Democracy: A Rejection of Authority.

The modern world has to a great extent rejected the idea of authority, and therefore of obedience. In the early Christian ages, the authority of God, the church, the state and the parent was accepted, even though not always obeyed.

The first break came with the rejection of the authority of the church by the so-called Protestant Reformers. They declared that in religious matters man owed obedience to one except God, that each individual had the right to interpret the Bible as he thought best, and that each man’s private conscience was the sole judge of right and wrong. Little by little, this revolt against authority extended to other areas – to civil, educational, and family matters.

It has been left to our own period to complete the revolt by the wide spread authority of God. The atheistic communist denies that there is a God, and opposes all religion as the opium that lulls people to close their eyes to the material world. The modern pagan lives as  though there was no God to whom he is responsible for his actions. This modern trend against the acceptance of authority is very common in liberal circles … where is cloacked under the term Democracy.

This word is often misused to convey the idea that everyman has a right to think as he pleases without any consideration of objective truth; to speak or write whatever he wishes to without consideration of charity, justice and common welfare; to do what he desires without regard for right or wrong.

The so-called democratic trend against authority has swept into the home. Treatise are written about democracy in family life. Suggestions are made that important family matters should be decided by majority vote of members. So many parents obey their children that they give the appearance of believing that they have received their authority from the votes of these children. They act like anxious politicians who know that their continuance in office depends upon not offending the constituents.

– Fr. Thomas Tobin C.SS.R.