BEHIND HARPER: THE NEW FACE OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
The pronouncement first appeared on the front page of the National Post. “Social conservatives watch campaign from sidelines,” trumpeted the headline over a story by religion writer Charles Lewis, which must have sent the strategists at Conservative Party headquarters into a heady round of high-fives.
With that declaration, Lewis neatly dispensed with the charge that the religious right was stumping for Stephen Harper in the 2011 federal election. In more than a dozen paragraphs, he appeared to squelch the pesky notion that the prime minister harboured worrisome baggage, that perennially-rumoured hidden agenda, which would only be revealed once he got his hands on a majority government.
Unfortunately, the Post headline couldn’t have been further off the mark. As even a cursory survey of websites swiftly revealed, the foot-soldiers in this country’s burgeoning religious right have plunged into the electoral fray with single-minded determination, if not unbridled enthusiasm.
Clearly, many are not thrilled that Harper so blatantly disclaimed any intention to act on abortion legislation in the opening weeks of the campaign—a pre-emptive strike that appears to have inspired Lewis’ report. But he has made similar declarations before heading to the polls. Anyone who expected him to proclaim otherwise in this, his last best hope for a majority, must have been smoking something that is definitely not inclined to sharpen one’s electoral savvy.
Even if Harper has proved less of a torch-bearer than social and religious conservatives dreamed back in 2006 when they first helped boost him to power, he remains their main man—one who has dispensed incremental policy shifts and thousands of patronage plums with a mixture of caution and stealth that is gradually transforming some of the country’s leading institutions, including its public service and its courts.
Some may find the pace frustrating, but they’re secure in the knowledge that Harper needs them and never more so than when he’s angling for yet another term. The number of right-leaning Christians in Canada may not be as high as those who have commandeered the Republican party in the U.S., but they’re as vital to Conservative Party fortunes as those economic conservatives who make up the other half of Harper’s core constituency. Pollster Andrew Grenville of Angus Reid Public Opinion has already demonstrated how devout English-speaking Catholics and conservative Protestants (by which he largely means evangelicals) came together in a definitive new block of support for the Conservatives that helped get Harper elected in 2006. As I outlined in The Armageddon Factor, by the time the 2008 election rolled around, that block had solidified into a definable Canadian religious right.
Now, in a new pre-election poll first reported by the Vancouver Sun’s Douglas Todd, Grenville has found that more than half of devout mass-going Catholics and two-thirds of church-going Protestants say they intend to cast their votes for the Conservative Party on May 2nd. The gelling of such conservative Christian support around Harper comes at the expense of the Liberals, and for Todd, that drift means one thing: “Canadians are experiencing increasing political polarization over the Christian faith,” he writes, “in somewhat the same way religion splits U.S. Republicans from Democrats.”
Thus, contrary to the Post’s assertion, it ought to come as no surprise that religious-right websites have blossomed in recent weeks, exhorting the faithful to get out the vote. On the very day Lewis’ story appeared, the newly-aggressive Evangelical Fellowship of Canada had just issued an election kit for its nearly one thousand member churches, complete with baby-simple instructions on how to hold an all-candidates meeting and lists of questions designed as a moral litmus test of wannabe MPs.
Carefully crafted and highly suggestive, the questions covered such predictable grounds as abortion (“What do you believe should be the legal status of the unborn child?”) and stem cell research (“Do you support the criminalization of embryo experimentation?”). But one section was devoted to the curious subject of “media regulation” and appeared to call for a crackdown on the CBC (“What steps would you propose to ensure that the CBC is held to the same standard as private broadcasters?”).
Why should the venerable EFC, once scorned as hopelessly moderate by the Reverend Charles McVety, be launching an attack on the country’s chief public broadcaster? In February, it filed a complaint with the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council protesting an investigative program on Radio-Canada, the CBC’s French-language network, which demonstrated the influence of evangelical Christians on the Harper government. Despite the fact that the show focused mainly on a group that is not even an EFC member, the fellowship has accused Radio-Canada of “vilifying” evangelicals.
Other religious right organizations are also attempting to propel believers to the polls. Nearly half a dozen of the conservative Christian groups that have put down institutional roots since Harper came to power have issued election advisories–some subtle, some not. As one call-to-arms on the website of 4MYCanada, the youth lobby run by Faytene Kryskow Grasseschi, points out, “In recent elections, in some cases, single churches could of (sic) swung an entire riding… Remember: YOUR PRESENCE IS POWERFUL.”
The groups take pains to appear non-partisan, but almost all carry links to another mysterious website, www.voteprayserve.ca, set up five days before the election was called. With rankings compiled by 4MYCanada, it rates MPs according to their votes on nine specific “family-values” bills. Among them: the 2005 legislation that legalized same-sex marriage and two Conservative private members’ bills that could have re-opened the abortion debate.
Still, according to voteprayserve.ca, only the most recent of those two anti-abortion bills—a 2010 measure sponsored by Winnipeg MP Rod Bruinooge—really counts. Known as Roxanne’s Law, Bruinooge’s proposal would have made it a crime to coerce anyone into an abortion. But unlike a previous private member’s bill on the issue sponsored by former Alberta MP Ken Epp, Harper not only voted against it last December, but declared that it did not have the party’s support, consigning it to defeat. He took that stand with this spring’s election already on the horizon, but 97 pro-life MPs went ahead and voted for Roxanne’s Law—87 of them defiant Conservatives. Most now earn straight As on voteprayserve’s report card, while Harper rates only a B, and both Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton flunk out altogether. As voteprayserve.ca sees it, Roxanne’s Law was “THE VOTE THAT SHOWED THEIR TRUE COLOURS.”
That might suggest abortion is the only topic on evangelical minds—an impression that was further reinforced when Saskatoon MP Brad Trost sent shockwaves through the Conservative war room by bragging that petitions such as one he circulated had convinced the government to defund International Planned Parenthood Federation. In a panicked effort at damage control, Harper’s aides called a hasty post-midnight press conference to deny that any such decision had been made. But Trost did not back down, nor was he entirely wrong. A 2009 funding request from IPPF sat unanswered for nearly a year, its programs in limbo, until the organization got the message—a de facto act of defunding if ever there was one. Late last year, IPPF drafted a new grant request. Despite the fact that it contains no provision for abortion services, the federation still hasn’t heard back from the Canadian International Development Agency.
Indeed, Trost’s indiscretion—which has all the hallmarks of a calculated post-election prod to Harper—was a reminder that another development had slipped beneath the mainstream media’s radar. In the wake of the government’s refusal to include abortion services as part of his G-8 initiative on maternal and child health care, it seems that he has succeeded in implementing virtually the same ban on funding overseas abortions as George W. Bush did through his controversial executive orders in the U.S. The only difference is that Harper has done so without any such contentious fiat.
Nor has Trost been the only conservative Christian activist to make his presence felt on the campaign trail. Stockwell Day, the movement’s chief standard bearer in Parliament—at least until he chose not to seek re-election—turned up in Montreal to stump for his former chief of staff, Neil Drabkin, who is challenging the Liberals’ Marc Garneau in the riding of Westmount-Mount Royal.
There, as in several other Quebec and Ontario ridings with substantial Jewish populations, Drabkin and his fellow Conservative contenders are brandishing Harper’s unwavering support for Israel as their trump card. Harper himself has boasted that his stand cost Canada a seat on the United Nations Security Council, but it may be paying off for him now, stealing as many as a half-dozen seats from the Liberals in the House of Commons.
Nor is the government’s adamant pro-Israel policy only a selling point with Jewish crowds. In an election alert from the country’s leading Christian Zionist organization, the Canadian branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, the appeal is cautiously worded but unmistakably clear. “Canada has been one of Israel’s staunchest supporters on the international stage,” it reads. “In order for this to continue, we need to have a Canadian Parliament led by strong pro-Israel MPs in every party, ready to stand with Israel during dangerous times.” Lest there be any doubt about who those MPs might be, ICEJ refers members to voteprayserve.ca and a website affiliated with the Canadian Jewish Political Action Committee (CJPAC).
Still, getting conservative Christians to the polls is only half the story in the calculated, low-key minuet between Harper and his restive theo-con base. Having miffed so many with his disclaimer on abortion, he promptly proffered two campaign promises to appease the theo-con crowd. The first was also the most overlooked: a vow to introduce family income-splitting into the tax code. Most commentators were so busy dismissing the measure as economic pie-in-the-sky—chortling over Harper’s caveat that it wouldn’t be implemented until the budget was balanced in four or five years—that they missed the point of the announcement entirely. For the country’s leading conservative Christian lobbies and think tanks, it was a signal that Harper was onside.
At the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, a spin-off from James Dobson’s Focus on the Family empire, they had been touting such a measure for years, and executive director Dave Quist was practically doing verbal cartwheels as he made the rounds of radio and TV talk shows hailing the “good news.” Just as in 2006, when the Conservatives scrapped the Liberals’ national day-care plan in favor of individual child-care allowances, Harper was offering more than a simple legislative sop. He was bolstering an idealized 1950s’ notion of the traditional family that—no matter how statistically outdated—remains sacred to religious-right voters, above all to those new Canadians he has been courting from ethnic communities and non-Christian faiths.
They were also the target audience when he announced his other symbolic gesture: the creation of an Office of Religious Freedom within the department of foreign affairs. Critics have dismissed the office’s budget as paltry and its mandate to monitor religious persecution around the world as an exceedingly thorny task–one unlikely to be made easier in a department that Harper has spent the last five years ignoring. But whether or not the office ever materializes or it can meddle in other countries’ internal politics, Harper demonstrated his aptitude for tapping into the anxieties of the religious right.
After recent attacks on Egypt’s Coptic minority and the assassination of Pakistan’s only Christian cabinet minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, concern swept through many Christian denominations with active overseas missions, as well as those mushrooming evangelical congregations whose members have emigrated from China, Korea and the Philippines. On Easter Saturday morning, many were at the Trinity Coptic Christian Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, where Harper announced—or, in fact, re-announced—that monitoring religious persecution around the world would become a key focus of his foreign policy.
To his travelling press corps, the 500 enthusiasts wildly cheering that two-week-old platform plank might have looked like so many of his other campaign crowds–a textbook example of the sort of “very ethnic” voters that a leaked strategy memo from Jason Kenney’s office had fingered as ripe prospects for the Conservatives. But what most in the mainstream media failed to understand was that this sea of visible minorities was also the new face of the Canadian religious right.
In fact, many attendees had been invited to the rally thanks to lists provided by churches and other faith groups—a detail I can vouch for since I was an inadvertent entry on one. Beside me sat a member of the beleaguered Chinese sect, Falun Gong, who said nearly three dozen of his fellow adherents had been summoned to the invitation-only event to show their support for Harper.
During the long wait for the prime minister’s appearance, other prominent evangelical leaders worked the crowd. Steve Long, pastor of the controversial Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship—now rechristened Catch the Fire—schmoozed his way through the hall like an unofficial greeter. Nearby, another local preacher took his place in a front-row seat: Don Meredith, a Jamaican-born Pentecostal whom Harper named one of his Conservative senators. As the rally got underway, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney rhymed off a list of other attendees from religious minorities, including the centre’s own black-robed Coptic priests, Pakistani Ahmadis, Tibetan Buddhists and numerous Sikhs.
Back in 2003, when Harper first spelled out his party-building strategy in a speech to the conservative group, Civitas, he had stressed the necessity of courting those religious and social conservatives whom he termed “theo-cons.” At the time, most analysts assumed that he meant the sort of middle-class white conservative Christians who make up the U.S. religious right. But even then he understood that, if the party’s social policies were cannily crafted, they would appeal to voters across both ethnic and faith lines.
Eight years later, the success of that strategy was on display at the Coptic Christian Centre where representatives from a rainbow of faiths greeted him like a rock star. Indeed, never was their allegiance clearer than when a CBC reporter aggressively pressed the prime minister to explain why one of his B.C. candidates had accepted the endorsement of a controversial Sikh leader. As the reporter persisted, the crowd rose as one with a concerted roar of outrage, drowning out the CBC’s Terry Milewski with rhythmic applause and chants of “Har-per! Har-per!” Watching that stunning circle-the-wagons moment, one thing seemed clear. The country’s new religious right might not fit the prevailing stereotype, but the ferocity of its affection for Harper makes it a force to be reckoned with not only during this election, but for some time to come on the shifting political landscape.
50 Responses Leave a comment
Merci, Marci, for your continuing efforts against these people. Having opposed the Right since the late ’60s, I’m very glad to see people like yourself keeping up resistance now that it is most needed.
In 1991, in Kingston while studying for my doctorate, I attended a demo. against Preston Manning. We were disappointed to learn that Stephen Harper would be substituting. He wasn’t then at quite the beginning of his smarmy career, but those were early days that I’ve often thought about since.
In Ottawa, I met by accident Preston Manning. When he rose to shake my hand I told him I’d not shake the hand that shook that of Wolfgang Droege. I also informed him that the Algonquins had never surrendered capital hill. He was gob-smacked.
Academically, although Aboriginal rights are not my major field, I’ve done some writing against T. Flanagan.
Thanks for indulging this little stroll down memory lane. All the best, and please do be careful. That you’ve earned dangerous enemies shows you’re on the side of the anti-evangelical angels.
Restiamo umani!
Susan
(Edit Note: A portion of this comment has been deleted for legal reasons.)
I live in Owen Sound where there is a proliferation of evangelical churches (as there seems to be in other parts of rural Ontario). I wrote an article on the nature of the religious right for the Owen Sound Sun Times in December 2010. It also appeared in some other small cities in Ontario. I got a few emails from folks similarly concerned but who also seemed cowed by what they were hearing around them.
You can find the article at http://jdavidmclaren.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/the-3rs-of-theo-cons-religious-right-and-rude/.
After reading the above it seems to me that the author is really afraid of, “the religious right” as he calls anyone who doesn’t adhere to his thinking. Why can’t people of whatever belief system, have freedom to disclose who they are without being labelled?
Thanks Marci for keeping an eye on this development. I saw it growing with Randy White & the Abbotsford city council (2 of them, Ed Fast and Mark Warawa are now veteran MPs, even incredibly Warawa, who used to sell vacuums) back in the 90s. It’s sad and frightening to me how this steamroller has continued and the mainstream media just doesn’t get it. They don’t see, but I see it, and many people in this town see it. We don’t feel comfortable voicing our opinions on a range of things, because you never know who you might offend and who in ear shot you might have to do business with, or meet on the kids’ soccer field. It’s almost like Communist Europe, where people were afraid to speak freely for fear their neighbour would turn them in. Now it’s infecting the entire country, my beloved country and I am very afraid.
I was going to write a similar blog concerning this topic, you beat me to it. You did a nice job! Thanks and I well add your RSS to our blogs. Thanks so much!
Hmm… Marci? Anyway. I read the book when it came out. While I appreciate that you (or Marci) have dedicated much to exposing the radical right, I did not like how the book is written. A bit too dramatic for me, and yet I don’t doubt much of what you say. I was furious when I realized the dangerous side of my faith, but I got over it. Yes, The faith is riddled with people who I would not want at my table, but there are a lot of radicals in all faiths. The theo-cons deserve to be exposed, but I think it could have been better done. Sorry for being so blunt, but throughout the book, I found myself thinking “She really does not like anybody that would be so stupid as to believe in God and the Bible”. A lot of people (I was one for a decade) feel they must serve and save. Most get over it. Despite all the radicals, there is a majority of good people in the faith.
I love the theme here. Is it available for download anywhere?
It was enriching to learn on the follow-up communication. I came across some points on which I missed before. I look forward to come across similar articles as I explore the internet site. Thanks for sharing.
as a European it is hard to fathom how much influence these groups have… we successfully fought sects like the Scientology… but also here the religious right is on a way back…
but: I think their days are counted…I perceive something like a massive shift of consciousness in young people…
as with the banksters, clandestine operations won’t last long anymore… as many dictators can testify…the internet with its transparency changes us, too … so even the US bible belt will thaw…
wait 2 generations, max
my 2 cts
Dan
I don’t want to sound too paranoid, bcesuae I think individual journalists can be courted and will keep an open mind if you are friendly.However, Globe says never more than 20 people showed up at the Quebec gatherings to meet Harper this summer.That’s a lie.I went to one. There were 80 people there. (10 tables of 8).Maybe its not a lie, maybe its a mistake. They aren’t exactly rushing to correct the impression they left.So, I think he should stop bringing up the media bias, but he must acknowledge it and work over it.Of course, Grits don’t see media bias. And to be fair to them, Liberals get a rough ride occasionally too.However, if you wanted a healthy democracy where all ideas are giving a fair hearing to make sure we implement the best one, it would be hard not to see this bias.Example: Mario Dumont in Quebec was doing well early in the last election. CBC morning man in Montreal hammered him for a week with: “When Quebekers find out how right wing he is, he’s toast.”Never critical of his platform or ideas, just happy to throw the label “right-wing” and let the listeners think of the KKK and neo-nazis.
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The problem is these people are being manipulated to put forward an economic agenda that is not in their interests nor does it fit in with any religious belief that I know of. Faith Hope and Charity? Not in this country and not by the Harper conservatives.
RR
I’m going crazy over here. yesterday I had a discussion about this same subject with my father and he wouldn’t believe me. With your blog I can prove him I am wright and he’s wrong! Thanks
Thanks a bunch !:)
Read your book when it first came out – thank you for all your hard work. I was very disheartened at the election results and am very concerned about what may happen now that the conservatives have a majority.
I left the church because of fundamentalists and fundamentalism – it was a heart wrenching decision and I am still working my way through it but every time I hear the words “family values” I feel fear.
Those who hold fundamentalist beliefs worry me – not because of what they believe but how they believe and how their beliefs cause them to act and/or re-act.
There seems to be no room in their world for doubt, questions, or a different approach or belief. They are the ones with THE ONE AND ONLY ANSWER and if you do not agree with them you can be hounded mercilessly.
The post by Interested Bystander put it well – one becomes afraid to speak up or out in case you “offend” or cause a row unintentionally. Life is hard enough sometimes without having to self censor out of fear.
It is fear that guides much of what these people talk about or are against – irrational fear of the other – they have created an us or them mentality which is is not only divisive it is destructive. We can work together and accomplish many great things – but not as long as there are battle lines within our own country. They do not have all the answers and their beliefs are not the only ones on the planet.
Their agenda (and they do have one for real) is not about helping others or lending a hand but about putting in place those things that they believe MUST BE because their belief system says it MUST BE – with no thought or discussion of anything else.
I sincerely hope they do not rise up and destroy our pluralistic society and take away what little safety net is still available…..
Yduz
I’ve just witnessed PM Harper on CPAC, dodging a very clear question (by the CBC’s Terry Milewski), regarding Canada’s about-face in foreign policy on the Israel/Palestine issue – specifically re the 1967 borders. Coincidentally, I had just finished reading the part of your book that outlined the considerable influence of Christian Zionists/ultra-conservative Jews on Canada’s Conservative government.
That Harper refused to answer Milewski’s question in a direct manner was bad enough, but I am deeply concerned that this very hardline foreign policy will further polarize the dialogue between Jews/Muslims within our own country, and what possible good can come of that?
For those who are reading your book, I would also suggest “Not a Conspiracy Theory: How Business Propaganda Hijacks Democracy,” by Donald Gutstein. His findings complement yours regarding the (decidedly unholy) alliance between evangelists/Pentacostals and free-market ideologues.
After finishing your book, I’ll read Philip Slayton’s “Mighty Judgment: How the Supreme Court of Canada Runs Your Life.” As Slayton points out, Harper’s appointments to the SC will affect Canadians for decades to come. From what I’ve read of your book, I fear that the Christian Right lobby will get what they want…just like they did with Israel.
Anyway, thank you so much for writing this book. I’ll be tweeting the heck out of it.
Cool stuff
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Very interesting; thank you for sharing!
Everyone complains about the Government doing nothing, but in reality it’s us doing nothing. If the people of this nation would make a stand and make a demand for what is right then things would finally change. It’s tiring hearing about what’s incorrect with our land without action. Stand up for what you believe in.
Thanks for the post
We should pray! Listen to Jesus.
I could ask a lot of questions about this information, but you have laid everything out on the table here to the point it is easy to catch on. I agree with much of your article. I was trying to find something you might have left out for this information, but you’ve been very thorough.
I agree with your BEHIND HARPER: THE NEW FACE OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT | The Armageddon Factor Blog, great post.
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I don’t know why but I think I’m gonna send this to my mother in law.
I agree with your BEHIND HARPER: THE NEW FACE OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT | The Armageddon Factor Blog, excellent post.
I have been despairing the rise of the conservative and religious right for too long. What I have known in my heart for years, I now know to be true after reading The Armageddon Factor. From having felt like a canary in a mine shaft, I now feel that there is some hope because others also have Harper’s number and can document the growing influence of evangelicals and conservatives of other faiths on the office of the Prime Minister ( PMO ). Those to whom I have expressed my concerns, respond by saying that the Tea Party and takeover by the religious right could never happen. No wonder there is despair among those who truly care about Canada and the values that have been won with blood sweat and tears. The complacency of Canadians, while the spectre of a complete makeover of Canada’s politIcal and social profile occurs, is alarming is a betrayal of those who gave their lives in international conflicts. The intolerance of extreme religionists leaves no area untouched, be it government, education, foreign policy, or the social safety net. The method of incrementalism that Harper employs allows for the gradual wearing down of those who are devoted to protecting Canadians. As well, an alarming number of MP’s belong to have, had led, or are heavily connected to evangelical organizations who already enjoy unprecedented access and influence over these same MP’s. Having only begun to go online at the beginning of the summer, finding others online who are as alarmed as me has boosted my morale somewhat, but how can these rather maniacal groups be halted? Keep writing Marci! Another supportive site is Religious Right Alert. I found it on Google. It examines many of the issues that concern moderate and liberal Canadians and receives comments. I have only just found it and have not accessed the archives. Current postings seem rather out of date but are still extremely relevant.
Here is an interesting article about the how Bachmann’s religious background is treated in the press compared to those of other faiths and discusses the real and imagined dangers of Bachmann, a provocative read
http://www.thecactusland.com/2009/11/michelle-bachmanns-religon.html
Just what I was after, good stuff.
There’s no way you can “disassemble” Israel now. I think given the current conditions, we would settle for creation of two states living peacefully with each other and without the crude oppression and aggressiveness being shown by one right now. A lot of region would have to be given back to the Palestinians, but again, you cannot “undo” what has already been executed Imho.
I don’t know about you but I always get just a little enthralled when I find a blog which tells me what I wish to know, and this one really does.
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Thanks for this. I hope many articles will follow. I will add this blog to my favorites. Kind Regards, Peter
All this hand wringing over the “religious right” by “concerned” Canadians is hilarious, considering that Stephen Harper has made it clear that certain evils that blight our society such as abortion and same-sex “marriage”, will not be touched. This only goes to show that Harper is no different than any other politician in Canada, regardless of their stand on current issues. They are only interested in one thing – votes. And they will say anything to get them.
The bigger threat to civil liberties in Canada is immigration. In November 2010, the mayoral elections in Toronto was not only decided by the immigrant vote, some immigrant groups were not afraid to express their shockingly un-Canadian and homophobic views. For example, the moment that openly gay candidate, George Smitherman, appeared on local television kissing another man he repsresented as his “husband,” along with their two-year-old adopted son, the gloves came off. A local Muslim group put up posters asking, “should a Muslim vote for a man who call another man his wife?” And a local Tamil language radio station ran a commericla featuring two people conversing about the mayroal elections . It went like this:
“who are you voting for?”
I’m voting for Rob Ford
“Why?”
Because his wife is a woman!
Imagine if those posters and radio ads had been run by a local Baptist church? The queers woold have beseiged the place, screaming blue murder and labelling the Pastor therin as a “hater, a homophobes and a bigot.” He would have been dragged into the nearest “human rights” kangaroo court and flaied alive. However, no such protests were forthcoming, and the Muslims & tamils were left well alone. Indeed, Asian, African, West Indian, East Indian anf Muslim voters turned out in record numbers to vote for Rob Ford, a morbidly obese, politically incorrect, anti-gay white man. Why? Because he represented their sentiments. If this doesn’t worry you, then there is something wrong with you.
Canada takes the majority of its immigrants from countries where gay rights and the rights of women are literally non-existant. If a local gay politician can be defeated by the immigrant vote, then it stands to reason that this will eventually happen on a national level. During the 1995 parliamentary vote on same sex marriage, the Liberals’ legislation has passed final reading in the House of Commons by a 158-133 vote. Indeed, at least 30 Liberal MPs voted against the move, and almost all of them were visible minorities.
Today, there are more minority MPs in Parliament than ever before, and they are making their presence felt. What will happen, do you think, to Canada’s liberal society in 30 years from now? What will happen to OUR culture, civil society, history, institutions and even our laws? How many Pride parades will be cancelled or have to move venues to avoid clashing with angry minority groups? How many more “honour” killings do you think we will have then?
Stephen Harper and the “Christian right” are the least of your problems. Think about how Canada is changing. And it is not for the better.
I moved to Toronto 3 years ago and looked for an atheist group. Hoping to find some people interested in cognitive science, evolution, genetics, etc. I found fake atheist organizations staffed by bible thumpers. I found groups infiltrated and co-opted by bible thumpers. I tried some science and technical groups and found the same thing. The internet and the blogosphere is chuck full of bible thumpers pretending to be atheists. Then I read the Armageddon Factor. The bible thumpers are trying to give atheists a bad image. They are trying to stop any opposition to their highjacking of the Canadian democracy. This is the only genuine web site I can find so far.
Well Tony if you couldn’t find CFI Canada after 3 years in Toronto, maybe you should take a break from hockey
Who do you guys think will win the 2012 Presidential Election?
CG, according to your post on Stephen Taylors blog,”Good work pluilng all this stuff together Stephen. As much as I think Harper is a bafoon, it’s a little disengenuous of the media to give so much credit to a few disgruntled members who don’t like him – These people never liked Harper.You could just as easily find 6 or 7 Liberals disgruntled towards Martin with equivalent status in their party.CalgaryGrit | Homepage | 09.21.05 – 6:05 pm | # “Then you mention that Stephen Harper shouldn’t shoot the messenger. So in your mind who has the high ground in this.Stephen Harper who muses aloud that the Canadian Media will never give the CPC a break; or,The Media who are taking every little snippet of discontent in the CPC as a full fleged revolt?
I grew up in a religious home. People in my family were missionaries and the majority of those who aren’t were at least greatly involved in the church. Now I’m an Atheist! Keep spreading the knowledge!
#35 Centre for Inquiry Canada is a genuine organization promoting science, reason and critical thinking; they have branches across Canada with Executive Directors in major cities.
#34 Bill Gibbons is partly right when he says,”The bigger threat to civil liberties in Canada is immigration”. Thanks to Pierre Trudeau’s hatred of English Canada we have thousands of brain-dead theists from Asia, Africa and especially China who speak little English, could not care less about Canadian culture and we give them citizenship! Canada is a joke internationally for its ‘Citizenship of Convenience’.
In my opinion the biggest threat to Canada is the complacency and mass ignorance of a nation obsessed with hockey. Canadians used to be considered worthwhile, strong people who stood up for their country and it’s allies. Well get off the pot Canadian wusses before your country is stolen from under your feet.
What concerns me the most about Harper and the Religious Right is their dismissive attitude toward conventional understanding of facts, scientific evidence, and the existential threat posed by climate change.
According to NASA’s James Hansen, the earth’s total energy imbalance right now is about 0.6 of a watt per square meter, which is equivalent to exploding 400,000 Hiroshima-style atomic bombs per day, 365 days per year. That’s how much energy the earth is gaining each day.
By contrast, the Religious Right believes the real threat to humanity is same-sex marriage and the teaching of evolution in schools.
The Christian Dilemma:
The greatest threat to Canada, America, and indeed to the rest of world, at this point in history, comes from the staunch advocates of right wing ideology, and I must submit this warning to you: There is a grave problem with the right wing movement, in that; they seem to possess a distorted sense of entitlement. They’ve set themselves apart, and seem to think that their faith gives them the right to view the world from a platitude of conceit, through condescending eyes, and with a false sense of superiority. They actually believe themselves to be superior beings, with a manifest destiny and some strange notion that God is on their side. A people with a desire to conquer, under the false guise of Christianity, seeking to dominate in the name of Christ, their view of humanity being reduced to nothing more than a matter of “us” and “them”.
What they fail to realize is; if the Christ you believe in leads you to view other humans as lesser beings, then you are a follower of the anti-Christ. The plain truth is; God doesn’t have a religion and God doesn’t discriminate. Any religion that professes to be the only true religion, or that they‘re special in the eyes of God preaches false doctrine. If the Spirit of God is truly with you, it will only be known by acts of “unconditional” love and charity. No religion can claim exclusive rights to God. He belongs to all that He has created, and to foster a belief in “us” and “them” is to divide humanity, not unite it.
And so it will be, in The End, that those who have set themselves apart from their fellow man will find that they have set themselves apart from God. The worth of a soul will only be measured by how much it has loved, nothing more, nothing less. Woe to those who have taken the widow’s mite and built castles and empires in His name. They have incurred a great accountability, their suffering will be unending.
Even Jesus will not claim to be Christian, but will only proclaim the glory of the Father. And when He returns they will shout: “Here we are Lord!” And He will respond: “I never knew you”. They have forsaken the Word and have become prisoners of the Numbers.
Those who have put themselves first will be last.
Go Christians Go, and may God’s will be done!
That doesn’t even make any since. How does on twist a Christian Church. She isn’t using her Christianity as a political tool. She is meelry being a Christian. Christians have a tendency to support fellow Christians because of common beliefs; that is believing in the God of the bible and the teachings in the bible. True Christians aspire to have Christ like qualities (look them up; you might be surprised). No one is being forced to do adopt any religion. It seems you would like to force her and millions of Christians to not practice our faith. One doesn’t stop being a Christian or Muslim or any other faith at certain times of the day. One’s faith is 24/7/365. Thankfully we still have freedom of religion in this country. I’d like to know how Bachmann has taken steps to established any religion and force it on anyone.
Having been in Evangelical circles here in Canada for 30 years, I have seen the build-up of their connection to the Far Right. They were the major backers of the Social Credit party in BC, and then jumped on board the right-leaning BC Liberal bandwagon. Federally, whoever claims to stand with Evangelicals against abortion and same sex marriage, will often automatically win over the Evangelical voters. No matter that you abuse First Nations, the poor, seniors, army veterans, scientists, artists, etc. Harper even seems to have the New Atheists, who are as Right Wing and warmonging as the Christian Right, on his side.
Of course, most Evangelicals don’t care that Canada is losing its freedoms and that Big Oil & Big Mining are running the show, while the rich elite gain billions of dollars along with their corporate welfare handouts and government contracts as each former government service becomes privatised. That the poor, including themselves increasingly, are getting poorer, who cares. As long as Evangelicals can raise their families in peace, go to church and Bible study, and send out house-building or missions teams to impoverished, colonised countries once a year, hey, all is well.
The slim minority of Evangelicals see within their Bible the omnipresent theme of Social Justice, which I call “the protest tradition of the Scriptures”. This is what the prophets, apostles, and Jesus Himself subscribed to.
As deceased singer Keith Green once sang, Evangelicals in North America are “asleep in the light”. But when they meet their Maker on Judgment Day, they will be surprised when they discover that they weren’t actually on the winning side, that of the “just ones” who promoted social justice and stood up against tyranny. And our biggest tyrants now are the ones who claim to live for God, hear from God, and speak for God, like Evangelicals George Bush and Tony Blair who admitted to having God tell them to attack Iraq.
You have blood on your hands, Evangelicals. Nothing will wipe it off until you do a 180 turn, switch sides and start living for and promoting true righteousness, that is, societal justice.
Maranatha! He is coming back!
Imagining spirituality to be a personal and private matter, I was neutral about the Religious Right until I saw the political and social damage done in the USA – and, by extension, to other parts of the world like Latin America. Now I take this threat very seriously indeed!