We need to be realists because we cannot trust ourselves to be moralists.
That’s the slacktivist quoting Louis Menand summing up Reinhold Neibuhr’s theology. It puts me in mind of the folks who won’t get their kids immunized against HPV because they think it will be seen as “giving permission” for the kids to have sex. They’re arguing from a moralist position; their children will more than likely take a realist position towards having sex. That’s why I think parents should take a realist position on immunization.