Rumours of Armageddon

[vaneramos]

If you love Canada because it is a gentler, more tolerant neighbour to the United States, a new book released this week should raise alarm bells. The Armageddon Factor by Marci McDonald investigates the rise of right-wing Christian nationalism in this country, and its growing influence in Stephen Harper's Conservative government. I haven't read the

Comments

[bearfinch]

I have read reviews of that book and it sounds a little alarmist, though certainly worth a read.

I'm not too discouraged by the recent poll; if you look at the trend (www.pollingreport.com) it's apparent that Harper is really neither gaining or losing on his already lukewarm support; and in Quebec and Ontario, he's been losing support.

[vaneramos]

it sounds a little alarmist

I don't know about that; her analysis and predictions echo gut intuition I've felt about Harper from the beginning. I've been in that place (born again), I know how they justify imposing their values on others, and it gives me the willies. Besides, this is not a big stretch of the imagination. We've seen it happen elsewhere, to the detriment of personal freedom. McDonald does not predict it will happen overnight. She says the rise of social conservatism as a political influence in the States has taken 30 years. The Star article pointed out most Canadians assume we have legal separation of Church and State; we do not. That was a surprise to me.

[bearfinch]

By a "little alarmist" I mean that, while what she is writing is a possibility and something to be concerned about, it's not an inevitability. Certainly the growth of non-christian and non-religious populations here may keep such radicalism in check.

There's been all sorts of predictions about future social or economic conditions that never really came about. Skepticism is always warranted.

[vaneramos]

McDonald is not only making predictions. We have already seen a shift in policy toward social conservatism. This is happening despite the Conservatives having a minority government and low support from the opposition parties. Harper had demonstrated he is capable of manipulating his opponents to achieve his goals, and McDonald seems to have done some good journalism to demonstrate that Harper's goals are largely hidden. The last election and recent polls show his party is also gaining support from religious conservatives across other faiths-which is a growing population in Canada.

[bearfinch]

From memory, the only Prime Ministers who didn't have hidden agendas or an ability to manipulate their opponents were Joe Clarke, John Turner, and Kim Campbell. It's part of the skills set that goes with keeping a leadership position.

Please let me emphasize that I don't like Harper and I'm not defending him, or his policies. I just think that there are forces socially and politically that have the power to counterbalance what he may try to do.