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American Reform – On True and False Notions of Equality — Duvoisin, 1829

“For, if on the one hand, all men are equal, in the sense that they have the same nature, the same origin, the same end; on the other hand, they are extremely unequal in strength, in enlightenment, in virtue; and it is clear that the metaphysical equality that results from the identity of nature will soon disappear in the face of the real inequality that necessarily produces the difference in physical, intellectual, and moral qualities.”>

Portrait of Bp. Jean-Baptiste Duvoisin

Introduction

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” reads the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, penned in 1776 by the revolutionary, liberal ideologue and prominent Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson. If you were to survey the American public today, likely, not one man in a hundred would be willing to challenge this foundational American dogma, that is the equality doctrine or egalitarianism. A sad situation, yes, but nonetheless true. >This concept of equality, in which no distinction is made between the abstract and concrete, between what is intrinsic to men and what is extrinsic, along with the effects of sin remains one of the primary engines of disorder in our beloved country. Unsurprisingly, the antidote to this equivocal usage of “equality” will be a 19th century French Catholic prelate, Bishop Jean-Baptiste Duvoisin. Bishop Duvoisin, whose biography will be seen below, had the following to say about the French Revolutionaries, who were also keen on egalitarianism:

Originally published in The Journal of American Reform. Read original article