The final strategy to fight Bill13: freedom of conscience

This is not an easy blog entry to write, but I feel in good conscience that I must. I fully support every person and group that is working hard on this eleventh hour to have the Liberals amend Bill 13. We don't know for sure whether Bill 13 will pass unchanged into law in Ontario. But we must be realistic that there's a strong possibility for it to happen. So, in the event that it becomes law my advice to parents who want to protect their children, defend the faith, the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and parental rights is this: we have the God given right to not follow the immoral sections of the proposed law. We can become, like Gandhi, conscientious objectors. Life, free will and conscience are gifts created and given to us by God. No human authority can legislate this out of existence.

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. I respectfully refuse to be bullied and my thinking to be controlled by people like Dan Savage, the organization he represents and politicians for political correctness.

Savage, who openly promotes the gay lifestyle, recently addressed the National High School Journalism Conference that took place in Seattle, Washington. I don't want to publicize his talk, but we need to see it in order to know what we are up against. In his talk, he shows no respect for the Bible, for the students present or for people of faith. This is the man that our premier has consulted in order to produce the Liberal Party's video promoting and defending the LGBT agenda. In the video, McGuinty uses the expression "It Gets Better", a phrase borrowed from Savage's "It's Gets Better Project". As a keynote speaker at the conference, Savage was there to protest against bullying, but his presentation proved among other things that he is in fact, the bully, as he uses profanity and ridicules Christianity and the students who disagree with him.  Please do watch the video and then decide for yourself if Ontarian's should be obeying a law like Bill 13 that defends and promotes the beliefs of individuals like Dan Savage. This video will also show you what school children in a neighbourhood like yours will face if Bill 13 becomes law.

I believe the time is now for people of faith to make a decision about Bill 13. When politicians will not listen to citizens, when trustees refuse to defend the faith, when Catholic leaders will not lead, 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 their consciences. Nobody can force us to believe what we consider to be immoral and unjust. 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 classroom today, this line of defence would be my final strategy to fight Bill 13.

People of faith didn't choose this ideological battle. The Liberal government, the trustees and school officials have deceptively pushed this issue on the public agenda while refusing to truly consult and implement the will of the people. So, if all other efforts fail and by the looks of it the Liberal government is adamant about passing Bill 13, we all have this last line of defense and that's to 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, the socially constructed gender theory and homosexuality. 

In the Vatican II document Gaudium Et Spes we find this useful guiding moral principle:  "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. 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."

I have shared my thoughts about our final strategy to combat Bill 13. Now it's for you to decide, should Bill 13 become law, as to what you're going to do. In conclusion, I suggest four things. First of all, pray for guidance and do work to build a culture of life in Canada. Secondly, do study what the Church teaches about this misguided new law and the moral consequences especially for the children attending Ontario schools. Thirdly, live the faith in your family and teach it to your children. Remember the great example given to us by Blessed John Paul II. He told us that his gift of faith was first formed in his family and later strengthened and deepened by his priesthood, his prayer life and his papacy. Fourthly, Catholic parents can make sure that schools adopt the Respecting Difference guidelines when it comes to "equity" and anti-bullying education.  Finally, we do need to listen to the "most secret core and sanctuary" of our faith and reason and after that follow with respect and love what one has discerned. Leave the rest in God's perfect hands.