Evangelical Fundamentalism Infiltration In Government
The following article give us all Canadians a little something to think about on this Canada Day - especially with regards as to how the fundamentalist Christian Right has grown in influence over our government, in good part thanks to Born Again Christian Stephen Harper, in a manner quite similar to what has happened in the U.S. under the Bush administration.
God Bless Canada - indeed.
God Bless Canada - indeed.
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See How They Pray
Consider their goals before joining Prayer Sunday, presented by Ottawa's National House of Prayer.
by Dennis Gruending
The Ottawa-based National House of Prayer (NHOP) says that it prays daily for our government and its leaders. NHOP is organizing its annual national Canada Day Prayer Sunday on June 29. Here is a brief look at the NHOP and its prayer concerns.
Rob and Fran Parker are a couple from British Columbia who say they felt God calling them to set up a house of prayer in the capital. Mr Parker has a long association with an organization called Watchmen for the Nations. According to NHOP's website, "They heard the call to create an 'Embassy of Prayer' in the nation's capital on Canada Day — July 1st, 2000 after Rob had made a 73 day Prayer Walk from Calgary to Ottawa."
Consider their goals before joining Prayer Sunday, presented by Ottawa's National House of Prayer.
by Dennis Gruending
The Ottawa-based National House of Prayer (NHOP) says that it prays daily for our government and its leaders. NHOP is organizing its annual national Canada Day Prayer Sunday on June 29. Here is a brief look at the NHOP and its prayer concerns.
Rob and Fran Parker are a couple from British Columbia who say they felt God calling them to set up a house of prayer in the capital. Mr Parker has a long association with an organization called Watchmen for the Nations. According to NHOP's website, "They heard the call to create an 'Embassy of Prayer' in the nation's capital on Canada Day — July 1st, 2000 after Rob had made a 73 day Prayer Walk from Calgary to Ottawa."
In 2004, the NHOP purchased a former convent not far from parliament hill for $900,000. They've added staff and volunteers and regularly host groups from across the country to engage in training as prayer leaders. They offer to host prayer teams from across the country for a week at a time, supplying everything from meals to towels, and promising, "You will meet your MP, visit Question Period, tour the Parliament Buildings and join in on a regular prayer time at the Chapel on the Hill."
Even without groups in tow, NHOP personnel appear to have ready access to heavily security-conscious Parliament Hill. They attend Question Period, sit in at committees and lead prayer meetings. They were invited by the National Prayer Breakfast in 2007 to participate in a workshop following the meal. As well, the publicity for this year's event invited people to an NHOP open house.
Each week on its website, the NHOP asks people to offer prayers on a variety of issues and for individuals in public life. The site also posts other prayer requests and observations on a blog. The most prayed-for piece of legislation in 2008 likely has been MP Ken Epp's Bill C-484 (The Unborn Victims of Crime Act), which would create a separate offence for killing or injuring a fetus during an attack on a pregnant woman.
Bill C-484 has passed second reading in the House of Commons and has been sent off to a committee for examination. It is controversial because many believe that, if passed, it could be used as a wedge to re-criminalize abortion. As the NHOP blog says, "If the bill is passed then the precedent will be set that Parliament agrees that a fetus is a person with full rights of protection and this has pro-abortion groups worried." (See A fetus is a fetus, not an 'unborn baby' in last week's Straight Goods.)
An NHOP blog posting on April 30, talked about "practical things" that could be done to support Epp and his bill. These included praying, organizing a national fast, signing a petition of support on Epp's website, and sending handwritten letters to MPs in support of the Bill C-484.
Earlier in 2008 another blog entry requested prayers for passage of Bill C-2, the federal government's omnibus anti-crime bill. Yet another recommended prayers that a conservative jurist be appointed to replace Mr Justice Michel Bastarache, who has announced his retirement from the Supreme Court of Canada. The same blog entry expressed approval that the court appears to be turning back a growing number of Charter cases.
Yet another entry requested prayers for "a total overhaul or abolition of the current human rights councils in this country" and referred readers to conservative pundit Ezra Levant's articles for further information. The case provoking the prayer request involves a human rights complaint into comments made about Muslims by writer Mark Steyn in Maclean's magazine.
The NHOP website is also requesting prayers for the success of a youth-oriented event called The Cry, which is to be held on Parliament Hill on August 23rd. Similar youth rallies were held in 2002 and 2006 to dramatize concern about what organizers described as the moral and social decline in Canada.
Speakers at those rallies included the Parkers from NHOP and David Demian, head of Watchmen for the Nations. Demian and his organization are dedicated supporters of the Israeli government and its policies.
The Cry's website says: "We now have a government that has been advancing the cause of righteousness and justice on many fronts... " It also says, "Notice: this is a distinctly Christian prayer event, it is not interfaith."
Keep reading ...
Even without groups in tow, NHOP personnel appear to have ready access to heavily security-conscious Parliament Hill. They attend Question Period, sit in at committees and lead prayer meetings. They were invited by the National Prayer Breakfast in 2007 to participate in a workshop following the meal. As well, the publicity for this year's event invited people to an NHOP open house.
Each week on its website, the NHOP asks people to offer prayers on a variety of issues and for individuals in public life. The site also posts other prayer requests and observations on a blog. The most prayed-for piece of legislation in 2008 likely has been MP Ken Epp's Bill C-484 (The Unborn Victims of Crime Act), which would create a separate offence for killing or injuring a fetus during an attack on a pregnant woman.
Bill C-484 has passed second reading in the House of Commons and has been sent off to a committee for examination. It is controversial because many believe that, if passed, it could be used as a wedge to re-criminalize abortion. As the NHOP blog says, "If the bill is passed then the precedent will be set that Parliament agrees that a fetus is a person with full rights of protection and this has pro-abortion groups worried." (See A fetus is a fetus, not an 'unborn baby' in last week's Straight Goods.)
An NHOP blog posting on April 30, talked about "practical things" that could be done to support Epp and his bill. These included praying, organizing a national fast, signing a petition of support on Epp's website, and sending handwritten letters to MPs in support of the Bill C-484.
Earlier in 2008 another blog entry requested prayers for passage of Bill C-2, the federal government's omnibus anti-crime bill. Yet another recommended prayers that a conservative jurist be appointed to replace Mr Justice Michel Bastarache, who has announced his retirement from the Supreme Court of Canada. The same blog entry expressed approval that the court appears to be turning back a growing number of Charter cases.
Yet another entry requested prayers for "a total overhaul or abolition of the current human rights councils in this country" and referred readers to conservative pundit Ezra Levant's articles for further information. The case provoking the prayer request involves a human rights complaint into comments made about Muslims by writer Mark Steyn in Maclean's magazine.
The NHOP website is also requesting prayers for the success of a youth-oriented event called The Cry, which is to be held on Parliament Hill on August 23rd. Similar youth rallies were held in 2002 and 2006 to dramatize concern about what organizers described as the moral and social decline in Canada.
Speakers at those rallies included the Parkers from NHOP and David Demian, head of Watchmen for the Nations. Demian and his organization are dedicated supporters of the Israeli government and its policies.
The Cry's website says: "We now have a government that has been advancing the cause of righteousness and justice on many fronts... " It also says, "Notice: this is a distinctly Christian prayer event, it is not interfaith."
Keep reading ...
11 POVs/Comments:
Although I've known for years of the infiltration of the religious right into our political institutions, it still makes me ill when confronted by it. Wish more Canadians knew what was going on, which is why I'm grateful for your tenacity in spreading the word.
chrystal: aye - the word must keep being spread over and over again ...
It seems to me like just another nutty Christian group. Yes, they have access to sit in on parliamentary discussions, but that doesn't necessarily indicate that they have any sort of say. *I* can sit in on parliamentary discussions. I wouldn't start raising the alarm just yet-- this *is* a Tory government, so of course the hardcore religious groups are going to be damned pleased with certain things. Just because they praise the government does not mean the government is under their thumb.
That said, that bill looks awfully alarming. *That* is something to watch for.
chelsea: agreed - but do not uderestimate the infiltration of the Christian Right in our government - this goes from "public" pressure to donations to the CPoC to "placing" assistants and advisors to any politico they support, to getting much space and time in traditional media outlets, etc.
Not counting those "plants" already placed by Harper and his Harpies ...
Again - in a similar way to what the Bush administration has done in the US ...
It is definitely something to keep an eye on. Never did I think that a Canadian House of Commons would actually pass a Hayes like censorship provision as was recently witnessed with Bill C-10.
The religious right in Canada has finally gotten traction, as evidenced by Bill C-484, Bill C-10 and Bill C-2. Back in Reagan's day, the moral majority was dismissed as a bunch of whack jobs and look where they are today. They have completely transformed politics in the US.
BY: e-x-a-c-t-l-y, all across the board!!!
I wonder after reading this if way back when when asked to join our Revolution you didn't make a mistake for us both by declining. Your more mellow populace might have counter balanced our wingnuts and we could have avoided Bush.
All that aside, be careful Canada. This is not a religion but a cult. The author of the article seemed surprised that the crowd was entranced by Hagee, remember how Hitler looked yet entranced an entire nation. Religion IMHO is the
occupation of criminals and psychopaths. That said, you know where I stand.
C: well said.
Constitutionalist wrote,
"I wonder after reading this if way back when when asked to join our Revolution you didn't make a mistake for us both by declining. Your more mellow populace might have counter balanced our wingnuts and we could have avoided Bush."
Yeah, let's blame the (now-dead-and-gone) Canadians for not having had the foresight to prevent U.S. America's 'long' slide into error! ? Why not? Those peeps can no longer defend themselves. ;^ )
More seriously, I think you've fallen into a post-hoc ergo propter hoc error here. Canada-adians today have certain, cough, cough, 'advantages' over trigger-happy, bloody-minded survival-of-the-cruelest-and-most-unscrupulous
in part because they and us'ns went our sep'rate ways back in the day.
And, speakin' of that 'bloody-minded survival-of-the-cruelest-and-most-unscrupulous' stuff, it is, in fact, a gross misreading, misinterpretation, of both Darwin and Adam Smith, since, in Nature, our species survived and 'flourished'---unless, that is, you ze a snail-darter, in which case, our species survived to become a planetary scourge and menace to all 'higher' forms of life here--even in Canada!--- not because we (i.e. our distant ancestors, hooman and non-hooman) wuz the biggest, meanest, baddest Mo'Fo's on the block, but, rather because (as it only so happened to be the case) they wuzn't!!! Our evolutionary ancestors were, instead, critters who whether by accident or 'a purpose, chose to privilege cooperation in their efforts to live.
Thus, hunter-gatherer society, which is whut we done sprung from, was emminently cooperative, NOT competitive. The hunting and gathering were cooperatively done efforts, the fruits of those labors were scrupulously shared out, because, to have done otherwise would have threatened the all-important social cooperation on which the group's survival depended and even australopithecus was able to clearly act upon so basic a fact of nature, yes, the word is nature. Our biologically eveolved characteristics are founded on a _socially_ constructed personhood, identity. No one, but no one, arrived from the woolly wilds of nature as a wandering individual and, upon scibbling his or her name on The Social Contract, was thereby made a member in good standing of hunter-gather society.
Sorry, but, in that, Descartes, Hobbes, Rousseau, Smith & Jones, got it--and passed it to us---wrong!
The above-insights are gleaned from and thanks to one Professor of Economy, Jacques Généreux (and his sources), as set out in his book, La dissociété, at finer bookstores (almost) everywhere.
You could look it up. ;^)
"proximity1"
What's the beef? they come and pray, and ask others to join in. Doesn't sound very subversive to me.
Steve: then you are simply missing the point - whether purposely or unwittingly.
This is not about being "subversive" - this is about imposing religious views and values, along with Dominionism.
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