Clashes between government and the governed

So many modern controversies involve clashes between conscience and state, between the Government and the governed, between conflicting world views.

Issues of Conscience v. the State were central to the Terrence Malick film A Hidden Life (Channel 4, Sunday) – the true story of Catholic conscientious objector Franz Jagerstatter in Austria during World War II.

Yes, it’s long, and slow at times, with a somewhat unconventional narrative style, but it is beautifully shot and directed – very different from The Sound of Music which also dealt with resistance to the Nazis in Austria.

Jagerstatter was no campaigner, happy to spend the war farming and pursuing a relatively normal life in the beautiful Austrian mountains. But people who do evil often want the affirmation of others, or want to drag others down with them. And so, the last straw was when attempts were made to force him to swear loyalty to Hitler.

He faced a dilemma similar to that faced by St Thomas Moore – a dilemma dramatised so well in another film A Man for All Seasons. There were frequent discussions on what someone in this situation can do, when Franz chats to his wife, his local priest and his bishop.

In many ways it’s a love story – Franz guided by his love for God, but the film is not preachy, pious or sentimental. It’s also the tender love story of Franz and his wife that gives the film a true human heart and lifts it way above philosophical and political considerations. August Diehl and Valerie Pachner are excellent in those lead roles.

I’m working my way through another true story that features conflicts between conscience and Government, between Church and State. Under the Banner of Heaven (Disney Plus) is a seven-part drama series about murder in a Mormon community in the USA.

It’s rather removed from the Irish experience but there are interesting explorations of clashes, theological and otherwise, between fundamentalist Mormons who rely heavily on traditions from the past (eg. polygamy and resenting intrusive government) and those who responsibly and kindly play their role in modern society.

One of the latter is Detective Pyrie, played sympathetically by Andrew Garfield. His colleague is a Native American and the culture difference is well played out. Unfortunately, at least one scene features relatively brief but gratuitous nudity, so it’s hard to recommend it. As in this case such scenes often happen in the first episode of as series – perhaps to draw attention or boost the age rating, but it’s annoying and felt exploitative.

At the heart of many modern controversies is ‘ideological capture’, where an activist group or ideology gets effective control over a significant organisation. On Newstalk Breakfast (Thursday) Ciara Kelly interviewed Colette Colfer, lecturer in World Religions at the South-East Technological University.

Ms Colfer explained how the university had removed a reference in their gender identity policy in which refusal to use a person’s preferred pronouns was to be considered “unlawful discrimination”. Ms Colfer challenged this overreach and was now vindicated.

Universities, she said, should be a places of open conversation, of fostering debate rather than stifling it. She supported the overall aims of the policy, in that people should be treated with respect, but people shouldn’t be compelled to use certain pronouns, it should be a matter of choice.

She explained how some staff shun her now, but she was willing to talk to people she disagreed with. She said some staff were afraid even to put certain views in an email. Once again Newstalk showed itself to be a place where diverse rational opinions get an airing.

Issues of opinion, fact, misinformation and disinformation were teased out all too briefly on This Week (RTÉ Radio 1, Sunday). This all the more important with local and European elections coming up in June. Those concerned, like those interviewed on the programme, need to be more alert to such abuses whatever its source, whether from the right, the left, state actors from aboard, or, judging by the recent referendum experience, from our own Government.

According to this item Coimisiún na Meán is looking into the pre voting moratorium. As it does not apply to online news outlets social media, fake news can spread without being challenged in the last hours of an election or referendum. An example was given of fake audio being released in a recent election in Slovakia. We were told the desirable approach was to “analyse, detect, respond”.