Dr. Chad Pecknold received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 2005, and since 2008 he has been a professor of historical & systematic theology in the School of Theology at the Catholic University of America. Author of several books on the relevance of the thought of St. Augustine to modern philosophical and theological reasoning, he is also a frequent contributor to debates in the public square. He writes a weekly column as the U.S. contributing editor to The Catholic Herald, and also writes regularly for other publications, such as First Things, Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and National Review. Dr. Pecknold is also the President of the Academy of Catholic Theology.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson, you opened your speech at a pro-life march with the phrase Carthago Delenda est (“Carthage must be destroyed”). The truth is that, despite the ruling, Carthage’s supporters have passed very radical abortion laws in several Democrat-governed states.
For those of us who seek to defend the unborn, this is a partial victory, because the ruling determines that abortion is not a right, but what it does not make is the positive point, namely that life must be protected by law. Some American commentators, pro-life but somewhat liberal, have said that this is a victory for democracy because it returns the power of decision to the states. In my opinion, giving back to the states the decision whether you can kill your baby or not is not really a victory for democracy.
Each state can decide whether it wants to be Rome or Carthage.
Exactly. And it doesn’t solve the fundamental evil, because the Supreme Court has had a long habit of avoiding legislating on morality. If we want to destroy Carthage—which sacrificed its own children—if America wants child sacrifice to stop, then the next big goal is a positive declaration that every human being should be protected under federal law. As you said, with the current situation, you can find 30 states where there is no abortion and 20 where abortion is allowed up to birth, and that is still Carthage. The great hope for the world and for the United States will come when the Supreme Court, with a future Republican president and Congress, says “enough is enough.” If we remain Carthage, we will fall.
Has the number of abortions changed after this ruling?
Yes, the number of abortions has gone down, but not as much as we would like. If a million children die in abortion clinics, should we celebrate when only 750,000 die, or when we go from half a million to 300,000? Nevertheless, abortions have been reduced and every human life saved should be celebrated. In Texas alone, we are talking about 10,000 lives saved. How many towns have 10,000 people? That is to be celebrated. However, there are hundreds of thousands killed every year, and that is Carthage.
What power does the abortion industry have in the United States?
The abortion industry is massively powerful because it is a religious issue for the liberal ethos. The Enlightenment gave rise to the liberal order that we have now, which places great importance on the individual and the power of decision. Liberal constitutionalism focuses on the sovereignty of the self, not the sovereignty of the country, and this has religious and political significance. One has the power to decide everything that happens in one’s body: “my body, my decision”—my decision to kill, and no one can tell me otherwise. It is a political demand, but at the same time it is also religious: abortion functions as a sacrament, because even if you are a woman who has never had an abortion, and if you are a liberal, you are committed to the idea that others should be able to do it. It has a religious character, and you have to defend it at all costs. There are women who are childless who brag about their abortions as a good thing. The old liberals spoke of abortion as a necessary evil, but today’s religious liberals see it as a sacrament to be defended. For them, abortion is not only a political battle, it is also a religious one, and therefore no rational discussion is possible. They are deeply attached to this belief in abortion; they love it and shout it from the rooftops. It is a new civic religion that does not have many supporters, but its followers are extremely powerful.
So they are a minority that controls the mainstream media.
Yes, but those who define themselves as unaffiliated, agnostic, atheist, or woke are a minority compared to the 80% of Americans who declare themselves Christians. Moreover, Christians have a much higher birth rate than atheists, who hardly reproduce at all, and that is why this minority needs power and a religious method that aims to destroy Christianity. That is why they attack a country like Hungary, because Hungary dares to remember its Christian past, and they react violently against the pillars of Western civilisation: Greek philosophy, Roman law, the rule of law, order, and the Christian religion. This agnostic, atheistic, woke minority religion is challenging all these pillars. It is a civilisational conflict, where this powerful religious and political minority is challenging the ideals of a much older civilisation. So the most important thing we can do is to wrest civic and market power from that minority.
Planned Parenthood, the multinational abortion provider, has been implicated in numerous scandals, and yet it seems to enjoy unlimited immunity.
Yes, Planned Parenthood is an international organisation closely linked to the world of George Soros, the world of Davos, a world in which a very small liberal oligarchy runs our lives from the top down. It is ironic that they continually defend something called democracy, when they have no interest in any majority they cannot manipulate. When a majority resists their manipulation, it is pronounced undemocratic. That is why Hungary can never be democratic, no right-wing party can be democratic, Meloni cannot be democratic, VOX cannot be democratic, and so on. If people vote the ‘wrong’ way, they cannot be democratic. Regarding Planned Parenthood, like other international organisations and social networks, it seems to be accountable to no one. There is no democratic accountability for Planned Parenthood. That is why countries that want to defend their sovereignty should keep these organisations out. I think more and more people realise that if they don’t fight, they will lose their country, and that they have to keep liberalism at bay through laws and political decisions. You have to say “no” to Planned Parenthood, and I know this is difficult because this organisation has a religious mission.
As you also say, in order not to lose your country, you cannot compromise on your core values.
That’s right. You give them an inch and they will take a mile. You can’t give them anything; you can’t compromise with them. For example, with the Catholics they want women priests, then women bishops, then a woman pope; not only do they want gay marriage, they want the celebration of sodomy. They want to tear it all down, and they will never be satisfied until they get it. That’s why dialogue and compromise are stupid: because they are the enemy. We have forgotten that enemies exist, and that, on a civilisational level, Christianity is a political concept. Being a Christian is certainly a personal matter, but it also matters for the ‘we.’ And for that reason, it also faces political threats. Christians must be politically realistic and assess the threats against their faith, because it is not only a threat against their personal faith, it is a threat against the faith of their children and the faith of their neighbours, and against the way of life of their communities. I tell my students that the development of a Catholic political realism is deeply rooted in the truths of the faith, and it is important for our souls and our salvation, but it also takes seriously the defence of Christianity as a vision of social and political order.
Democracies have to make decisions about how we want to live in the future, and I don’t see how a reasonable person can look at Hollywood actors making their children trans and say: “We want to go down that way; that’s our future.” It’s irrational; it’s bad religion. I think countries have to choose good religion over bad religion, because what they can’t do is be neutral about religion. The mask of the liberal myth of neutrality has fallen and we have to choose a way, a true way, for the future of our people.
