Excerpt from a debate

The presidential elections in the USA are very interesting to follow; this year is no exception: the two political models are so different and yet both have seemingly equal chances of winning. In this context, presidential debates are extremely useful to contrast both positions and to create (or reinforce) one's opinion. There is also a vice-presidential debate, which seems to have less influence (on polls, on overall media attention) than the presidential debates. Still (or perhaps precisely because of the assumed "irrelevance"), vice-presidential candidates can discuss somewhat more concretely the policies their presidential candidates defend.

Contrasts between Obama and Romney are profound and on almost every subject. I found particularly insightful the sharp contrast on religion and abortion, as discussed by Biden and Ryan in the vice-presidential debate. They were asked to elaborate on the role that their religion had played in their own personal views on abortion. (You may like to read the entire transcript of the debate, for further context.) Biden's answer was:

My religion defines who I am. And I've been a practicing Catholic my whole life. And it has particularly informed my social doctrine. Catholic social doctrine talks about taking care of those who — who can't take care of themselves, people who need help. 

With regard to — with regard to abortion, I accept my church's position on abortion as a — what we call de fide (doctrine ?). Life begins at conception. That's the church's judgment. I accept it in my personal life. 

But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews and — I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the congressman.

The central issue is, as I see it, whether one assumes that one's creed should be imposed to everyone else---the distinction between the private and the public life. A liberal view assumes and respects differences, which means that no one is entitled to impose his/her personal positions (such as religious ones) to others. A conservative view seems to disregard the distinction between private and public life, in the sense that a someone who does not impose his own creed/position to others is seen to profess a only a weak faith---in this sense, from the conservative standpoint, Biden would be merely a mediocre Catholic.