The Church did not tell us officially how we should vote in the referendum, although Archbishop Charles Scicluna had indicated that he was personally against spring hunting.
However, there were two prominent public figures who publicly declared that they would vote to retain the derogation on spring hunting. It is everyone’s guess whether the Prime Minister’s and the Leader of the Opposition’s public declarations in favour of hunting in spring had any impact on the result.
What clearly stands out in this referendum result is that a good portion of our population votes on a partisan basis and does not look at the good of society as a whole.
In order to please a section of society that has an impact on the outcome of the general election both main party leaders gave in to populism.
To please individuals whose relationship in marriage is not working out, we introduced divorce. To please gays who want to look after their own personal interests, we allowed them to adopt children and equated their union to marriage. And now, to please hunters who shoot birds on their way to breed, we have voted in favour of spring hunting.
In order to satisfy personal interests, we are discarding the common good, and all this in the name of freedom and democracy.
What type of society are we going to leave for our children and grandchildren? What principles is our society following? As the editorial of Times of Malta (April 13) rightly concludes, it is depressing that people care more about themselves than they do about the environment and that politicians interfere in every aspect of our lives. It is even more depressing to note that in such a short period of time we have been able to transform ourselves from a people who treasure the family, the environment and religious principles to a nation that has thrown every principle overboard in order to satisfy its own selfish interests.
Yes, one cannot but accept the result of the referendum. That is what democracy is all about, but this does not mean that those of us who consider certain actions degrading and abhorrent to society at large cannot condemn them.