| Colby Cosh has just published a new column on the fact that religious tensions now seem to become more important in Canada than linguistic tensions. Here is the key part: | Colby Cosh vient de publier une nouvelle chronique sur le fait que les tensions religieuses semblent devenir plus importantes que les tensions linguistiques au Canada. Voici la partie-clé: |
But how long can that last? An overweening political power such as we have created is a breeding ground for religious division and acrimony. Large-L Liberalism can plead for Canadians to live and let live, but can it expect to be heeded if it won't do so itself? The problem of reconciling different religious and irreligious philosophies is serious enough for a minimalist, laissez-faire state, whose diplomats must still be guided by some mental picture of the desirable civilization, and whose soldiers must be taught and led according to some common notion of honour. In an expansive welfare state, the matter becomes impossible. Somebody's values must be inculcated, if we insist on having a unitary, common system of public schools.Somebody's notions will have to rein in the public university. Somebody's opinions will have to be espoused by the public broadcaster. Even value-neutral environmental regulation and health care are untenable fictions in the long run.
The more you regulate men's lives and indoctrinate them, the more violently each religious group (or mere philosophical bent) will seek to have its own principles reflected in the regulation and indoctrination. This is not only the ultimate moral pretext for smaller government, it is the reason activist governments ultimately tend toward secular totalitarianism.