The Passing Of The Word “God”

• 9 years ago

By DONALD DeMARCO

The Word of God will never pass away. But the word “God” continues to pass into oblivion. In some quarters the word is said to be discriminatory and offensive. Therefore, it must be removed. Atheists can be very touchy these days.

Take the case of Alain Simoneau of Saguenay, Quebec. This nonbeliever was obliged to endure a prayer that opened a city council meeting that included, but once, the word “God.” In the prayer, God was called upon to “Guide us in our deliberations as City Council members and help us to be aware of our duties and responsibilities.” This was too much for Monsieur Simoneau to bear. He filed a lawsuit claiming that the prayer made him a victim of discrimination.

A Quebec court held that interference with Simoneau’s freedom, if any, was trivial or insubstantial. The Canadian Supreme Court, however, is more finely tuned to discriminatory actions. In April 2015, Canada’s highest court ruled that the adoption of the prayer by city bylaw discriminated against the applicant, an atheist. It awarded the plaintiff $30,000 in damages from a Quebec human rights tribunal.

It also ruled that a two-minute period of silence following the prayer designed to allow non-adherents to enter the chamber without being exposed to the invocation was also illegal. In so ruling, the court appears to be moving away from the preamble to the Charter of Rights which asserts that Canada was founded on the principle of the supremacy of God.

Many would find it difficult to believe that it required $30,000 to counterbalance the damage Simoneau suffered in hearing the word “God.” It may have been more painful for other members of city council to be forced to abandon a benign prayer that had an honored tradition.

The previous ruling of the Quebec Court of Appeals decided in favor of “benevolent neutrality,” meaning that a pluralism of beliefs could be expressed side-by-side without any one belief being held as more important than any other. This would call for a benevolent tolerance. The Supreme Court’s understanding of “neutrality” differed, forbidding the expression of any preference altogether. In this way, the court ruled in favor of a “naked” public square devoid of the expression of any religious belief.

This strict neutrality cuts against inclinations that are both societal as well as human. There is no tendency in any human being or in any society’s culture that is directed toward neutrality. At the same time, the court’s decision is not a victory for neutrality but one that capitulates to the nonbeliever.

Neutrality, then, is neither an ideal nor even something that is attainable. Moreover, it discourages a benevolent tolerance in matters that are essentially nondiscriminatory. It is interesting to note that when certain minorities that once demanded tolerance come into power, they often become intolerant of the views of others. As Pope Benedict XVI remarked in his book, Light of the World: The Pope, The Church and The Signs of the Times, “In the name of tolerance, tolerance is being abolished.”

Canada’s trend toward neutrality is well established. In 2001 Prime Minister Jean Chrétien banned all prayer from the 9/11 memorial on Parliament Hill. He later referred to his action as being the best decision of his political career. The late Fr. Richard Neuhaus, a Canadian by birth, wrote in his popular column, “The Public Square” (First Things, September 29, 2007): “It is true to say that in most aspects of life [in Canada] Christianity has been not only disestablished but also banished.”

“Don’t ever take a fence down,” warned G.K. Chesterton, “until you know the reason it was put up.” Canada, the country founded on the principle of the supremacy of God, is dismantling itself in the interest of achieving an impossible neutrality. The passing of the word “God” is an initial step in the futile attempt of erasing the Word of God.

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(Dr. Donald DeMarco is a senior fellow of Human Life International. He is professor emeritus at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario, an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College in Cromwell, Conn., and a regular columnist for St. Austin Review. His latest work, How to Remain Sane in a World That Is Going Mad, is available through Amazon.com. Some of his recent writings may be found at Human Life International’s Truth and Charity Forum.)