As a minister I receive unsolicited mailings of theological tripe from various factions of the Christian Right all the time. The issue is not about the faith integrity of individuals, but the distorted dogma driving American policy. This fundamentalist movement has exerted unprecedented influence over the Bush administration during its first term and there is every reason to be alarmed over their continued influence in the U.S., Canada and indeed the world.
Our biggest concern should be over the way they distort Scripture, turning the liberating Word of God into a weapon of abuse against all those who oppose their views. The leaders of this Christian fundamentalism consistently declare the virtue of human tolerance a sin. They are on the record in favour of capital punishment for children. They have campaigned to oppose the UN Declaration of the Rights of the child, and have systematically lobbied State politicians to erode anti-discrimination laws aimed at protecting gays and lesbians. They continue to promote the thoroughly discredited notions that homosexuality is "a lifestyle choice", that homosexuals can be converted to heterosexual orientation, and that parents can prevent their children from becoming gay or lesbian, by following the dubious ideas of James Dobson of Focus on the Family. They have forced public schools to teach Creationism and have replaced good, protective sexual health teaching with an abstinence only doctrine that has failed miserably to curb teen pregnancy, HIV, or other STD rates.
If this were not enough, they have endorsed George W. Bush as being "divinely chosen" by God as their leader, with the consequent "divine" approval of his policies, both domestic and foreign. This view is especially dangerous as the Christian Right cloaks the war in Iraq in holy terms, campaigns against the United Nations because they view it as "the Anti-Christ" and aligns itself with Zionist movements meant to endorse Israeli domination in the Middle East, all of this interpreted as the will of God, revealed in Scripture.
It is high time that those of us within the Reformed tradition in Canada speak out and take action against such perversions of Scripture and Christian theology. There are sound theological reasons for a proper separation of Church and State, and they need to be heard now more than ever. As Christians we are to speak a liberating prophetic word to governments on behalf of the most vulnerable people in our nation and world, but we are to refrain from coercion and domination. As Canadians we have a serious stake in opposing the current hegemony the Christian Right now exerts within the U.S. and world.
The ecumenical Christian faith and social justice community known as Sojourners based in Washington, D.C., has put together a prophetic statement and petition in opposition to the views and tactics of the Christian Right campaign to dominate U.S. domestic and foreign policy. This statement has been compared to the Barmen Declaration drafted by those Church leaders dissenting to the dogmas of Nazism. The Sojourner's Statement and other resources can be obtained on line at www.sojo.net. Another excellent resource is the book: "With God On Their Side: How Christian Fundamentalists Trampled Science, Policy, and Democracy in George W. Bush's White House" by Esther Kaplan, New Press, 2004. I sincerely hope and pray that as Presbyterians we will take this issue seriously, with religious fundamentalism wreaking havoc the world over, we must act.
Mosa, Ont.
Dear Editor,
I am truly fed up with this same-sex marriage issue, but it wasn't Christian groups that put it on the public agenda. It was gay activists working through the courts and government of Prime Minister Chrétien. His successor, Paul Martin, has consciously decided to keep it there. The Supreme Court ruled that Parliament was not obligated to change the definition of marriage but could if it chose to. Let's remember that a Liberal government supported a resolution in 1999 to uphold the traditional definition of marriage. What has changed in the intervening years? Perhaps the only change is more aggressive and effective lobbying by special interest groups representing a tiny segment of Canadian society (less than three per cent according to recent research by Reginald Bibby; around two per cent according to Statistics Canada), combined with a few judges seemingly in love with the notion of reinventing our society after some theoretical utopian model.
Christians are called to speak up for what we believe to be right and to act, not to sit idly by while ill considered, unnecessary and politically motivated social engineering is forced upon Canadians. Focus on the Family and some courageous Roman Catholic clerics deserve our support and thanks for publicly upholding traditional marriage. Let's hope politicians who claim to be Christian will do the same when it comes to a vote.
