Evolution skeptic quits Tory caucus
Lunney says he wants to defend his beliefs without ‘entangling’ party
A Conservative MP has quit the government caucus to sit as an Independent so he can freely defend his religious beliefs and counter attempts to “suppress a Christian world-view” in politics and other professions.
The announcement came Tuesday from James Lunney, who has held a Nanaimo, B.C., seat since 2000 but will not run for re-election in this year’s election.
About a month ago, Lunney appeared to come to the defence of a Progressive Conservative MPP in Ontario who questioned the validity of evolution.
At the time, Lunney wrote on his Twitter feed: “Just stop calling evolution fact.”
That tweet prompted criticism from some others on Twitter and the story was picked up by the media.
In a statement released by his office Tuesday, Lunney said his earlier remarks “were inflated by media, blended with other unrelated but alleged heretical statements and became a top story on national media creating a firestorm of criticism and condemnation.”
He said he will continue to vote the same way as Conservative MPs and will seek an opportunity to speak to the House “in defence of my beliefs and the concerns of my faith community. Freedom of religion is foundational to democracy; if we don’t get that right, it always leads to persecution.”
In his statement, Lunney said that “leaders of the faith community” recently came to Ottawa to raise concerns about “unprecedented attempts to stifle freedom of religion, conscience and expression in Canada.”
Those leaders pointed to a refusal by three provincial bar associations to accredit any future potential law school graduate of Trinity Western University, which is a Christian post-secondary institution.
“They identify deliberate attempts to suppress a Christian world-view from professional and economic opportunity in law, medicine, and academia,” wrote Lunney.
“I share these concerns. I believe the same is true in the realm of politics at senior levels.”
Among the Christian leaders who raised concerns last week was Charles McVety, president of the Institute for Canadian Values, a think-tank that advances issues “from Judeo-Christian intellectual and moral perspectives.”
In an interview Tuesday, McVety praised Lunney as a man of “conviction” and “courage” who has been frustrated by the political constraints of working within a party.
“He wants to fight for freedom and for fairness. And when you are in a Conservative or any caucus, for that matter, whatever you do affects every member of that caucus.”
In his statement, Lunney stressed he is leaving the Conservative caucus voluntarily.
“Given the circling trolls, I do not intend to entangle the most multi-racial, multicultural and multi-faith caucus in parliamentary history in my decision to defend my beliefs.”
He wrote that since two other politicians in Ontario and Alberta were also “targeted” in recent weeks, “it is clear that any politician or candidate of faith is going to be subjected to the same public scrutiny in coming elections.”
Add MP James Lunney to the list of people who somehow have come to believe they’re being persecuted — that indeed, their fundamental human rights are under threat — when people disagree with them on Twitter.
Lunney has withdrawn from the Conservative caucus. In a statement, he said he made the choice so that he would have greater latitude to defend his Christian beliefs in the House of Commons without the “circling trolls” affecting his Conservative colleagues. He referred to “a few words exchanged on social media” becoming a news story. Those few words were Lunney’s tweets from February that included the exhortation to “stop calling evolution fact!”
Lunney is, of course, entitled to believe whatever he likes about evolution. He is allowed to question the science of climate change, too — and he has. He is allowed to give credence to crackpot theories linking vaccines to autism — and he has.
But no one is entitled to have their views met with unquestioning support or even uncomfortable silence from voters, from political parties, from the media, from people on Twitter, or from anyone else. “It is clear that any politician or candidate of faith is going to be subjected to the same public scrutiny in coming elections,” Lunney laments, as if public scrutiny of candidates for public office were a bad thing.
Just because we are each entitled to hold and express our beliefs does not mean we’re entitled to a world in which no one disagrees with us, or criticizes our arguments, or even mocks or satirizes them. The wonderful result of freedom of expression is the clash of beliefs. Freedom of religion means the state can’t tell you what to believe; it doesn’t mean your neighbour can’t tell you he thinks you’re wrong. And like all freedoms, freedom of religion does not allow anyone to interfere with the rights of others.
Lunney characterized the “bigotry” of the media and his Twitter correspondents as “a flagrant violation of a society that is multicultural, multi-racial and multi-faith and strives to be accepting of differences.” Accepting differences among people does not require us as citizens to abandon the responsibility to discern among arguments — especially when those arguments are coming from elected officials.
The persecution of religious minorities — including Christians, in some places — is all too real. If Lunney or anyone else wants to fight for religious freedom, there are many worthy causes to champion. The cause of Canadian politicians whose anti-science tweets go viral is not foremost among them.