The Popes and Democracy - Part III. On the Effects of Modern Ideas 22. Popular Sovereignty

It is not possible to review in an article such as this all the effects of modern democratic ideas. We can glance at only a few; they are indeed innumerable. It would be a grievous error to believe that modern Democracy is a self-contained and independent political concept, having no bearing on other aspects of life. Modern democratic ideas are rooted in Liberalism and Humanism. As such, they are the result of a state of mind the outcome of certain philosophy which projects its evil effects into every aspect of our lives. It is futile to acknowledge and fight some of these evils whilst, at the same tine, praising the alleged virtues of popular power. Both derive from the same cause, and that cause must be eradicated: it is the spirit of revolt of the 18th century "The general revolt in the depths of the human conscience." (Pius XII "Summi Pontificatus") Modern Democracy is inseparable from other evils; it inevitably evolves into tyranny. These two main points have been acknowledged by countless thinkers all over the world. When numbers count more than individuals, when the community counts more than persons, when society is considered as an end for which man exists, when it is regarded as a living thing whose interests have precedence over individual interests, tyranny is sure to follow sooner or later. When all these beliefs are held as truths, it becomes natural to regulate and condition the human person for the alleged benefit of the community. It becomes natural to co-ordinate individual efforts and national production with little regard for the human person (planning); natural also to impose or permit medical practices for the health of the community (water fluoridation, compulsory X-Rays and vaccinations); natural to "improve" the community by birth-control and euthanasia, or artificial insemination and human sterilisation, etc. Perhaps it will be argued that there is little connection between all these things. But if we look at it more carefully, we will discover that they all result from the same basic outlook: the so-called welfare of the community; the fitting of society to economic conditions instead of fitting economic conditions to the needs of individuals. In all of them, the concept of society as a physical and living organism is evident, and this concept is inseparable from the myth of popular sovereignty, whereby man becomes an insignificant unit within the all-important community. It does not matter whether the tyranny to which some of these evils give rise is called Bureaucracy) Plutocracy, Sociocracy, Technocracy, Fascism, Socialism or Communism, it is still the same tyranny and the only difference is a difference of emphasis. It is all rooted in Liberalism and Humanism. Paradoxically, the love of freedom evolves into its antithesis. Christianity raises the human person to the highest dignity; that of a child of God called individually to eternal happiness. It follows that any form of society which reduces the human person to a mere unit within a mass, which considers quantity more important than quality, which, prefers popular opinion to the considered judgment of an elite, which substitutes complex laws and regulations for a moral code, which gives precedence to the State, and subjects the human person to all sorts of de- humanising and depersonalising customs and practices, is necessarily anti-Christic. Like Communism, though to a lesser extent and to a lower degree, Democracy has most of the anti-Christic characteristics: craving for unlimited material power (Antichrist will want to create things), rejection of God (Secularism), and, last but not least, Modern Democracy has such a wide appeal as to deceive a large number of the elect themselves. This craving for power and deceptive appearance were noted by Pius XII. " ... a social order which, beneath a deceptive appearance, or mask of conventional formulas, conceals a fatal weakness and an unbridled lust for profit and power." (Pius XII - Christmas 1952) As for tyranny, Plato noted in the "Republic": "Democracy is fatally doomed to develop into tyranny." Aristotle also made a similar remark. That is probably why St. Thomas Aquinas, who had studied both authors, did not advocate absolute democracy, but only democratic institutions within a monarchical social structure (it being understood that the monarch should have real authority, and not be a mere figurehead). In more recent times, St. Pius X made a similar remark about tyranny - "Yes, truly, one can say that the Sillon (i.e. Democracy) brings in its train Socialism." (St. Pius X "Our Apostolic Mandate")