Western societies have been built on the basis of both “liberal” and “conservative” philosophical thought, a reality some letter-writers forget.
Liberal thinking supports the ideas of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, separation of church and state, due process for citizens under the law. Conservative thinking includes believing in law and order, tradition, and so on.
These grand philosophical ideas on which modern civilizations have been built are necessarily changed and molded as society moves forward, learning more about science, human behaviour, the environment, the cosmos. So it is simplistic to say society should be only one type or the other. Realities of daily living tell the tale of how we want to live.
For example, we know hygienic practices such as washing one’s hands are good for human health. If we went the conservative route of maintaining tradition, humans would have kept eating, drinking and living in dangerous conditions with dirty hands, not paying attention to what science has taught us!
As a citizen of Canada I am happy we have an elected responsible government, and not a religious figure governing our society. I am happy we all believe in law and order; I just wish our conservative friends who stormed the U.S. Capitol felt the same way.
Most authoritarian regimes in the world are built on conservative lines of thinking. This choice is not a good one for Canadians.
Carl Hager
Aylmer / Pontiac
