Their appeal to ancient scriptures and traditions has largely carried the day.

Now comes theologian Daniel C. Maguire to tell us there is another side to the story. "Sacred Choices: the Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religion," sets forth that other side. Maguire explores what ten great world religions have long held about sexual matters involving life and death. This small paperback packs a lot of wisdom into its 160 pages. It is beautifully written, with personal insights and moving anecdotes. (He even shares with us the story of his young son's death from a rare disease.) Nor is this professor of ethics at Marquette University afraid to take on the Vatican or other powerful religious bureaucracies to get at the root of religious belief. In a beautiful aside, he refers to Gandhi as the most Christ-like person ever to have lived, a remarkable statement about a Hindu. Maguire draws on experts in each of the great religions to bolster his arguments. There is something here for Catholics, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, Jainists, Muslims, Chinese Religionists, Protestants, and Native Americans.

As the world struggles with issues of over-population, hunger, poverty and HIV/AIDS, "Sacred Choices" is a call to wake up from the dream of that "old time religion" and to appreciate our even older religious traditions. This book comes at a teachable moment, a time of grace.

As a former director of UNICEF, the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and other non-profit organizations, I am concerned with the health and ethical choices we face. Therefore it is a pleasure to recommend "Sacred Choices" to intelligent and open-minded readers.

29 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Punctured Preconceptions, May 15, 2002

By 

Rev. Stephen J. Mather (Coronado, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sacred Choices (Sacred Energies Series) (Paperback)

... Dan McGuire, drawing on a lifetime of study and research, in conjunction with scholars from other religions, finds that Christianity and other faith traditions have many strands of thought expressed over the centuries. The common thread is a passion for the givenness of our human life, and the sacred dimension of making critical decisions affecting reproduction. McGuire and the other writers survey the less well-known attitudes in the historic faiths and suggest that that univocal opposition to planned pregnancy is in sore need of review. He offers cogent, yet powerful reasons for doing more research. The book will be welcomed by all who want more open discussion, including Catholics for Free Choice who want freer dialogue in their religious communities about options for men and women regarding their fertility. ...