A Judeo-Christian Account of Human Dignity in Canadian Law and Public Policy
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A JUDEO-CHRISTIAN ACCOUNT OF HUMAN DIGNITY IN CANADIAN LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY MARK PENNINGA B.A., Trinity Western University, 2004 A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of the University of Lethbridge in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS Political Science University of Lethbridge LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA © Mark Penninga, 2008 ―The morality of the 21st century will depend on how we respond to this simple but profound question: Does every human life have equal moral value simply and merely because it is human? Answer yes, and we have a chance of achieving universal human rights. Answer no, and it means that we are merely another animal in the forest.‖ - Wesley J. Smith, ―The Way I See It‖ # 127 on Starbucks coffee cups i Abstract Understanding human dignity is integral to protecting human rights. An examination of Canada‘s Supreme Court decisions and Canadian public policy debates reveals that human dignity is being defined synonymously with individual autonomy and equality. This narrow understanding has serious implications for people who are not able to assert their autonomy. To understand the philosophical ideas behind these decisions, this thesis examines classical, modern, and postmodern accounts of human dignity and concludes that they fall short in providing an objective grounding for dignity that is truly human. It then looks to the Judeo- Christian account of human dignity to provide a transcendent foundation for human dignity. With this account, persons are rational and physical, relational, inviolable, and teleological – a hopeful contrast to the prevailing contemporary accounts. This thesis then defends the place of this religious perspective in our secular country. iii Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people who have made this thesis possible. Since education begins in the home and is a process through the years, I am very thankful to my dad, mom, and siblings for always being by my side throughout my studies. Special thanks to my brother Dave for reviewing this entire thesis. The Department of Political Science at the University of Lethbridge has been an incredible encouragement and help in my studies. Thanks to Dr. Harold Jansen, Dr. Peter McCormick, and Dr. Geoffrey Hale for providing me with coursework and very helpful feedback on my thesis. I am especially grateful to Dr. John von Heyking for his diligent supervision of my studies as well as his insight, guidance, and assistance. His supervision made this degree a most incredible and worthwhile experience. Dr Rainer Knopff (University of Calgary) graciously agreed to be on my supervisory committee, Dr. Travis Smith (Concordia) served as the external examiner of my thesis defence and Dr. Lance Grigg served as the chair of my defence. I am very grateful to each of these learned professors for being a part of my defence. In addition, thanks to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for providing a Canada Graduate Scholarship to help fund my research. Close to my heart, I want to thank my wife Jaclyn for her support – even leaving BC to move with me to Lethbridge so that I could do this. She is ―a helper fit for me,‖ a Proverbs 31 woman, and someone who I am honoured to go through life alongside. Most of all, I thank my Maker for His gracious hand of providence that has always been at work in this world and in my life – soli Deo gloria. iv Table of Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................1 Everybody Wants Dignity .....................................................................................................3 The Etymology of Dignity and Sanctity ...............................................................................5 Chapter 1: Human Dignity in Canadian Constitutional Law ............................................9 Worthy Origins ....................................................................................................................11 Dignity and the Supreme Court of Canada .........................................................................12 Dignity As Autonomy in R. v. Morgentaler and Rodriguez v. British Columbia .........13 Dignity as Equality in Law v. Canada ...........................................................................22 Implications of Equating Dignity with Autonomy and Equality ........................................28 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................36 Chapter 2: Human Dignity in Canadian Public Policy ......................................................38 The Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies: Forcing Interdisciplinarity 40 The Stakeholder Disciplines ................................................................................................46 The Sciences ...................................................................................................................46 Law .................................................................................................................................53 Ethics and Bioethics .......................................................................................................58 Amidst All of the Discourse, What Has Become of Human Dignity? ................................65 Chapter 3: Classical, Modern, and Postmodern Philosophical Accounts of Human Dignity ....................................................................................................................................68 A Classical Account of Dignity ..........................................................................................69 Immanuel Kant: Modern Father of Human Dignity ............................................................75 Critique of the Modern Foundation of Human Rights in General .......................................84 Critique of Kant‘s Faith in Mutual Respect for Human Dignity ..........................................88 Peter Singer and the Postmodern Rejection/Deconstruction of Human Dignity ................90 Chapter 4: A Judeo-Christian Grounding for Human Dignity ........................................97 The Need for Transcendence .............................................................................................100 Examining the Biblical Account - Beginning in Genesis .................................................103 The New Testament and the Concept of Persons ..............................................................114 Persons – Applying the Doctrine of the Incarnation to Human Dignity .....................117 The Physical and Rational Character of the Judeo-Christian Account of Dignity ............123 The Relational Character of the Judeo-Christian Account of Dignity ..............................126 v The Inviolability of the Judeo-Christian Account of Human Dignity ...............................133 The Telos of the Judeo-Christian Account of Human Dignity ..........................................135 Applying this Account to R. v. Morgentaler, Rodriguez v. British Columbia, Law v. Canada, and Public Policy Discourse on Reproductive Technologies .............................138 R. v. Morgentaler .........................................................................................................139 Rodriguez v. British Columbia .....................................................................................144 Law v. Canada ..............................................................................................................149 Public Policy Discourse on Reproductive Technologies .............................................150 Chapter 5: The Legitimacy the Judeo-Christian Account of Human Dignity in Canadian Law and Public Policy .......................................................................................153 The Secular Struggle with Hypocrisy ..............................................................................154 Unwarranted Fear: How this Account is Pro-Freedom .....................................................157 Why a Judeo-Christian Account of Human Dignity Can Have a Place in Secular Canadian Law .....................................................................................................................................163 Defining Secular : Key to Understanding Religious Contributions ..................................165 The Value of Religious Contributions to the Public Square .............................................170 Conclusion: The Importance of This Analysis .................................................................175 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................178 vi Introduction ―It was early in the evening on a hot summer's day when the call came in; the call that would change our lives and shatter our dreams forever.‖1 With these words Yehudis Brown begins to describe the accident that changed the lives of herself, her family, and most of all, her daughter Chasya. ―It was a mistake. An accident. Our little daughter choked and had a cardiac arrest as a result. It took 25 minutes to start up her heart again, but by then it was too late. The horrific damage had been done.‖2 Chasya is now in a persistent vegetative state and the doctors do not think she will ever wake up again. How can one even begin to sympathize with this family? Yehudis explains