In the middle of the Ottawa convoy nonsense, Franklin Graham, son of Billy and one of the world leaders of conservative evangelicalism, tweeted to his 2.3 million followers his support for the illegal occupation of the nation’s capital. In all honesty, it came as no surprise.
The Ottawa protest and the various replicas across Canada are composed of a various lot. Extreme libertarians, anti-vaccination zealots, neo-Nazis, and conservative Canadians who just seem confused and angry. A startling number of them also appear to be fundamentalist Christians, as the number of Christian symbols, flags, and shouts to their critics and opponents that, “God will condemn you,” testify.
There’s also a gallery’s worth of kitsch pictures doing the rounds of social media, featuring trucks adorned with Canadian flags dividing the Red Sea as they drive bravely forward, some of them in front of a crowned lion, being either C.S. Lewis’s Aslan from Narnia, or the lion of God. It’s terrible art and worse theology.
There’s nothing new about arch-conservatives spinning Christianity to suit their own purposes. It’s always been an issue, especially in North America since the 1960s. But it was generally applied to the broad sweep of social conservatism, exploited to justify opposition to LGBTQ2+ equality and women’s choice. Now this perversion of Gospel truth has gone much further.
As soon as federal and provincial governments reacted to Covid with lockdowns and vaccinations, fundamentalist Christians saw the evil hand of the state as work. For “state” read liberalism, control, and even communism. Decades of propaganda have convinced these churches and believers that there is a great and global conflict happening, and governments are on the wrong side. The fantasy runs thus: families and family values are under threat, anti-biblical values are being forced on those families, and the state and its agents are part of the anti-Christ.
I know, it sounds mad. Because it is.
But in the alternative universe of religious fundamentalism, madness is normal. It is the world turned upside down. In this dark mirror of belief, the lockdowns were an inevitable development in the spiritual war that is being waged. Vaccines are mentioned in the Book of Revelation—except they aren’t— as a mark of the devil. Or they’re a weapon to prevent procreation and reduce the population, or they are made from aborted fetal stem cells, or … insert your conspiracy in this space.
They also can’t believe that Canadians continue to elect Liberal governments, and as with their US counterparts they assume that the electoral process is flawed or fraudulent. It’s partly a result of insularity — many of these belief communities seldom interact with anybody outside of their own comfort zone — and this social and emotional distance from mainstream society makes them vulnerable to all sorts of paranoia.
This social and emotional distance from mainstream society makes them vulnerable to all sorts of paranoia
Then there is what is known as eschatology, the aspect of theology concerned with the ultimate destiny of all of us. In other words, the so-called End Times.
Armageddon has been an obsession with subgroups of fundamentalists for centuries, often based on a fear of, or disillusionment with, contemporary society.
In fact, it’s based on a tragic misreading of the Hebrew Scriptures. Megiddo, the origin of the word Armageddon, is a town in Israel that for centuries was at the crossroads of the trade routes of a series of superpowers. It saw a lot of bloodshed and was thus used as a warning metaphor by some of the writers of the Bible. By the way, I worked on an archeological dig there a few years ago, and the locals make a mean falafel pita wrap!
It’s no joke however. The proximity of the world’s end, distrust and hatred of the state, conviction that God is on your side, anger at the seemingly unstoppable progressive nature of society, and a visceral dislike of Justin Trudeau—who seems to embody all that they reject and despise—make for a potent stew.
At the risk of sounding uncharitable, these are not people who embrace theological nuance or depth. Scripture, while still being the inspired word of God, isn’t divine dictation. It requires analysis and context. These ideas are seen by them as heretical and tainted. A loud trucker is given far more respect than a learned teacher.
We see the protest unwrapping, and Ottawa will return to normal. But everybody involved has had a taste of victory, including those who are motivated by their faith. Much as we might like to think otherwise, we haven’t heard the last of the Christian right by a very long way. ◆
Rev. Michael Coren is an award-winning Toronto- based columnist and author of 18 books, appears regularly on TV and radio, and is also an Anglican priest.
