Login / RegisterAuthor Marci McDonald explores rise of Christian nationalism in Canada in The Armageddon Factor
Mainstream-media reporters and columnists are largely unaware of the growing influence of the religious right in Canada, according to the author of a new book on the subject.
Videos
In an interview at the Georgia Straight office, veteran journalist Marci McDonald said that she wrote The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada (Random House Canada, $32) to “lay out the geography” of the Christian right in this country.
She noted that in a 2003 speech at the annual Civitas conference, Prime Minister Stephen Harper outlined an electoral strategy to reach out to religious conservatives of many different faiths.
McDonald maintained that for a long time, the leaders of the Canadian Christian right have tried to emulate their U.S. counterparts by gaining influence over public policy.
“This particular strategy is being encouraged by a government that’s wedded to secrecy,” she said.
Her book describes a multifaceted movement with close ties to several Conservative MPs, including Treasury Board president Stockwell Day, who represents the federal riding of Okanagan–Coquihalla.
McDonald reports in her book that Day is one of the “most prominent members” of a conservative Kelowna-based Christian group called Watchmen for the Nations. Vancouver pastor Bob Birch, who died in 2007, spearheaded its creation in response to Vancouver hosting the Gay Games in 1990.
“He was so outraged he took out these newspaper ads,” McDonald said.
She pointed out that Watchmen for the Nations has helped reconcile some members of the French-speaking, English-speaking, Jewish, and aboriginal communities. However, she said that its leader, David Demian, believes the end times are coming soon, and that Canada must become a “truly Christian nation to fulfill its biblical prophesy”.
“That is a very strong belief,” McDonald said. “It’s why I called the book The Armageddon Factor.”
She noted that Birch had ties to numerous right-wing Christian groups, including Miracle Channel cofounder Joan Dewert, National House of Prayer founders Rob and Fran Parker, and religious broadcaster David Mainse.
Watchmen for the Nations is one of a few groups that McDonald describes as “dispensationalist”, “Christian Zionist”, and “Christian reconstructionist”.
In her book, she writes that the father of dispensationalism was a 19th-century Irishman named John Nelson Darby. He interpreted the Bible to mean there would be seven epochs, culminating in the Battle of Armageddon against followers of the Antichrist.
According to him, true Christian believers would be spared by being summoned to heaven before the battle.
The Battle of Armageddon would take place when Israel had returned to the strength it had in biblical times. Therefore, in the eyes of dispensationalists, it is necessary to support the present-day state of Israel against its enemies.
“There are rabbis in Israel who have said, ”˜You should not take evangelical money because they do not have our best long-term interest at heart,’ ” McDonald commented. “I think it is certainly worthy of debate, but you can understand, in fact, the Israeli government can’t afford to alienate the best source of tourism and support, especially in America, where a congressional grant is at stake every year.”
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/tags/Ezra+L...
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article/235930812-new-book-suggests-tories-pu...
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2010/05/17/HarpersChristianWing/
The errors do not affect the substance of the matter - which is a shift in government back to an intermixing of politics and religion, in lockstep with our "brothers" to the immediate south:
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/05/0082488
RickW
What would you do if you "knew" you were going to die tomorrow? I'll bet there are equal parts noble (tell your mom you love her) to degenerate (have sex with everything and O.D. on cocaine). How does this differ from planning to live to be 80?
http://stackblog.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/marci-mcdonald-the-armageddon-...
What ever happened to separation of church and state. We allow every person the right to practice the religion of their choise, the difference between you and them is, they will if given the chance, force you to live under their belief system whether you like it or not. There is no room for dissention in a true believers world, they do not play by the same rules as non-religeous people, or even non-fanatical religeous people. Just look around you, you see this same fundamentalist fanatical behaviour played out all around the world and I for one, want no part of it. What part of that do you not get?
"Christians aren"t allowed to have a viewpoint and attempt to influence government just like every other group in canadian society?"
Of course they are. But not from within government. And BTW, the inference of this quote is that Harper IS a Christian. So what kind of Christian can he be, when Christ himself was said to adhere to this way of life:
-- They derive their name from a teacher who walked penniless and expounded a massage of peace, hope, and equality and giving to the poor. He spoke against the establish order and paid the ultimate price. He never asked to be worshiped.You might even say that his message was contrary to any right-wing ideology. You might even say that it was fundamentally democratic and socialistic. He instructed his followers to go out and carry only the clothes on their backs give everything else to the needy. Probably the closest that comes to this message is a Mother Theresa or a Gandhi. --
"Christian Right-Wing" is an oxymoron, plain and simple.
RickW
I'm proudly an atheist, but this is just too much for me.
If it's anything Muslim being "outed" with the level of hysteria and fear-mongering that McDonald employs, the left is always behind them even though what a great number of Muslims who have the support of the left is much more evil and destructive than anything these Evangelicals would try to do?
The hypocrisy is mind-numbing. If you're gonna go after the Christians for mixing church and state, go after every other religion including Muslims, because many Muslim groups and individuals call for the same damn thing but go farther with it.
Besides, if mixing church and state is such a bad thing, rather than try to denigrate Christian political movements, why not engage with them in university halls, at rallies, in online forums and defeat the political movement and draw more followers. Rather than belly-aching about their "nefarious" take-over of power.
The reason the furthest left Canadian or American society will ever go in the polls is a VERY moderate left-of-centre is because of the sheer hypocrisy and sometimes stupidity of the far left that commandeers the agenda of, for example, the NDP, into a political nightmare. I was once a Federal NDP supporter, but so long as there is a double standard, with "good" religion and "bad" religion, and it's ignorant to the facts...along with all kinds of other polarizing dichotomies (abortion- for or against, social welfare- for or against, America or Israel- good or bad, Free trade-for or against, etc. etc. etc.) that are equally oblivious to facts, reason, the recognition that people, ESPECIALLY on the left, do not think uniformly on ANY issue (but are being forced to in order to stay within the good graces of the party and some unions), and pigeon-holing in the most undemocratic and anti-academic means possible, the Canadian "left" will never have a strong voice in government. Where it stands now, I see it as a hell of a lot more totalitarian than anything the Conservatives are doing (jeez, if I could've only imagined myself saying that 10 years ago. Wow.). More and more true progressives will leave, as I have and many of my friends have, and become a member of another party or perhaps eventually start a truly progressive left-wing, politically-savvy, fair, and principled party. The NDP and much of Canada's institutional left are morally and politically bankrupt right now and a perverse kind of totalitarian mindset is creeping in. This is what's truly unfortunate.
What some of the left is projecting onto evangelicals and the Conservatives is exactly what they are in fact succumbing to: a toxic brew of fear-mongering, political inflexibility and a completely broken moral compass: "stand with the oppressed" used to be the mantra of the left. Now, it's become "stand with the oppressed" with the caveat "if they fit into our 'good' category, because other wise they are categorically 'bad.'" Too bad.
Not all Christians - just the rightwingnut ones (who really aren't Christian at all). Just like the rightwingnut Muslims, and the rightwingnut Zionists.
RickW
The Evangelicals would be all over it- they would promote it, memorize it by heart, invite the guest to Universities. Ezra Levant would promote it- then cancel out at the last moment for security reasons- and get even more attention (as is his modus operandi).
However, when the book attacks the pro-Israel Religious Right, they attack it mercilessly. It is filled with inaccuracies (right Ezra). It is intolerant. It is leading to Christian witch hunts etc.
The Right is so hypocritical and intolerant it isn't funny. Attack Political Islam, okay. Attack Political Judeo-Christians wrong! But, of course, let's all blame it on the Left ;-)
http://www.paltelegraph.com/world/us/6096-us-delegation-headed-for-gaza
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/07/30/military-medals.html
RickW
Regardless of what you think of their theology when you examine the day to day activities of organizations like the Salvation Army, World vision supporters, food banks, and dozens of other Christian or religious based charities. They are clearly providing much needed services among the poor. If the governments duty is to serve the people of this nation then they need to be communicating with each other.
Why try to exclude their voices?
Remove them from civil service? put a lid on their free speech? trash their freedom of religion and demonize them while they dish out meals to the poor or visit people in the hospital?
because they have an ideology? big deal so to Liberals.
because they have biased motivation? so do Liberals.
they believe in the power of the vote; what so wrong about that?
you praise tolerance but are intolerant of religion.
you adore inclusion, so long as religious people are not included.
you love pluralism, except when conservatives disagree with you and become "divisive".
you denounce hate, but scream vile epithets at religious people.
During the years of Stalin he had a vision of a nation with no religious influence... so did the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia... look how that turned out.
Sure everyone praises Martin Luther King now... but back in the day there were a lot of voices that sounded very similar to the ones I'm seeing here.
A lot of people were afraid of MLK and his radical ideas, and it seems today lot of people are afraid of Christians or other religions when they are simply groups of people active in issues of mercy and justice. What are you so afraid of?
Pages