Our nation is in great turmoil; and those who should provide us with moral leadership are either completely silent or dithering as they assess the political landscape in the hope of making most of any crisis for partisan gains. They are not public servants; rather, they act or fail to act, in the interests of their own political advancement and their hold on power.
Our country is unrecognizable; and although the pace of change has accelerated in this digital age, we are now reaping the rotten fruits of relativism, a philosophy or world view that rejects absolute truths, most especially moral truths. Relativism may be defined as the doctrine that knowledge, truth and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute. This philosophy has become a feature, perhaps the defining feature of life in Canada, a country that was infamously described as a post-national state. As a result, because ideas have consequences, it is not uncommon to hear it said that we have no core national identity and Canada is now the world’s biggest hotel.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: Every society’s judgments and conduct reflects a vision of man and his destiny. Without the light the Gospel sheds on God and man, societies easily become totalitarian (2275). A clear understanding of the nature of the human person is essential not only to the establishment of a healthy society but also to the maintaining of such a society. The belief that the human person is created in the image and likeness of God is a Judeo-Christian belief; first enunciated and proclaimed in the Old Covenant, it is fully revealed in the New Covenant with the Redemptive Incarnation of the Word of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Human beings are created for communion with this Triune God and this conviction is at the heart of the Church’s missionary efforts and the life of the Church always and everywhere.
We may ponder the example offered by Saint Augustine of Canterbury (+604; memorial, May 27th), the Italian Benedictine monk who in the year 597 was sent from St. Andrew’s monastery in Rome by Pope Gregory the Great to preach the Gospel in England. A letter to St. Augustine written by St. Gregory summarizes the effect of evangelization on the recipients of the message of the Gospel: Who, dear brother, is capable of describing the great joy of believers when they have learned what the grace of almighty God and your own cooperation achieved among the Angles? They abandoned the errors of darkness and were bathed in the light of the holy faith. With full awareness they trampled on the idols which they had previously adored with savage fear. The same may be said of the Jesuit missionaries who brought the Gospel message to our own nation and every other people that has received the light of the truth throughout the ages. Everywhere the Gospel is authentically preached and in turn received life is acknowledged to be sacred; and where it existed, human sacrifice, the worst of the errors of darkness, is brought to an end. For this reason, we speak of the Gospel of life and a culture of life as opposed to a culture of death. As a former British colony, Canada is heir to the labours of St. Augustine of Canterbury and the Catholic vision of man and his destiny, of a specific anthropology and teleology.
Generally speaking, philosophies and religions necessarily entail a particular understanding of what it means to be a human being. In a multicultural setting such as Canada has become, it is to be expected that there are a variety of anthropologies at play and in the absence of clear definitions and expectations, it is not surprising that conflicts arise. These conflicts however, are not inevitable, provided we embrace a definitive and distinctly Canadian understanding of the nature of the human person. Such a vision is needed perhaps more than ever because we seem to be plagued by a willful misunderstanding of human nature.
A classical understanding of the human person asserts that the human person is a unity of body and soul, that the human person is endowed with freedom, and dignity by virtue of his very nature. These are inalienable rights. Setting aside the fact that the question of personhood is conveniently ignored by a government maniacally obsessed with abortion, at least as it concerns living Canadians it is essential to define certain terms in as much as our misunderstanding of these terms results in social chaos and violence. A society that refuses to recognize certain truths and values as moral absolutes condemns itself to what Pope Benedict XVI rightly defined as the dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists of satisfying the desires of one’s own ego. In such a society there is perpetual conflict; and the lust of domination is given free rein. In such a cultural context, those with the loudest voices or who are best at intimidation win the day. The state for its part is not above this fray; and some would contend that it foments it so as to achieve ultimate and total dominance.
Contemporary culture has declared war on the traditional categories of knowledge, truth and morality specifically in its refusal to define clearly and unambiguously terms that are essential to both personal and societal integrity. By rejecting and relativizing these foundational concepts, the most impressionable are victimized by confusion and chaos. Tragically, this confusion results in mental, moral and physical harm that in many cases is permanent and irreparable. The actions taken by an increasingly totalitarian government proscribe and criminalise the efforts of those who oppose this woke madness.
As a result, one of relativism’s rotten fruits is cultural relativism. The denial of a historical national identity coupled with the demonization of the foundational principles underpinning our society and the ‘sin’ of colonialism has resulted in the attitude that all cultures are equal and that any judgment made especially in regard to the attitudes and mores of minority groups or what the current government refers to as racialized Canadians is ipso facto unacceptable if not also worthy of censure. Charges of white supremacy, cultural imperialism and even racism are routinely made even when racism is not the issue, as in the case of supremacist cults whose stated goals are world domination and the oppression of those who do not share their creed or worldview. What is most astonishing and galling are the appeals made to minority rights by the adherents of these movements in the face of violations of said rights if not their outright denial in their countries of origin.
Institutionalised misogyny, inequality, slavery and intolerance of other classes and races of people are core principles of certain cultural groups; yet they claim victim status in our country and because of cultural relativism, no criticism constructive as it may be, is permitted. The exploitation of young girls in host countries and the forcible conversion and rape of young women in their countries of origin are seldom spoken of for fear of being accused of racism and the number of victims increases. Evidently, not all cultures are equal; and the failure to uphold and defend our own cultural norms in the face of barbaric practices such as sex-selective abortions, common among certain societies weakens the social and moral fabric of our nation.
Perhaps the most insidious form of relativism is moral relativism with its denial of moral absolutes and the refusal to condemn certain acts or actions as absolutely and unequivocally immoral and therefore worthy of condemnation. This is most patently evident when it comes to abortion, the deliberate ending of a pre-born human life. It is reprehensible and a clear indication of the ascendancy of the culture of death when unlimited and unfettered availability of abortion is celebrated as a good to be shared with anyone who might not enjoy such access in other countries. This is to say nothing of the way in which assisted suicide or to use a euphemism, medical assistance in dying is also promoted as a good to be embraced and increasingly forcibly imposed on the vulnerable.
Where is the moral outrage? It may be that the unfettered pursuit of satisfying the desires of one’s own ego has rendered us not only indifferent to the violations of the moral law but also incapable of recognising the forces of evil at work within and without us. An intellect formed to reject moral absolutes or absolutes of any kind is a darkened intellect doomed to the chaos and tyranny of lust, a lust that encompasses every possible vice.
If ever there were a time when the Church in fidelity to our Judeo-Christian foundations should boldly proclaim the truth about moral absolutes, the time is now. These words of exhortation from the Apostle Paul should be heeded as a command, especially by those legally and canonically entrusted with the defence and promotion of truth.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry (2 Tim. 4:1-5).
A more apt description of the moral state of things can hardly be found. The discordant voices of teachers have created a dangerous cacophony that has caused more than a few to wander into the darkness of myths and confusion and despair. Cancel culture has facilitated this demise because it has succeeded in silencing the truth and even criminalising the mere utterance of truth, be it moral truth, scientific truth or historical truth. As with all dictatorships, the dictatorship of relativism strives to be totalitarian in its scope.
The Catholic understanding of the human person as a unity of body and soul, possessing the faculties of intellect, memory and will must once again be the foundation of our educational endeavours at every level and no less in the ongoing formation that constitutes the Sunday or weekday homily. Our Lord tells us that the disciple who is fully taught will be like his teacher (Lk. 6:40). Our individual and corporate conformity to the truth of Christ is the transformative effort that creates just men and just societies that reflect the truth, goodness and beauty of Kingdom of God. Although most formerly avowedly Christian nations like our own have at face value repudiated their foundational theological and anthropological principles if not formally but most certainly in practice, there are still many traces of this ethos in our collective consciousness. It is for us to rekindle and renew this latent knowledge; latent because it is constitutive of the rational human soul. The truth that grace affirms and perfects is radiant and for this reason, even in our weakened state, there is no dearth of peoples who nevertheless seek entry into nations like our own that are at best nominally Christian.
As a matter of survival, it is imperative that every effort be made by faithful disciples of Christ to become fully taught in the truth of Sacred Scripture, and in the reliability and stability of Tradition. There are definite and undeniably different consequences to one’s adherence to either truth or falsehood. The former results in order, the latter in chaos. A darkened intellect and a weakened will are no match against the purveyors of myths who couple their efforts with brute force – caveat lector, let the reader understand.
Humility, docility and steadfastness are required to engage and defeat the chaotic forces working to undermine our nation and return it to the errors of darkness. In the Apocalypse, the Beloved Disciple exhorts us: Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (14:12).
The holy season of Lent provides us with the spiritual arms of fasting, prayer and almsgiving so that we may be more fully taught and strengthened in our struggle against the forces of evil. The truth of God revealed in nature and in divine revelation is not a relative truth. Every Christian age, to a greater or lesser degree, has had to engage in the cosmic battle between Truth and falsehood. This cosmic battle is also fought in the heart of every person. Christ offers us freedom, victory and the fullness of life. The antichrist whose spirit is always false and deceptive may appear to offer us freedom but in reality it is bondage to lies and ultimately, destruction. The struggle is an existential struggle that does not allow for compromise. Our infidelity and refusal to recognise, to affirm, to defend and above all, to love the truth of God has had horrible consequences and the victims are legion. Perhaps the most dire and fatal fruit of moral relativism is a strong delusion [that makes us] believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thess. 2:11-12). These harrowing words, written in view of the manifestation of the antichrist, the lawless one, are worthy of our prayerful reflection and consideration. With the help of God’s grace, may we once again seek, embrace and love the truth because it alone can set us free to God’s greater glory and the good and salvation of all.