Full disclosure: I am an unabashed fan of both the professors Tollefsen.
So I was very happy when the Pulp.It pointed me towards Chris Tollefsen’s stomping grounds. Where you can read a series of essays debating the morality of Live Action’s undercover Planned Parenthood sting, including Tollefsen’s latest response this morning.
…Sad to say, as one who’s carried signs outside the abortuaries since I was a teen in the 80s, I disagree with him rather vociferously.
What would he advise saying when Goebbel asks if there are Jews in the house? I hardly think he would turn over Anne Frank in the name of Love of the Truth. And I don’t see him taking that on, either.
John, I can see where you’re coming from. My own opinion is still being formed. I really like the effect the Live Action videos have had on pro-lifers. I think probably if anyone else had tried to argue that undercover work of that nature was immoral, I’d be leaning more in your direction.
But the Tollefsens are on my short list of people that if I disagree with them, it makes me think twice. In the hidden-Jews scenario, I would be utterly unsurprised to see Chris Tollefsen martyred. Normal man, and who can say what any of us would do in the moment. But that he would prefer that to lying? Yeah. Totally fits.
So I think he deserves a hearing.
I thought Tollefson’s article was fabulously unpersuasive. Not taking on the hard case on lying (the Anne Frank scenario) rendered the hairsplitting on Live Action facile.
Not that I have an opinion about the Live Action scenario. But I wonder, would things have been improved if Live Action, in order to avoid lying, simply hired a real pimp and prostitue to go to PP and get get the same results?
And finally: even if something is always a sin begs the question: is there is any alternative that is not a worse sin? The sin-wrecked world does not always present us with a sinless choice. No informed Catholic can be unaware that a sin of omission can be as serious as one of commission.
And I can’t see how Tollefson could martyr himself and save the hidden Jews. I think he could refuse to lie, be martyred, and lose them anyway; but it’s nobody’s business to turn other people’s cheeks. If you’re not prepared to lie for Anne Frank, you’d better not take her in.
<>. I thought it could have been written more strongly and more clearly. But I really like the guy, and I have sympathy for anyone who spends their time surrounded by philosophers. The professional hazards are not to be underestimated.
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Good point. If I recall correctly, Tollefsen calls into question all undercover-type operations. So he may be wrong, but if so, at the minimum he is consistent.
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I think this is a strong point with respect to the Anne Frank scenario. With respect to undercover operations (if indeed they turn out to be immoral — still up for debate in my opinion), I imagine that yes, there are other choices of tactics.
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Yeah. I think you’d want to choose your attic carefully. I’d be interested to hear what Tollefsen’s plan is for how he’d handle the Nazis. Smart guy, maybe he has an idea we don’t. But if I wanted a good liar, I’d choose you or JDM, definitely. :-).