The rise of secular intolerance
Kairos: Volume 20, Issue 05
Given the Victorian Parliament’s Review of the Exceptions and Exemptions to the Equal Opportunity Act (I have argued that existing provisions supporting religious freedom should be maintained – Kairos 8-21 February), a recent speech by Cardinal Pell is worthy of attention.
The speech, entitled “Varieties of intolerance: religious and secular”, delivered to the Oxford University Newman Society on 6 March, gives numerous examples of how religious freedom is being undermined by what Cardinal Pell describes as “secular intolerance”.
One example relates to what happened in California after the citizens in that state voted to amend the constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a women. Previously, the Californian Supreme Court had legalised same sex marriages. Instead of their right to free speech and political action being respected, those advocating the traditional definition of marriage, especially those arguing from a Christian viewpoint, were vilified, abused and, in some cases, physically threatened.
The second example of intolerance that Cardinal Pell refers to relates to the overreactions and sensitivity surrounding any criticism of Islam. Examples include the death sentence imposed on the author Salman Rushdie and the threats to ex-Muslims like Ayaan Hist Ali as a result of their criticisms of the more extreme forms of Islam.
Cardinal Pell makes several observations about secular intolerance. First, that those liberals advocating diversity and tolerance are often the first to close down debate when they disagree with what is being argued. Second, that in both the US and Australia, anti-discrimination laws are being reviewed and changed to remove or water down existing exemptions previously granted to the Church and other religious organisations on the basis of freedom of religion.
Cardinal Pell states: “Until relatively recently anti-discrimination laws usually included exemptions for Churches and other religious groups so that they could practice and manifest their beliefs in freedom. These exemptions are now being refused or defined in the narrowest possible terms in new anti-discrimination measures, and existing exemptions are being eroded or ‘strictly construed’ by the courts.”
Examples of winding-back exemptions based on religious belief include Victoria’s law to decriminalise abortion – a law that forces doctors and nurses to facilitate an abortion even if they have a conscientious objection to the procedure. Cardinal Pell’s speech also refers to the situation in Canada where civil celebrants, regardless of their beliefs, are being pressured to marry same-sex couples.
While not mentioned in the Cardinal’s speech, education is another area where secular intolerance is on the rise. Over the past 12 months several critics have sought to pressure governments to reduce funding to Catholic schools – under the mistaken belief that such schools are over funded, fail to promote social justice and lead to social instability.
Several submissions to Victoria’s review of the Equal Opportunity Act are based on the premise that religious schools must forsake the Church’s beliefs and teachings in areas such as employment and staffing. To such critics, religious convictions must give way to the secular agenda. Much of the school curriculum written by government agencies is secular in outlook – and Australia’s new national curriculum, when it is finally ready for implementation, will be compulsory for all schools as a condition of funding.
It is vital that Catholic schools continue to have the freedom to interpret curriculum in terms of the Church’s teachings and that subjects such as history recognise Christianity’s contribution to the rise of Western civilisation and Australia’s development as a nation.
What is to be done? One suggestion Cardinal Pell put forward was for Catholics to “recover their self-confidence and courage” and more forcefully to enter the public debate and argue in favour of religious freedom, on the basis that “having the freedom to search for answers to questions of meaning and value, and to live publicly and privately in accordance with our answers is an essential part of human fulfilment and happiness, and gives rise to other important freedoms, such as the rights to freedom of expression, thought and conscience”.
Catholic schools, committed as they are to an education based on integrating faith and life and promoting excellence and active citizenship, are well placed to give students the knowledge, understanding, skills and conviction to contribute to such a debate.
While the education agenda at the state and national levels centres on issues such as computer access, raising standards and holding schools and teachers accountable, the spiritual and moral elements of education must be recognised as equally vital.
Stephen Elder is Director of Catholic Education Melbourne.
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