How Canadian Can You Be?

Some groups and people can be excoriated, verbally abused and threatened with no (social) consequences amongst the Canadian ruling elite. The Catholic Church and the Pope are particularly obvious examples.

So why would Catholics read the Toronto Star after this screed (free registration required)? It’s an interesting business decision. 43.2% of Canadians described themselves as Catholics in the 2001 Census. That’s down 2% from 1991, which might suggest a religion in decline.

So maybe Catholics are perceived to be fading away. Or maybe Catholics don’t read the Star. Or the ones that do agree that the Catholic Church shouldn’t try to impose Jesus’, uh, it’s teachings on people who like to call themselves Catholic in public. That one seems plausible.

There must be a powerful psychological effect in calling oneself Catholic. It was an issue even in the time of the Fathers of the Church. People want to call themselves and be called Catholic, they just want to be free of some of the baggage; Jesus-lite, if you will. Though, no doubt, they will insist that the Real Jesus agrees with them and the Church is just a power-hungry bunch of liars. No, they’re more Canadian than that, they’ll convey that same meaning in much nicer language. But I still don’t quite get why they still want to be Catholic after all that.

The idea that Paul Martin’s membership status in the Catholic Church should be a matter of public law is fascinating all by itself. Is the idea that any religious organization would presume the right to discipline any Canadian the problem? Are MP’s to be protected by Act of Parliament if their religious community of choice decides to discipline them for some reason? Or is it that the Prime Minister must be exempt from any public chastisement to protect the office from undue influence? Is anyone imagining the horror of Paul Martin’s suddenly conforming his policies and statements to Catholic Social and Moral Teachings? The Liberal’s world would come to an end.

Anyway, Lifesite News has a write-up and thanks to Domenico Bettinelli at Bettnet for the link.