Political Participation
One of the comments on http://canadaconservative.blogspot.com/ complains that Andrew doesn't understand the separation of church and state, and is really no different than Hamas. Here is my response:
I am reminded of the statement by Richard John Neuhaus, the Catholic social commentator, that he believes in the separation of church and state, but he doesn't believe in mutual ignorance. The more militantly secularist among us will be satisfied by nothing less than mutual ignorance and the complete exclusion of people of faith from the political process. They would have us to believe that a militantly secularist, materialistic and atheistic worldview is the default, and anyone with a different worldview is a threat and a dangerous extremist.
Within Canada, you will not find too many Christians who want to set up a religious state and impose it on others. Most of us understand that real change in our nation will come through a change in people's hearts (i.e religious conversion), not in a new government. However the Christians I know cannot be schizophrenic about our faith. We cannot be one type of person in church and another type of person in public. Our religious faith is an integral part of who we are. And so we react to certain issues in a certain way, not because we have been told by religious leaders to act in a certain way, but because we are expressing what we really believe.
I believe it is acceptable for Christians to be involved in the political process, and that our influence should be no greater and no less than the sum total of ballots we can deliver. We will support the candidates whose basic belief systems we agree with, because what a person believes will define how a person acts (unless he is a hypocrite). As for those on the political left who are campaigning for proportional representation, please remember that this would open up the door for religious political parties to play the kingmaker in Canadian elections. There’s a reason why the elevators in Israel don’t run on the Sabbath, and it’s not because the majority of Israelis want it that way.
Finally, thanks for the comments on Hamas. The fact that you cannot distinguish between democratic participation in Canadian government by plain humble Christians, and the wild AK-47 ravings of a recognized terrorist organization demonstrates the logical strength of your argument.
I am reminded of the statement by Richard John Neuhaus, the Catholic social commentator, that he believes in the separation of church and state, but he doesn't believe in mutual ignorance. The more militantly secularist among us will be satisfied by nothing less than mutual ignorance and the complete exclusion of people of faith from the political process. They would have us to believe that a militantly secularist, materialistic and atheistic worldview is the default, and anyone with a different worldview is a threat and a dangerous extremist.
Within Canada, you will not find too many Christians who want to set up a religious state and impose it on others. Most of us understand that real change in our nation will come through a change in people's hearts (i.e religious conversion), not in a new government. However the Christians I know cannot be schizophrenic about our faith. We cannot be one type of person in church and another type of person in public. Our religious faith is an integral part of who we are. And so we react to certain issues in a certain way, not because we have been told by religious leaders to act in a certain way, but because we are expressing what we really believe.
I believe it is acceptable for Christians to be involved in the political process, and that our influence should be no greater and no less than the sum total of ballots we can deliver. We will support the candidates whose basic belief systems we agree with, because what a person believes will define how a person acts (unless he is a hypocrite). As for those on the political left who are campaigning for proportional representation, please remember that this would open up the door for religious political parties to play the kingmaker in Canadian elections. There’s a reason why the elevators in Israel don’t run on the Sabbath, and it’s not because the majority of Israelis want it that way.
Finally, thanks for the comments on Hamas. The fact that you cannot distinguish between democratic participation in Canadian government by plain humble Christians, and the wild AK-47 ravings of a recognized terrorist organization demonstrates the logical strength of your argument.
posted by Shawn Abigail at 1:42 p.m.
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