Evangelicals aim to win (Canadian) election

Typically the phrases evangelical voting and election refer to our Southern neighbours, but apparently they’re working equally hard to win this election.

It’s worth noting that they aren’t explicitly partisan here:

Pearson says he doesn’t mix politics and religion. “I’m apolitical — I consider myself a citizen of the world,” said the pastor, who was once municipal councillor in Quebec.

At his church, “we pray for all government authorities, whether they be municipal, provincial or Canadian,” he said. “We leave it to the discretion of each of our members to decide what politics to espouse. We don’t favour any one party or hold any in disfavour. Everyone is entirely free to choose.”

No favoured party

However, I feel like this is more covering their Christian asses in case Harper sells them out and fails to represent the Christian Right properly. Then they can always go back to the (in)famous Christian Heritage Party.

The article is filled with seeming contradictions – they don’t know who they are voting for, and they’re not preaching for any candidate, but then they endorse every Conservative policy:

Conservative policies appeal

It’s in the realm of values that the conservative agenda of the Christian right and some of the big-C Conservative policies under Harper match up ideologically. “The fact the Conservatives favour a smaller role for the state, that appeals to Protestant evangelicals, and the fact the Conservatives have opposed gay marriage, that appeals to us, too,” Lanthier said.

Other Tory policies — helping mothers stay at home with the kids instead of sending them to day care or eliminating tax credits for “offensive” films — fit in with what evangelicals believe: That “family” means a mother and a father raising their kids in a happy God-fearing home.

Harper’s Tories appear to be headed for a majority which makes this election different from others. “As evangelicals, we want politicians to promote our values” and Harper just might do that, said Lanthier.

But I wouldn’t call it a contradictory way of thinking, more it’s best to say “we don’t support any party but we do really like all the policies that guy has”. This way, each member can feel that they’re not forced to vote any specific way, but do have a better picture of what is important to them.

Finally, I’m worried about organizations like that described here:

Same sermon at 4 MY Canada, an Ottawa-based organization for young evangelicals that is militantly “pro-family” — that is, anti-abortion.

For example, if we say “militant atheism” that really tends to mean “someone who writes a book that pisses Christians off”, but this use of militant could very well mean “someone who is willing to bomb an abortion clinic or murder abortion doctors.” Perhaps this is not what 4 MY is about, but I’m still concerned.

Some work is being done by CFI Calgary to discover links between the Conservative Party and the Christian Right, but it’s a lot less obvious than in the US. There may not be much there, or it may be as bad.