We have lost the battle for Bill 13, but not the war

Legislative Assembly of Queen's Park

This has been a very difficult blog entry to write, but I feel in good conscience that I needed to do it. We have tried to fully support in many different ways every person and group that's worked hard to have the Liberals amend Bill 13. Sadly, we have not succeeded.  Bill 13 passed today unchanged by 65 votes in favor, and 36 against. But we must be realistic and admit that we knew there was a possibility that this would happen. So, now what should parents do in order to protect their children, defend the faith, the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and parental rights? We must keep in mind that we have the God given right not to follow the immoral and unjust sections of any law. We can become, like Gandhi and other people of faith, conscientious objectors. Life, free will and conscience are gifts created and given to us by God not the province. No human authority can legislate this out of existence. So, don't get discouraged because we are people of hope.

The suggestion to disobey may sound drastic to those of us who are used to respecting and obeying the law. However, when the premier of this province begins to take advice and aligns himself with gay activists while refusing to listen to the majority of the population, I believe the time has come to express our freedom of conscience. Nobody, no government, no school, no church and no law can take our God given right of freedom of thought and the liberty to live our faith. We should respectfully refuse to be bullied and let our thinking be controlled by people who wish to normalize the LGBT agenda (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered) and by politicians who worship political correctness.

The writers of Bill 13 showed little respect for the Bible, other cultural communities and those whose beliefs conflict with the legislation. As you may know, our premier and his party consulted the gay activists and Egale Canada, Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere, in drafting the legislation. On the Liberal website there's a video where McGuinty uses the expression "It Gets Better", a phrase borrowed from the American "It's Gets Better Project" to encourage those with a LGBT lifestyle. Why did McGuinty not truly consult and follow the wishes of the majority of parents? Why didn't the Liberals send this issue to a referendum, if they were so sure people of Ontario want Bill 13?

No Ontarian should be forced to obey a politically correct law like Bill 13.  People of faith and other beliefs now need to make a decision as to how they will respond to Bill 13. When politicians refuse to listen to citizens, when trustees turn away from defending the faith, when Catholic leaders will not lead until the eleventh hour, when the mainstream media will not fairly cover the issue, and when all else fails, then faithful parents and others must resort to the freedom to follow one's conscience and become a conscientious objector.

Nobody, especially a secular government, can force us to believe what we consider to be an immoral and unjust law. If the state tries to force the citizenry to believe in something through a law they do not accept, then the state becomes the bully and the tyrant. If a law is unjust, the faithful must decline to participate. And if I were still teaching in a Catholic classroom today, along with making sure the Liberals are soundly defeated in the next election, I would be a conscientious objector in order to fight Bill 13.

People of faith didn't choose this ideological war to promote the dictatorship of relativism everywhere. The Liberal government, the trustees and school officials have deceptively pushed this ethical blindness on the public agenda while refusing to truly consult and implement the will of the people. So, our other efforts have failed, but we all have this powerful last line of defence: We can refuse to follow this proposed immoral law. We can choose not to accept what our conscience tells us is wrong. I will defend the right of those who disagree with me to have the right to do so, but I will not give up my right to my freedom of conscience. I will gladly pray for my enemies, but I will not cease to say that I do not side with them on such issues as same-sex marriage, gay clubs in our schools, abortion, prostitution, pornography, legalized euthanasia, assisted-suicide and the socially constructed gender theory.

In the Vatican II document Gaudium Et Spes we find this useful guiding moral principle of conscience:  "In the depths of his conscience, man detects a law which he does not impose upon himself, but which holds him to obedience. Always summoning him to love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience when necessary speaks to his heart: do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law written by God; to obey it is the very dignity of man; according to it he will be judged. Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a man."

The document goes on to say, “There he is alone with God, Whose voice echoes in his depths. In a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is fulfilled by love of God and neighbor. In fidelity to conscience, Christians are joined with the rest of men in the search for truth, and for the genuine solution to the numerous problems that arise in the life of individuals from social relationships. Hence the more right conscience holds sway, the more persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and strive to be guided by the objective norms of morality."

Finally, let's try to fight any law that discriminates against and violates our denominational rights in the courts. We have already seem that in the United States a number of law suits have been launched by Catholic organizations and universities against Obama’s new proposed health care plan. The reason: It mandates that all employers must provide insurance coverage for contraceptives, abortion and sterilizations for their employees. In Canada, we are reluctant to go to the courts. However, if the government of the day passes legislation, like Bill 13, that makes religious belief unlawful, then the time has come for people of faith to try to use the courts to fight back for our right not only for freedom of worship, but for the freedom to be part of the public square and help to build the Common Good. We cannot and must not, God willing, let 2,000 years of faith be undone by a mere 65 votes.

In Canada, you may make a contribution to The Parental Rights in Education Defence Fund to help the association use the courts to protect parental rights in Ontario schools. The outcome of this spiritual/cultural war on religious freedom and freedom of conscience will determine the future shape of Canadian society and the rest of most of the Western world. So, let's put all out trust in God, but at the same time, we must do whatever we can to protect our children by defending our right to religious freedom and to true denominational diversity.