Valencia, Spain, Mar 29, 2010 / 15:58 pm
Catholic intellectual and writer, Juan Manuel del Prada of Spain, warned last week that the abandonment of values and “unconscious renunciation of principles based on faith,” is leading the Western world, specifically Spain, “to experience of a process of self-destruction.”
In a speech at an educational forum in Valencia, Prada offered an analysis of the situation that the country is facing as a result of the loss of faith.
He recalled that many of humanity’s advances have their origin in religion, which has the “last word” on human rights. For this reason, he said, “The rupture in the faith is also a rupture in the profound sense of human rights, which have ceased to be a recognition of dignity.” Rather, human rights “have become gracious concessions that those in power grant us in order satisfy our whims.”
Prada noted that one of the main reasons for society’s ills is the cult of unrestricted freedom, which “in reality enslaves us more than ever.” “By exalting freedom, we have turned present-day democracy into something sacred and untouchable, even though this system of government, like any other, can end up degenerating into tyranny.”
“Modern tyrannies are infinitely more powerful than those of the past, because instead of repressing and censuring, they freely allow the expression of all points of view, thus people become unaware of their submission,” he said.