Speaking of defending civil liberty, the Parti Québécois has introduced a spin on the Canadian Charter of Rights and is referring to it as the Quebec Charter of Values. It most certainly is not a set of values ascribed to Quebec. It’s a set of values attributed to the Parti Québécois. It is a racist document that violates civil liberty and the foundation of the French Revolution itself. Racism is not a value. Banning religious freedom is not a value. It is slavery and oppression.
Ironically, Stephen Harper’s government claims it’s illegal. It is but they are the last people on earth to point that out. They threw away the Charter of Rights themselves when they passed bill S-7 the “Anti Terror” bill. That too was illegal. The motto of the French Revolution was Liberté, égalité, fraternité. The exact opposite of the PQ’s Charter of Racism.
There are many assumptions about the French Revolution claiming it was something for the good of mankind or that it was a needed break with the past or that it just went too far or that it was usurped, etc. However, these are really naive recitations from others' attempts to justify it.
ReplyDeleteThe reality was and is something completely different. I use the present tense because truly, we are seeing the effects of this still today. It permeates our societies and pollutes our educational, political and legal systems. Not just the "French" Revolution itself, but the ideologies behind it.
This is an excellent article regarding the realities of the French Revolution and the situation in which we live today: http://archives.sspx.org/against_sound_bites/christendom_and_revolution.htm
Another excellent study of the French Revolution (it's causes and outcomes) is by the great historian Hillaire Belloc: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35215/35215-h/35215-h.htm
It is seemingly complex but the reality of it (the Fr. Revolution) will make even the most ardent conspiracy theorist stop and think and reflect on modern(ism) society.
I am by no means an expert on the historical background of the French Revolution. I am a fan of freedom and the struggle for it. I have heard some argue that the American civil war was not about slavery, it was about independence. The south wanted to be independent from the north. I have a hard time swallowing that premise.
ReplyDeleteI will concede that it is possible some individuals fighting for the south in that war possibly thought they were fighting for independence. It would make their struggle easier to understand since I cannot comprehend how anyone in their right mind would fight a war for the right to own slaves. Yet I do believe that was the predominate issue on the table during the American civil war. Slavery. People can sugar coat it all they want but that is what it was ultimately about.
Likewise people can contend and submit possible reasons why some fought in the French Revolution. Without trying to over complicate the matter I just see it as a struggle for freedom hence the slogan. Liberty, Equality and a common bond in that struggle. It was France that supported the American Revolution in their struggle for freedom and equality. They are the ones that gave the Americans the Statue of Liberty. To claim the French Revolution was a movement of liberalism and secularism not only diminishes it but I’m not sure if that’s entirely true.
Clearly religious freedom was not a tradition in Europe during the middle ages. On one hand we had the Catholics killing everyone who wasn’t Catholic during the Spanish Inquisition. On the other hand we have the Protestants persecuting and killing Catholics from king Henry to king Billy. Before that we had the Muslims killing people who weren’t Muslims.
I personally support religious freedom which includes the right to be atheist as some claim Thomas Paine was. In my opinion adopting a single state religion is as bad as abolishing religion all together. I like the motto liberty, equality, fraternity because of what it represents. However, there does appear to be forces in France and everywhere else that oppose that ideal. They oppose religious freedom for others while they claim it for themselves. That breaches the ideal. Secularism is another force. Trying to destroy anything associated with morals or religion. Certainly that’s not limited to France. Russia and China comes to mind but even here in North America many extremists lobby for that same tainted cause.