When J.D. Vance sat down with Joe Rogan for a three-hour interview, the subject of abortion came up.
Rogan expressed concern about the different state laws on abortion, saying the issue “is essentially based on a religious idea.” He brought up religion again when discussing the Justices who overturned Roe v. Wade.
Abortion is fundamentally an issue of biology, not religion. To be sure, many religious organizations have teachings on this subject. They also have teachings on what constitutes a proper diet. But that doesn’t make dietary issues inherently religious. The heart of the abortion issue is when life begins. That is not a uniquely religious issue. Indeed, it is primarily a scientific one.
Biology 101 teaches that the DNA that makes us unique individuals is present at conception, and not a moment later. That’s when life begins. Rogan can disbelieve it, but he cannot disprove the scientific evidence.
Commenting on overturning Roe v. Wade, Rogan said, “you have these religious men who are trying to dictate what women can or cannot do with their bodies.” Before commenting on this remark, it is true that of the six Supreme Court Justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, all are Christian; five are Catholic and one is Protestant (one of the Catholics is a woman, and one of the dissenting Justices is also a Catholic woman).
What Rogan said would be disturbing—indeed it would be bigoted—if it were clear that what he said was his opinion. But the transcript suggests otherwise.
Rogan was discussing the decision to overturn Roe when he said, “the zeitgeist is that abortion had always been you know Roe v. Wade has always been the law of the land and then all of a sudden that was taken away and you have these religious men who are trying to dictate what women can and can’t do with their bodies.”
It is obvious to any fair-minded person that Rogan was simply noting what was commonly understood at the time—he did not commit himself one way or the other as to whether he shared this view. This is important because left-wing media outlets such as The New Republic made it appear that these were his views. In short, they took his comment out of context, thus turning what was a sociological observation into his personal opinion.
Still, it would have been helpful if Rogan challenged the view that “these religious men” were shoving their religion down everyone’s throat.
Not too long ago, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan served on the Supreme Court. All are Jewish. They often took a secular view on cultural issues. Were they imposing their secular ideological preferences on the rest of us? Or were they simply making decisions based on their interpretation of the law?
Ginsburg, in fact, said Roe was wrongly decided. She was personally in favor of legalized abortion, but she said it should never have been decided by the courts—it was an issue for the legislature. This is exactly what the “religious” Justices decided.
The Constitution prohibits a religious test for public office. Unfortunately, too many Americans seem to have a problem with that, especially when Catholics are overrepresented.
It is important to note that the way The New Republic framed Rogan’s comment is remarkably similar to the way Kamala Harris’ website framed it—making it appear that he personally objects to “these religious men” dictating to women.
This is not a gaffe. They know exactly what they are doing.
