There’s so very much about the rise of the new right in Canada that is deeply troubling, and should be so to traditional conservatives as well as to liberals and progressives. This fairly recent phenomenon is a coalition of populists, racists, conspiracy theorists, anti-science zealots, and Christian nationalists. It’s the last group in particular that so concerns me, because it’s a mingling of the irrational and religious with the hateful and extreme, and that’s a recipe for disaster.
I don’t think that Tory leader Pierre Polievre is one of them, or even that he’s especially religious. I can’t say for certain but I’d be extremely surprised if it were otherwise. But I do believe that he gives these people oxygen, has their support, and does absolutely nothing to dissuade them. This is irresponsible and short-sighted.
In case you wonder at who they are, we see their signs at protests and rallies, and saw them in abundance during the Ottawa occupation. Misplaced, sometimes misspelled, Bible quotes, calls for the “restoration of the kingdom of God,” pictures of rosaries wrapped around offensive right-wing statements, and prayer meetings held by people who proceed to wish death on Justin Trudeau, and use obscene language about their opponents. Not the nicest people you could hope to encounter.
Apart from the obvious horror and nastiness of it all, it’s such an imploding idea. Christian nationalism is an inherent contradiction, an oxymoron, in that Jesus stood in direct opposition to nationalism —both that of his own people, and as a wider concept. The essence of his teaching is that he came for all, irrespective of race or nation, and that one person could not have two masters. A Christian nationalist is merely a nationalist trying to disguise nastiness behind faith and religiosity. Perhaps they’re naïve, perhaps they’re trying to mislead, perhaps they’re a combination of both.
In that the Gospels preach love, tolerance, gentleness, forgiveness, and equality, there is absolutely no connection at all between Christ and this latest aberration; or, if you like, this latest heresy. Jesus said you change the world by changing your heart, Christian nationalists say you change the world by shouting at and insulting people. Very different creature indeed.
A Christian nationalist is merely a nationalist trying to disguise nastiness behind faith and religiosity
But there’s more going on than this. Not only is Canadian Christian nationalism not Christian, it’s not Canadian or patriotic either. The roots of this perverted idea are found in a specifically American notion of exceptionalism, the idea that the United States was and is chosen by God to be a light on a hill, distinct, special, and better. America, runs the ideology, has a God-given right and duty to shape and lead the world, and anybody who opposes this isn’t truly American. Inevitably, this leads to a whole stew of repugnant beliefs. It may even lead to something resembling fascism. If you doubt me, observe what happened when an enraged mob stormed Washington DC.
It also reveals a colossal misunderstanding and twisting of scripture, in that when God chose a people or a particular person it was often to show grace and courage during suffering, not to bathe in triumphal splendour. The idea has its foundations in the theology of the Puritans who settled America in the 17th-century, and took with them a Calvinist interpretation of the Old Testament, with a boast of predestination and national blessing. One of the reasons they left England and Holland was that they wanted a stricter, more rigid observation of the Bible.
That led to a variety of problems, and while Canada has its own birth defects and ghosts with which to deal, this country was established on radically different definitions of religion, state, and purpose. So, it’s darkly ironic that Canadian arch-conservatives should embrace a quintessentially American value, and throw it around as they wave the Canadian flag, often upside down of course.
This sad aping of crude American politics and Trump-adoration is eating away at popular discourse and even civilized democracy. It leads directly to the mob scenes we’ve witnessed, to journalists being abused and threatened, and talk of violence and revolt. That the word “Christian” should be linked to it in any way at all disgusts me.
The British writer GK Chesterton once said that no true patriot would ever dream of saying, “My country, right or wrong.” It would, he continued, be like saying, “My mother, drunk or sober.” Canadian Christian nationalists seem to be drunk out of their minds, but on something far, far worse than mere alcohol.
