Among the many champions of human freedom there are few who question the significance of Christ. Yet, were he to be living in the West today he would have easily been accused of being undemocratic.

He consulted no one, except his Heavenly Father. He loved the people to the point of dying for them, yet he never submitted to the masses but only to their needs and pains. He refused to be anointed king by ‘popular’ demand. He never based his authority simply on the ‘will of the people’ since, for him all authority comes from ‘above’. Yet the people rejoiced that finally here was someone who ‘speaks with authority’.

Were he living today, how would Jesus have looked at democracy? It is undeniable that democracy is the best political system, based on the fundamental values of dignity, equality and freedom of every human person. This is the official teaching of the Church and the greatest blessing of our society.

Yet equating too quickly democracy with freedom may be too simplistic. Democracy also is imperfect, like the rest of human nature. For example, truth is not democratic. A majority decision by itself is not automatically a just decision. The majority may be wrong.

In spite of democracy’s lofty ideal, reality may reveal its dark side. A system that justly empowers the people can easily degenerate into little more than a mutual exploitation mechanism between voters and elected leaders. Voters may use their vote to blackmail their representatives in pursuing their own interests, while compliant candidates, in turn, may groom voters with attractive pro­mises to win their way to the top. When this happens, self-interest oils the machine, not freedom.

This hardly begets the promised freedom, in spite of much good will. So many governments get elected on the battle cry of eradicating corruption and abuse of power. So many governments are brought down by accusations of corruption and abuse of power. Democracy ensures that governments change, but it takes more than democracy to eradicate corruption itself. Too often, what changes is the set of people who profit from it. A case in point is the Arab Spring, which has swiftly slipped back into dark winter. Democracy is reduced to a fleeting moment of dashed hopes.

Jesus insists on healing deeper human woundedness ­– sin

Thankfully, this is not the whole story. Democracy has its indisput­able merits. Despite human weakness, even mediocre governments may take good decisions. Sectarianism and cronyism may be mitigated by the hard work of upright politicians. The voiceless are given a voice.

But in the real world, the motivating factor of human choices, even democratic ones, can be and too often is the self-interest of the ruled and the rulers. This is called realpolitik. At best, democracy may limit the dark realities of human selfishness, but it cannot eliminate them.

Jesus, with his typical ‘head in the cloud’ principles, insists on healing this deeper human woundedness ­– sin. The medicine he prescribes is self-sacrificing love. He refuses to enter politics (including Church politics) not because it is dirty, but to save it from its potential dirtiness. He wants to sow the seed that saves it from degenerating into the dark art of human manipulation.

What use is it for people to exercise their freedoms if they still have not discovered their real, inner freedom? Freedom is much more than the sum total of freedoms. It is only given to those who are ready to die to self out of love for others. Democracy by itself will never lead humanity to this freedom. Only the Spirit of Love and Justice can endow the democratic process with a real freedom that actually makes it work. People will then discover that the ‘common good’ is true dignity, equality and freedom for everyone.

This is why Jesus chose to be fully immersed in human society without engaging in active politics. He chose to witness to what real freedom is by giving up his own freedom and life. He wanted to save humanity and human politics. He freely gave to Caesar what belongs to Caesar: his own life… but only to God what belongs to God: his own freedom!

pchetcuti@gmail.com

Fr Paul Chetcuti is a member of the Society of Jesus.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.