“…the old road is rapidly agin’; please get out of the new one, if you can’t lend your hand; for the times they are a-changin’…” – Bob Dylan
There’s a seismic shift underway at the foundational level of Canadian philosophical culture. It may be difficult to identify precisely when it began, but it perhaps goes back to the ‘60s when the tune noted above was new, popular and prophetic.
A recent court decision in British Columbia and the current controversy involving the Calgary Catholic School Board’s deliberations over the administration of the HP vaccination are indicative of the cultural evolution to which I refer.
A few weeks ago, a British Columbia Supreme Court judge declared Canada’s laws against physician-assisted suicide unconstitutional because they discriminate against the physically disabled. In a 395-page ruling, Justice Lynn Smith addressed the situation faced by Gloria Taylor, a B.C. woman who was one of five plaintiffs in the case. Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic bishop for the Calgary diocese is under fire for insisting that the church’s teachings on sexuality (abstinence until marriage) trump the necessity of immunizing young Catholic schoolgirls against a sexually-transmitted virus.
The era of Canadians’ automatically deferring to traditional authorities and/or perspectives on the governing morals of this country is rapidly moving into that which is observable via a rearview mirror. Whether it is Bishop Fred Henry of the Calgary area’s Roman Catholic community or local pastors such as myself, we recognize that neither the institutional church nor the priestly office has the clout they once wielded within popular culture.
Some view this transition as a sign of progress as Canadians enter a more enlightened age where the benefits of research and intellectual know-how inform the domain once governed by ancient traditions and codes of conduct. Others lament the regression they perceive as part and parcel of the rejection of traditional values and authority.
My point here is not so much to take one side or the other as it is to simply call attention to the magnitude of the cultural shift that is underway.
To guide the ethical and moral decisions they’re making, more and more Canadians are opting to embrace what might be called moral-populism or what used to be called good old-fashioned utilitarianism. Indeed, let us mark well that, for better or worse, the times they are still a’ changing!’
Tim Callaway is pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church in Airdrie. He can be reached at [email protected]
