Clearly a man whose God calls for him to overthrow the American system of government would disqualify himself for public office immediately, as would a theocrat for whom clerical edicts would trump federal and state laws. The problem with Mr. Ashcroft . Of course, if Mr. Ashcroft's political convictions on, say, abortion were the same as those who now fault him, his critics would applaud his belief as an incitement to virtue. But he holds views contrary to their own. Pro-choice means the government does not decree what should be done.
Jewish law mandates abortion in certain cases, like saving the life of the mother.
The precise application of this depends on the particulars of the case. Outlawing abortion would prevent rabbis from fulfilling their function as interpreters of Jewish law. Ms. Lipstadt seemed to imply that on the abortion issue, Lieberman had to take his signals from his rabbi. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the Publisher.