Position Statement – Equality

1. Several politically significant concepts go by the name of “equality.”

2. Principles of equality that are consistent with a Biblical worldview are: “Equality before the law” and “Equality of opportunity.”

3. Principles of equality that are consistent with today’s humanist worldview and which are incompatible with a Biblical worldview are: Equality (or parity) of outcome and “Substantive Equality.”

4. “Equality before the law” is a declaration of war against tyranny and arbitrary rule. With the loss of Canada’s Christian ethos and the rise of Socialism, we have seen the erosion of equality before the law. Special recognition in law for certain groups of people is a direct assault on this principle. This is the case with Affirmative Action, and other expressions of “Group Rights,” such as today’s non-discrimination law, including all “Human Rights” code. These are all incompatible with God’s law and the first principle of Equality Before the Law.

5. “Equality of opportunity” does not mean that all people have the same opportunity to succeed in this life. It refers to the removal of arbitrary obstacles to a person’s advancement, such that their ability to progress is rooted in their own abilities. This paradigm places maximum emphasis on personal responsibility and individual liberty. It makes no room for a policing function by the State between two or more law-abiding citizens exercising their freedom of choice with economic decisions or any other choices they make in pursuit of their own advancement.

6. “Substantive equality” is the notion that equality is more than simply a framework principle. Rather, true equality should be evidence in outcomes. This is just another way of saying “Parity of Outcome.” Equality before the law and equality of opportunity as foundational principles are insufficient. If the outcomes of people’s circumstances and efforts are unequal, then true equality does not exist. “Substantive Equality” gives the State the right and the obligation to manipulate outcomes in pursuit of a parity of outcome. The State is the central actor in this perspective, hence the socialistic/humanistic nature of this concept. The State’s primary tool for this work is redistributive taxation. Another important tool is non-discrimination, or “human rights,” legislation. Under the guise of “systemic discrimination” and “power imbalances” between different groups in society – men and women, those of different marital status, those of different race and ethnicity, landlords and tenants, employers and employees – the State claims the right to intervene on behalf of the disadvantaged party in pursuit of “equality”/parity/non-discrimination.

7. The Christian spirit of equity may wish for parity of outcome, but the concept of “Substantive equality” taken as a whole, with the key role played by the State, is socialistic in nature and incompatible with Biblical Christianity.


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