I think mixing politics and Christianity creates an unwholesome toxic brew that makes a mockery of the message of the Man/God who insisted his Kingdom is not of this world.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Anglican Church of Canada has been doing for decades. The politics of the ACoC veers consistently leftward. It is obsessed with climate change, gay and transgender propaganda, diverse inclusion, inclusive diversity, aboriginal land rights, a universal basic income – and so on.
It isn’t too interested in the sobering reality that Jesus died for our sins and offers us the free gift of reconciliation with God the Father, the acceptance or rejection of which determines our eternal destination.
Thus, it is a little rich that the ACoC feels called upon to denounce Christian Nationalism, an idea that, at least in part, seems to fuel the odious American MAGA mania.
As usual, the ACoC is tilting at windmills. A recent Pew Research poll determined that only 3% of Canadians are, in its words “religious nationalists”. Even the USA is only at 6%.
Interestingly, around 0.2% of Canadians admit to being transgender and the ACoC is also obsessed with them. All the madness of Don Quixote and none of the charm.
From here:
The Anglican Church of Canada believes that everyone is created in God’s image and that all members of society have an equal right to participate meaningfully in the public square at all levels. We have been enriched, as a church, by our relationships with other Christian denominations, along with the great variety of religious traditions that are found across our communities. Canada’s longstanding commitment to religious pluralism has enabled members of many faith communities and those with no faith commitment to live in civic harmony with one another without sacrificing their respective theological convictions.
A growing threat to this principle of pluralism and inclusion is the ideology of Christian nationalism, which seeks to merge Christian and Canadian identities, conflating them and distorting both Christian faith and Canada’s parliamentary democracy. Christian nationalism demands that Christianity be privileged by the state and implies that to be a good Canadian, one must be Christian. This ideology can provide cover for discrimination against marginalized groups and can increase threats and violence against religious communities at home and abroad. In that light, we denounce Christian nationalism as a distortion of the gospel of Jesus and a threat to Canadian democracy.
In our Baptismal Covenant, we promise to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to love our neighbours as ourselves, to strive for justice and peace among all people, to respect the dignity of every human being, and to strive to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation, and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth. These commitments lead us to call for the full inclusion and welcome of diverse voices engaging constructively in public debate, building connections across differences and celebrating the contributions of many communities to our collective wellbeing.
“I like Gurley. He don’t preach politics. I get enough of that through the week, and when I go to church, I like to hear the gospel.”
– Abraham Lincoln
The Gurley in question was Phineas Densmore Gurley of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.
“In that light, we denounce Christianity as a distortion of the gospel of Jesus and a threat to Canadian democracy.” Fixed it.
“In our Baptismal Covenant, we promise to seek and serve Christ in all persons,” If Christ is in all persons, then Christian nationalism makes 100% sense.
I promised no such thing when I was confirmed. “If Christ is in all persons” represents a favourite modern misunderstanding of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.
Sheep & Goats: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141124013550-135532881-the-sheep-and-the-goats-who-are-they/
Neighbour: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-neighbour-yourself-luke-1027-dr-priscilla-turner-1/
So, David, which is it that is insignificant for human life, our Faith or politics? Surely both are so significant in practice that they cannot be separated.
A straw man. Obviously, politics is inevitable in human society; I didn’t claim otherwise.
Nevertheless, politics concerns itself with the exercise of worldly power, a temptation Jesus rejected during his time in the wilderness. Christianity concerns itself with other-worldly power. An old quote from Muggeridge sticks in my mind “you can have love or power but not both”.
“Christian politician” isn’t quite an oxymoron, but the number of soul crushing compromises a Christian has to make in order to survive in contemporary politics means it approaches one. Just look at the nauseatingly sycophantic JD Vance.
Perhaps Jimmy Carter was an example of a Christian whose integrity survived his politics. But he was a terrible president and had dreadful policies.
A friend who is a Christian stuck a toe in the political sewer and rapidly withdrew it because, in order to proceed further, she would have had to make promises she knew could not be kept.
Very well written article.
I’m just waiting for the moment that the ACoC endorses Bill C9. Of course it won’t have any effect on most of them.
Let us fear God, not humans (e.g., Kim, Putin, or Trump, etc.)! Let us take refuge in the Anointed One (Psalm 2:12), not Christian Nationalism!
When the ‘Father’ of ‘Multiculturism’ in Canada self-professed “I am a Communist first, then a Catholic”, this in complete contradiction to the Judaeo-Christian “GOD” named in the Preamble to The Constitution, we now can witness that Party’s Toronto MP denouncing the UN 1949 founding of the State of Israel as a “Naqba”; and Canada’s Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba following its ant-Semitic suit.
There is nothing new about the Anglican Church of Canada’s current problems. We need to focus on God and His major doctrines, not secondary issues. However, the Anglican Church in North America is also currently facing significant challenges, including misconduct allegations against senior leadership, a related lawsuit, and ongoing divisions regarding female ordination, etc. In light of the issues at hand, “Christian Nationalism” is not really an important issue to be concerned about. .