Will the Real Civil Society Advocates Please Stand Up?

Some critics have charged the Council on Civil Society with longing for a society that excludes entire categories of persons from membership, with being blind to "abuse and violence" within marriage, and being blasé about growing social and economic inequalities. This Article responds to these and other critiques from McClain and Fleming, Fineman, and Roberts by arguing that A Call to Civil Society clearly demonstrates not only a commitment to the morality and dignity of all human persons, but also a prohibition against any institution that promotes "invidious distinctions between men and women." The remainder of this Article argues that critics of A Call to Civil Society in this issue ironically espouse positions that further erode the democratic ideal of social pluralism and bear little relationship to the actual conditions contributing to the weakening of civil society in America.