The Liberals don’t get religious Canadians
Liberals just don’t grasp the religious heritage of many Canadians.
Three young prisoners of war stood defiantly in the desert. They knew t he consequences: they could literally feel the heat already. But when the music played, they refused to kneel. Their faith was even more precious than the golden statue in front of them.
Stories such as this one define cultures. As Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote, “Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize.”
Those who tell the stori es, and the stories they tell, are deeply influential. They become internalized, imbedded in our sense of self. Our very identities are products and producers of the tales we hear and recount. They establish ( and perpetuate) the values and expectations of succeeding generations.
The current attitude toward religion in political circles reveals a failure to fully understand the power of stories. Take, for example, the federal government’s inability to satisfy the concerns of religious charities over the government’s attestation requirement to receive funding for the Canada Summer Jobs program.
The attestation forced all applicants to agree with the government’s view on “individual human rights,” “Charter values,” and “other rights,” including the “right” to abortion. Immediately, the religious community reacted against the requirement, identifying it as compelled speech that violated t heir r el i gious f r eedom under section 2 of the Charter.
The government eventually issued “supplementary information” saying it only expected compliance in activities, not beliefs or values. However, the government still refused to change the attestation itself. It seems it endorsed a single narrative to the exclusion of any other storylines.
As a result, many organizations ( both religious and secular) chose to forgo government money for student jobs rather than sign on to the government’s view on abortion. Others who did apply but changed the attestation on the written document were promptly rejected.
The government appears perplexed at the intransigence of religious charities. Perhaps it would be less baffled if it had a better understanding of religion and the impact of what J. R. R. Tolkien termed “true myths.”
Over 60 per cent of religious groups in Canada have a Judeo- C hris t i an heritage. These communities are steeped in the ancient imagery of the Bible. Biblical narratives, despite their antiquity, still resonate with modern experience. Indeed, until recently, Western civilization was replete with those stories, and simple allusions conveyed profound meaning. Consider the phrase “But if not.”
As Washington Post columnist George F. Will recounted, “In 1940, a British officer on Dunkirk beach sent London a three- word message: ‘ But if not.’ It was instantly recognized as from the Book of Daniel.” The reference expressed defiance and resolve in the face of a fatal threat from the German advance. The Book of Daniel tells the story of three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach and AbedNego, who refused to bow before a golden image set up by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, even though t hey f aced death. These young men told the king that their God was able to deliver them from the King’s hand, “but if not,” t hey would still not bow. Miraculously, God rescued them from the fiery furnace.
This archetypal tale of courage and conviction has galvanized Judeo- Christian religious groups for millennia, whether living under totalitarian regimes or democratic governments. In the narrative of sacrificial obedience and divine deliverance, nothing is worth more than religious conscience.
Political dictates, if contrary to spiritual beliefs, cannot be followed, no matter the consequences.
Similarly, more recent t ales of persec ution remain vivid in the collective memory of many religious Canadians who escaped discrimination elsewhere, or whose grandparents or great- grandparents fled violence in other countries.
Failure t o understand this heritage is like skipping the first half of a book: the government cannot grasp the entire story. For millions of Canadian faithful, history and culture speak loud and clear: our God is able to supply our needs, but if not, we still will not “check the box.” Keep your money. Our religious conscience is worth far more.
PROFESSOR HAWKING WAS AN IDEOLOGICAL ATHEIST. — RAYMOND DE SOUZA