New York Senators Turn Off the Lights: Power and the Dark Side of Democracy

In his recent newsletter, Fr. John Corapi posited that Western society is “a train wreck waiting to happen.” He presents moral evil, specifically that of abortion, as the agent for this catastrophe and the denial of objective standards of morality as the catalyst.

Father Corapi points to the U.S. government’s interventionist policies as evidence that the process has begun and indicates the ultimate result – increasing infringements on freedom and liberty:

“Personal liberty has already begun to be compromised. Various governments, including the United States, now own car companies like General Motors and Chrysler, mega insurance companies, soon perhaps health care and energy. Injustice is beginning to be seen from the smallest of individuals to the largest of corporations. The only problem with that is that governments have never been able to operate anything profitably, efficiently, or equitably. The little guy and the large corporation will all be equal opportunity recipients of heavy-handed injustice very soon.

The government is about to dictate what car you can drive, how you insure it, what your bank can pay you or not, what kind of heating you have in your home, if you can have air conditioning or not. And, oh, if you eat a Twinkie your health insurance premium is going up. If you get sick, perhaps the Twinkie did it, and you aren’t covered.”

Hyperbole aside, his proposition is interesting, even if presented a little awkwardly. As I understand his message, Fr. Corapi contends that “the high sounding rhetoric of the day” which surrounds these governmental policies creates only an illusion of progress. The reality is that a lack of respect for human life, of every human being “from the moment of conception to the last moment of natural life”, has left our society unsafe and unsecure. An inevitable regress will occur not because the current policies are bad in and of themselves, but because our lack of adequate moral filtering has left us ill equipped to identify and elect officials who are capable of being trusted and protecting the liberty and dignity of others:

“You might say that the government needs to control things to keep us safe, etc. That might work if the people in government could be trusted. They can’t, but we elected them. We get what we deserve, and many chickens are about to come home to roost.  One of the inherent difficulties with a democratic republic is that it is only as good as the people in it. When a people lose their moral equilibrium, live in sin, and suffer the consequent loss of wisdom, then that nation’s days are numbered.”

It is no secret that politicians are among the less trusted members of society, but are they really that bad? News out of New York may make you wonder. Last night two former Democrats effectively crossed the floor, restoring GOP control of the State Senate for the first time in six years. The response of the out-going majority? Behave like children:

“During the coup, Democrats fled the chamber, turned out the lights, and cut off the Internet feed of chamber proceedings, leaving Republicans and their two Democratic friends to take the vote in the dark.”

Of course, you can’t paint all politicians with the same brush. However, when this is the manner of behaviour of the elected officials of an influential U.S. State act, can you really be surprising that Fr. Corapi doubts their ability to respectfully uphold the dignity of those they were elected to serve?  

SOURCES:

Fr. John Corapi, “Father Corapi on the “Flash Point” in Western Society”(http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09060416.html)(republished from the most recent newsletter from SOLT: http://www.fathercorapi.com/).

CBS News, “In New York, Senate “Coup” Takes Down Dems”

(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/08/ …

politics/main5073657.shtml).