By DONALD DeMARCO
The fall of Communism presaged, for many, a new era of democracy in which people themselves would choose how their government would operate. It was widely held that governmental leadership would be determined no longer from without but now from within.
In his encyclical Centesimus Annus (1991), however, John Paul II warned that in many cases “agnosticism and skeptical relativism are the philosophy and the basic attitude which correspond to democratic forms of political life.” He challenged those who saw democracy as a way of determining what truth is through the majority. The Holy Father warned that if “there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activity, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power.”
“A democracy without values,” he went on to say, “easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism.”
John Paul II warned of the emergence of a new form of tyranny more dangerous than its predecessors because it did not recognize itself as such. In expelling one evil, another evil can take its place. No society, therefore, can afford to ignore its own moral-cultural foundations.
These foundations include respect for the sanctity of life, freedom of speech and assembly, the right to a political voice and to political equality, access to health care, and freedom from unjust discrimination. These values are congruent with a Christian political philosophy. They are also congruent with a merely rational approach to the same subject. When Aristotle remarked that man is a social animal, he had much more in mind than merely alluding to the fact that man lives in a society. His celebrated phrase was meant to include that man, by nature, was inclined to participate actively in the life of the political community. In this way, democracy is clearly distinguished from totalitarianism.
The separation of Church from State is a noble principle. The Church as such, should not dictate policy to the State, nor should the State dictate policy to the Church. The State may select a philosopher to teach philosophy, but may not require him to teach a particular ideology since philosophy depends solely and exclusively on truth and the State cannot require him to substitute for his thought anything other than truth. At the same time, there should be no separation by either parties from reason. Both the Church and the State are guided by the light of reason. When reason fails, both are imperiled.
The current situation in Canada makes Centesimus Annus look prophetic. The liberal government of Canada has replaced philosophy with ideology, truth with fiction, and honesty with deceit. Its obvious intent is to establish the totalitarian State that John Paul feared. Central to the liberal mind is “a woman’s right to abortion.” This has been uttered repeatedly by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Despite attempts to inform him that there is no “Charter right” to abortion, he remains adamant.
Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s words, spoken in 1981, refer to a policy that has never been altered: “Because the public is evenly divided on the subject of abortion it was the government’s ‘considered view’ that a position favoring one side should not be enshrined in the Charter. The Government feels the issue is not one which should be defended by the Constitution.”
Here is an approach which believes that public opinion, but not truth, should determine policy. But since the Canadian public is allegedly evenly divided on the subject of abortion, no policy can be established. Therefore, there is no legal regulation of abortion and consequently no law to prevent women from seeking an abortion. But in Canada, there is no “right” to abortion.
The consequence of this fiction, that a woman has a “right” to abortion, leads the liberal government to the conclusion that anyone who defends all human life has set himself squarely against women’s rights. Therefore, pro-life people are seen as criminals of a sort and are to be excluded from certain areas of political participation. An egregious example of this is that anyone who does not support this fictitious “right” is subject to discrimination and/or penalty. Canada’s liberal government now requires small businesses and charities to attest to their support of abortion (as well as same-sex “marriage”) in order to qualify for summer student employment. The attestation is not only discriminatory but acts against social justice. The summer grants are intended to encourage students to assist people in their communities through non-political activity such as feeding the homeless and helping refugees.
An attempt to overturn the “attestation” was roundly defeated. One Liberal, Scott Simms, though he personally approves abortion, voted against it. As a result, he was punished by his party by being removed from his chairmanship of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. One member of the New Democratic Party, David Christopherson, who also voted against the attestation, was removed as vice chair of the Common’s Procedure and House Affairs Committee.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not allow anyone to be a part of the “liberal” government who does not support this fictitious “right” to abortion. To be a member of the Liberal Party is to surrender one’s moral conscience and shield one’s eyes from the light of reason.
The totalitarian movement in Canada continues to gather momentum. Freedom of speech and assembly have been greatly curtailed. It is now unlawful to pray or give counsel to women within a 50-meter bubble zone of an abortion site. Since pro-life people are presumed to oppose human rights, their defense of life is interpreted in growing circles as “hate speech.” In another instance of changing words to fit an ideology, euthanasia is now regarded as “medical treatment.”
Dialogue is out, since it involves two distinct sides. There is but one side, that which the liberal government endorses. The opposing side, especially on the issues of abortion, same-sex “marriage,” homosexuality, and transgenderism, is not tolerated. Philosophy, as the search for truth, therefore, is to be stamped out as an enemy of the State.
Pope John Paul II, in Centesimus Annus, expressed his concern about the possible dissolution of democracy. No doubt he did not foresee the spread of an undisguised form of totalitarianism that has quickly swept across once-Christian Canada.
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