Thank you for Marci McDonald’s article about the role that some Christians may be playing in shaping the policy of Stephen Harper’s government (“Stephen Harper and the Theo-cons,” October). The United Church of Canada encourages people of faith to live their faith in the world wherever possible. However, the special influence of one particular faith group on the government raises two concerns.
First, as a liberal or “social justice” Christian I am concerned that this conservative, fundamentalist group of Christians might be seen as expressing views shared by all Christians. Research conducted by the United Church of Canada indicates that many Canadians do not make the distinction. They see Christians as generally the same — arrogant, judgmental, and not very good at listening. Yet the views expressed among so-called theo-cons are those of a unique and arguably unrepresentative group of Christians. I appreciated McDonald’s effort to make that distinction in her article.
Secondly, I am concerned that the influence of this particular group of Christians will reduce the moral agenda to one or two hot-button issues. Jesus did not teach anything about homosexuality, but he spoke clearly about poverty, homelessness, injustice, peacemaking, and a new kind of community. In our nation, with troops deployed overseas, a widening gap between rich and poor, and an environmental crisis imminent, to allow one group concerned primarily with personal morality to unduly influence the political agenda seems a distraction at best.
Values shaped by thoughtful and disciplined spiritual practice have always contributed to creating the Canada we know and cherish. In a multicultural, multifaith country, it is important to have as many voices as possible at the table, shaping our common life and national destiny. When that diversity is welcomed in an environment of mutual respect and genuine willingness to listen, a new level of understanding and strength can be achieved.
David Giuliano
Moderator The United Church of Canada
Toronto, Ontario
According to “Marci McDonald,” the always frightening Jesus Gang is about to ride the Trojan Horse of the Harper government into the promised land of theocracy. Even by the standards of intolerant and jumpy liberals, this article stands out like a Catholic priest at a Pentecostal camp meeting. Theocracy? Religious fundamentalists have trouble pulling that off even in those parts of the Islamic world where the effort is, shall we say, concerted.
McDonald describes the area around Langley, BC, as Canada’s bible belt. The term “bible belt” is at least two generations out of date for anywhere in Canada, and applying it to British Columbia is incorrect. BC shows up regularly in national surveys as being the most secular province in Canada, evidenced by the lowest per-capita church attendance rates in the country. Then there’s the pervasive presence of Charles McVety in the article. The vast majority of Canadian evangelicals would never even have heard of him if not for McDonald, much less started goose-stepping to his religio-political particularism.
On a lighter note, trotting out that old chestnut regarding the Christian origins of Canada’s designation as a “Dominion” at the time of Confederation, McDonald then jumps fantastically to the conclusion that “ever since,” Pentecostals and others have used it to justify a prophetic destiny for the country. But there were no Pentecostals in Canada for the first forty or so years after Confederation. The movement originated at the turn of the twentieth century, in the United States, only later migrating northward. And what, one might ask, about the long-time use of the term dominion to designate the constitutional status of the senior members of the British Empire/Commonwealth (Canada, Australia, etc.)? Was that part of the conspiracy too? I guess those pernicious Pentecostals must have somehow made their influence felt at the Colonial Office and at 10 Downing Street. Every age seems to need a bogeyman. Clearly, McDonald has found hers.
Brad Faught
Toronto, Ontario
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