Change dominates our daily experience. We are like sails blowing in a cross wind. Nothing and no one stands still. Relationships, ideas, the weather —our very bodies—all are in a state of flux. Nothing appears stable for very long.
Against our seeming insignificance and the impermanence of things, we respond by forming institutions. These begin as favoured concepts and principles eventually galvanized into practical codes of conduct, often represented by ubiquitous symbols and by buildings made of stone. Our institutions are mandated to stand firm against the ravages of time.
Consider some of our most successful ones. Marriage, schools, justice systems, churches, governments, police forces, etc. All promise predictability and stability. The problem is that they can harm every bit as much as they can help.
There is nothing wrong with establishing institutions that bolster our communities and hold our lives to ideal standards. The problem is that institutions demand blind loyalty. Institutions do not take correction. They act with impunity and are almost impossible to reform.
Lately, the Canadian psyche has taken a profound beating. It appears that any intelligent Canadian can no longer look herself in the mirror and conclude —as was the past custom—that she stands in a cruel and unjust world as a righteous, tolerant and even progressive individual. Recent scandals in our military, police force, churches and government make the strong case that Canadians have been lying to themselves about themselves for perhaps centuries.
This is my theory. Individuals look to institutions for timeless guidance and stability. When institutions veer off course and allow the unthinkable (like the murder of indigenous children in a residential school), individuals inside them are loathe to criticize and denounce these lawless acts as genuine crimes. The reputation of the institutions is deemed more important than the damage done to people’s lives.
Our media has reported that in the Canadian military there have been rampant sexual assaults perpetrated by officers upon their soldiers. In the RCMP, there is systemic racism against indigenous people. In the Catholic Church there has been widespread abuse, neglect and genocide of the very individuals the church was supposed to help in their residential schools. Our government too continues to feign support for indigenous people all the while it is suing them in court.
Recently a Catholic cardinal was asked why the pope was not willing to apologize for the genocide perpetrated by the church on innocent indigenous children. His response? If the pope apologized every time there was a crime committed he would never stop. Clearly, this was not good for the impeccable reputation of God’s church.
I think institutions have a shelf life. Like garments that do not fit any more, they should be discarded and replaced with organizations that are current, humane and just. It is foolish to be impressed by institutions that survive across centuries —even millenia. Their survival for such lengths of time has almost certainly involved abuses of power and criminal behaviour. Institutions should not be commended for standing firm in the face of change. On the contrary, they should dance in step with change or disappear entirely.