A True Democracy Respects God-Given Rights

 
A society cannot claim to be a democracy when its inhabitants are either subjected to compelled speech or reduced to silence. While a country’s government will tout the words “freedom” and “democracy” to lull its citizens into a false sense of security, it will in turn grant itself the right to decide what constitutes truth and acceptable speech and will thus restrain the electorate’s conscience rights and freedom of speech. Freedom of expression is meant to be a safeguard for acting according to one’s conscience, which is very often based on religious convictions and moral certitude. A true democracy does not trample on people’s God-given rights of exercising their faith and convictions. Laws which go against natural law do not grant true freedom: under the guise of “liberty and personal autonomy,”  submission to the will of the government is the order of the day. It is, in fact, subjugation, not liberty, by way of indoctrination and immoral laws. 
 
In fact, immoral statutes are often being peddled as liberty, when in reality they are license. True liberty is not license: it is the capacity to choose to do good, not to choose evil. For example, euthanasia and abortion are not good; they are evil. Yet laws and subjective language train people to believe it is a true and good freedom. It is not up to any government to trample on the liberties of its people by legalizing so-called evil freedoms which harm others. 
 
So-called reproductive rights: abortion is killing, it is not a freedom 
Abortion has been accepted as a “right” in our culture due to the insidiously clever incorporation of key words like “choice,”, “freedom” and “fundamental right.” Society has let itself be manipulated into believing that the killing of an innocent child is freedom. It isn’t. It is an inhumane destruction of human life at its most vulnerable period of development. The baby in the womb is defenseless. The preborn child is the one whose fundamental rights have been usurped. 
 
Women have demanded “freedom of choice” for their own bodies and were legally afforded this so-called freedom. It is false freedom.  One’s freedom should not destroy another person’s right to life and liberty. The child in the womb should have the same rights as a person outside the womb. Labelling abortion as freedom and a right is a lie. It is an evil choice which goes against the commandment of God of not killing. 
 
Assisted dying is the murder of our sick and elderly population: it is not liberty 
Advocates and proponents of euthanasia and physician-assisted dying use the same narrative as the advocates for abortion: freedom to choose. What they are in fact choosing is death. They are de facto negating the belief that God created man and will call man back to himself when he so chooses. It is not up to the created being to usurp God’s prerogative. Euthanasia advocates demand, and impose, their view of ending their lives on their own terms. Governments around the world, including Canada and France, among others, have signed on to this deadly cultural worldview. 
 
To facilitate the passage of an assisted-dying bill in the first place, strict safeguards are established. However, as soon as the law passes, the abuse begins. I see it constantly in my country. In Canada, now that physician-assisted death has been legalized since 2016, there is an agenda to allow access to assisted death based on mental illness, such as depression and PTSD. In other words, they want to expand the so-called freedom of killing oneself. A Special Joint Committee on MAiD (medical assistance in dying) started a review of this matter involving mental illness and euthanasia in February 2026. Their goal was to assess whether Canada was indeed ready to expand the eligibility rules to include mental disorders as eligible for MAiD. Unless Parliament intervenes, the expansion is set to take place on March 17th, 2027, on St. Patrick’s Day, of all days! Until then, pro-life activists must continue to bring concrete arguments to the table to insure that people with mental disorders are afforded proper care and treatments rather than a legal pass to state-sanctioned death. 
 
Hate Laws: a regime of silence and compelled speech 
Free speech is threatened in many countries. For example, there is a legal push to curb freedom of expression in Europe. In the European Union (EU), there is now a new law called the DSA, Digital Services Act, which is curbing people’s freedom of speech online. Major platforms are being strictly monitored under the guise of safety and rooting out “hate.” There is a four-minute video, produced by ADF International (Alliance Defending Freedom International), outlining the basics of the DSA, which I recommend as must-see viewing to understand what is at stake regarding freedom of expression. 
 
Then we have Canada and its redefined Hate Law. It seems that the prevailing woke culture in this country, which established into law and common practice issues such as transgender rights, euthanasia, and misnomered “reproductive rights” (abortion), is continuing  its spiraling abyss of self-destruction under the present Liberal Canadian leadership as it did with the previous one.  
 
So far, the Canadian government has redefined the Hate Law under Sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code with Bill C-9, the “Combatting Hate Act.” This will have the effect of criminalizing the use of religion, such as quoting the Bible to express one’s opposition to laws which conflict with one’s faith. The government has the means to “codify a definition of ‘hatred’ to clarify when conduct constitutes a hate crime.” This signifies that the government decides what constitutes hate. For example, during a parliamentary Justice Committee meeting about Bill C-9 on October 30th, 2025, one Member of Parliament (MP) said that the Bible contained hate speech and people quoting it should be prosecuted: “In Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Romans … there’s other passages … there is clear hatred towards, for example, homosexuals … They should not be used to invoke or be a defence and there should perhaps be discretion for prosecutors to press charges.” What began as a narrative of safeguarding the security of Canada’s citizens from hate crimes has devolved into restricting free speech and the free exercise of one’s religious convictions. On June 17th, 2026, the Bill passed the final step of Royal Assent and is now the law of the land. A dark day for Canada’s citizens. But then, this is nothing new; while being dismayed, I am not particularly surprised. This is part of the growing trend of the erosion of free speech in our culture.  
 
Another instance of the Canadian government eroding its citizens’ freedom is the July 2026 signing of the UN Cybercrime Convention Treaty. While this treaty seems a good idea on the surface by affording provisions for human rights and child protection, it includes a cross-border surveillance and evidence-sharing agreement that had originally been rejected by Canada in December 2024. At the time, Canada had called these measures “criminal offences” and “intrusive surveillance powers”. Furthermore, leading human rights groups, as well as many Canadian organizations and experts, had urged the Canadian government to reject this Convention against cybercrime. Even key allies have refused to sign the treaty thus far, including the US and New Zealand. The main issue is privacy concerns. Now that Canada has signed on to this convention, the privacy and personal information of every citizen is at stake. Where is the democratic respect for personal freedom in a surveillance state? For example, anyone who uses their electronic devices to disagree with current cultural  ideologies and to propagate the truth of God based on their religious convictions could potentially be targeted and accused of  cybercrime  and hate speech. It is reminiscent of police states of the past.  
 
While God is omniscient and nothing is hidden from Him, a government isn't; a governement is supposed to safeguard its population’s freedom, not abuse them. A government is not God. 
 
Final Reflection 
In this age of ideological rhetoric and relativistic narrative concerning the human person, let us pray that God will give his followers the courage and wherewithal to combat the lies and the evil laws which are being promulgated throughout the world. Let us go forth in truth, bravely confounding the enemy of our God-given rights to life, freedom and the pursuit of true happiness, which finds its ultimate realization in God, not in an undemocratic government.