The religious right helped the Tories win a majority government, Canada is now witnessing a growing polarization, and the competition among religious ideologies will continue “with an enduring intensity,” argues former NDP Dennis Gruending in his new book, Pulpit and Politics: Competing Religious Ideologies in Canadian Public Life.

“The Harper government has courted conservative evangelicals, along with certain Catholic and Jewish voters, to join a political coalition that would change us into a leaner and meaner state, albeit one with more prisons and a larger military, and one that supports the Israeli government without question in the Middle East,” Mr. Gruending told The Hill Times. “In my book, I look closely at the political ideology and tactics of these religious conservatives. But that is only half the story. I also report on efforts by religious progressives to win back a more caring dimension of religion. These groups are involved in an enduring competition for public influence.”

Mr. Gruending, 63, is a former journalist, speechwriter, director of information for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the author of six books, including Great Canadian Speeches. Today, he works for the Canadian Labour Congress, writes a blog called Pulpit and Politics, and regularly attends a Mennonite church in Ottawa. 

Raised in rural Saskatchewan, Mr. Gruending attended a boarding school run by Benedictine monks. He said he has respect for all religious traditions, but has no time for religious triumphalism and describes his own religious conviction as “somewhere between faith and scepticism.”

“There are people of goodwill in all religions and among those who are not religious at all. The challenge is for us to work together for the common good,” he said.

Why is this book important and who should read it?

“The book looks closely at a relatively neglected area, which is the impact that competing religious ideologies are having upon politics and public life in Canada. Specifically, I examine the competition between religious progressives and conservatives for power and influence. This is not merely a topic of casual interest because religious faith informs political decisions about the division of wealth in our society, education and race relations, immigration, respect for democracy, foreign policy, and environmental issues, to name just a few. The book will be of particular interest to anyone who is elected or working in politics, to anyone who watches public policy or teaches about it and certainly to people of religious faith.”  

You say your book examines “the competition between religious progressives and conservatives for power and influence in Canadian public life.” How do you know this? What’s going on? 

“Well, an Ipsos Reid exit poll on Election Day in May 2011, showed, for example, that 56 per cent of Protestants who attended church weekly voted for the Conservatives—this in a four-party race (five parties in Quebec). This is significant. There have been longstanding differences of opinion between religious progressives and conservatives, and they continue. I am thinking, for example, of the social gospel approach of someone like Tommy Douglas, as opposed to the more conservative approach of Ernest Manning—both of these men were premiers and religious ministers. These historical differences live on and can be personified in people like the recently-retired Bill Blaikie on the one hand, and people like Preston Manning, Stockwell Day, Jason Kenney and any number of other Conservatives, on the other.”

How much of a force is the religious right in Canadian federal politics and how does it compare to the American religious right in U.S. politics?

“Religious conservatives tend to vote for the Conservative Party in elections but their support goes well beyond that. They have a matrix of think-tanks, educational institutions and media that are a part of a broader conservative movement—think of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, REAL Women, the Manning Centre and numerous other groups. Their common goal is to move debate and public opinion to the right and to learn how to win at conservative politics. They have the ear of the Harper government. In the U.S., the religious right has been a key constituency in the Republican coalition since the time of Ronald Reagan. The dynamic in Canada has many similarities but is not exactly the same. For one thing, in the U.S. evangelicals make up a much larger percentage of the population than they do in Canada. Here more than 40 per cent of the population identify themselves as Catholics and in the past, at least, that has made a difference.”  

How much of a force is the religious left in Canadian federal politics?

“Religious conservatives have the upper hand in Canada right now. They have influence with the Harper government but religious progressives are struggling to be heard on issues of equality, justice, human rights, and peace. These people are not going to go away. I think of the work being done on poverty by an ecumenical group called Citizens for Public Justice, and the work on international human rights being done by another ecumenical group called KAIROS— which was attacked by the Conservative government and had its funding pulled. We’ve also seen civil disobedience and arrests in a recent demonstration on Parliament Hill against the Keystone XL pipeline between Alberta and Texas, and at least some of those people were church-based. An important point here is that people of religious faith cannot achieve social and political change on their own. They have to work along with others who are not necessarily religious but who have progressive values.” 

Don’t you think religion and politics should stay separate, as in the separation of church and the state?

“Let me be clear. I am not advocating for some kind of religious dominance in politics. I see my role more as one of an observer who watches certain developments and comments on them because they are of particular interest to me. Our political institutions are secular and should remain so. But one cannot discount the dearly held values that people bring to public life, and often those values arise from religious faith. Many people of faith believe, for example that they are their sister’s and their brother’s keeper, and they have put that philosophy into effect through public institutions and programs. Medicare would be one example. I would also mention that in the U.S. religion and the state are separated formally but, ironically, politics there is completely suffused with religion.”

Are you a religious person and does it influence your politics today? How did it influence your work when you were an MP?

“I suppose that I am like a lot of people who exist somewhere between faith and skepticism. I was raised in a rural community in Saskatchewan that was predominantly and traditionally Catholic and I spent several years at a boarding school run by Benedictine monks. I like to think that my formation there has had some impact on what I am and what I do. The monks impressed upon us that we have a responsibility to share our gifts and to be active in society. I have a great respect for all religious traditions but I have no time for religious triumphalism of any sort. There are people of goodwill in all religions and among those who are not religious at all. The challenge is for us to work together for the common good.”

Do you practise any religion?

“I attend regularly a Mennonite church in Ottawa.”

Does religion influence the NDP, Conservative and Liberal caucuses in Parliament today?

“I can’t answer that question in detail because there were a lot of new MPs elected in May 2011. But I can make several observations. There are a group of academics involved in something called the Canadian Election Study and they look closely at federal elections, past and present, using survey data. They have been struck by the extent to which NDP support came from voters who described themselves as secular, while support for the Reform-Alliance and now Conservative parties came from what the researchers called ‘moral traditionalists.’”

You say the “connection between religious faith and politics did not often make headlines in the 2011 federal election campaign, but that it was real and present.” What do you mean? 

“Let me give you a just a small example. Late in the federal campaign, I received an automated telephone call from Jim Hughes, chairman of Campaign Life Coalition, an anti-abortion group. He asked me to vote for the Conservative candidate in my Ottawa riding. In fact, I received a similar call just recently from Mary Ellen Douglas of Campaign Life on the day prior to the Ontario provincial election, also asking me to vote for the Conservatives. These things are below the radar but they go on all of the time.”

You also write that the religious right helped the Conservatives win a majority and that Canada is now witnessing a growing polarization. You also say “the competition among religious ideologies will continue with an enduring intensity.” What are you talking about?

“I am talking about an extension of trends already in existence. The Harper government has courted conservative evangelicals, along with certain Catholic and Jewish voters, to join a political coalition that would change us into a leaner and meaner state, albeit it one with more prisons and a larger military, and one that supports the Israeli government without question in the Middle East. In my book, I look closely at the political ideology and tactics of these religious conservatives. But that is only half the story. I also report on efforts by religious progressives to win back a more caring dimension of religion. These groups are involved in an enduring competition for public influence.”

Couldn’t you also argue that the religious right are just more organized and better voters than the religious left and that it’s why they helped the Conservatives win? 

“Yes, they are well organized here just as they are in the U.S. The American linguist George Lakoff says that years ago rich and influential people in the U.S. made a conscious decision to set up conservative think tanks along with research chairs and scholarships at select universities—all with the intention of moving public opinion to the right. That’s happening in Canada too and these organizations— both religious and secular—are more numerous and active than anything progressives have to offer, at least to date. I am not saying that religious conservatives should not be politically active, but if they are they should expect to have their ideas and their actions scrutinized and that is what I attempt to do.”

An Ipsos Reid exit poll of 36,000 voters on May 2, the one you refer to a number of times in your book, found that 55 per cent of Protestants voted for the Conservatives, 39 per cent of Catholics voted NDP, 30 per cent of Catholics voted Conservative and 16 per cent of Catholics voted Liberal. Why do you think that is?

“These voting numbers were for Protestants (and Catholics) who attended church services weekly—frequent attendance seems to make a difference in voting patterns. The 55 per cent vote would have even higher among evangelical Protestants because they attend services more frequently than do mainline Protestants in the United, Anglican and other churches. The simple answer for this Conservative support among evangelicals is that religious conservatives tend to be political Conservatives as well – although I must add that I also know many people in so-called evangelical congregations who are not Conservatives. The fact that 39 per cent of Catholics voted for the NDP can be attributed significantly to the fact that the NDP swept Quebec where most people are Catholics, at least nominally.”       

Why do you say “the Catholic vote is now up for grabs and the stakes are high”? Why is that important or significant? 

“Catholics have traditionally voted heavily in favour of the Liberals but that did not happen in May 2011, a trend that had begun a few elections earlier. This is because the Liberal vote has fallen off precipitously among pretty well all groups and because in May 2011 the NDP did so well in Quebec where most people identify as Catholics. It will be interesting to see if the NDP can hold onto its vote in Quebec and if the Liberals can make a comeback throughout the country. That will have an impact upon the Catholic vote. I say that stakes are high because more than 40 per cent of Canadians self-identify as Catholics, so how they vote is potentially very important.”

What are the Conservatives doing to win the Catholic vote?

“It is difficult to target the Catholic vote because there are so many Catholics in Canada, and because the church is so diverse, ethnically and in its range of opinions—from rigid conservatives to the committed progressives. The Conservatives appeal to traditional Catholics in the same way that they appeal to other religious conservatives—by emphasizing so-called family values and in policies such as favouring a tax credit to parents for child care over a public child care program.”  

The Ipsos Reid exit poll also found that 52 per cent of Jewish voters voted for the Conservatives, 24 per cent voted Liberal and 16 per cent voted NDP, but the Conservatives did poorly among Canadian Muslims. You write that “the Conservatives are cheerleaders for Israeli government policies, that Harper is isolating Canada internationally and he also forfeits the vote of Muslim Canadians, a price he’s prepared to pay.” Why do the Conservatives prefer to court the Jewish vote rather than the Muslim vote?

“There are now twice as many Muslims in Canada as there are Jewish people but the Jewish community is more established and more influential. So that would be one reason for the Conservatives to court them. But the Conservatives are also playing to another part of their constituency—the Christian fundamentalists who believe that the return of Jews to the Holy Land and the establishment of the state of Israel are prerequisites for the Second Coming of Christ, a development for which these Christians long. This leads them to offer wholehearted support for Israel. Finally, many Conservatives may simply believe that they are right in supporting policies of the Israeli government no matter what. It is worth mentioning that 48 per cent of Jewish voters did not cast their ballots for the Conservatives on May 2.”

You also say “the next four years promise to be intense, and progressives—religious and secular—will have to decide how to respond if, as expected, Harper attempts to move the country sharply to the right.” Can you explain this?

“I don’t think the Harper government, now armed with a majority, will change its course on basic issues such as its unquestioning support of Israeli government policy. A recent example is their speaking and voting at the United Nations against a motion calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state. I don’t think that stance is going to change. I don’t expect the Conservatives will accept the advice of KAIROS or the Untied Church on this question, not to mention the advice of former ambassadors and diplomats.  Nor do I expect the government will follow the advice of religious progressives (or of House of Commons and Senate committees) who have all asked that Ottawa take specific initiatives to eradicate poverty in Canada. Nor will the Conservatives likely countenance any slowing down of development in the oil sands, a move that would reduce our carbon footprint. We have already seen demonstrations and arrests on Parliament Hill on this issue. So there is going to be continuing controversy on these issues—and most of them can be seen through both a religious and a secular prism.” 

How much real influence do these advocacy and lobby groups have at influencing public policy, such as the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada; the Canadian Centre for Policy Studies; the Institute for Canadian Values, the National House of Prayer, and 4MyCanada, Campaign for Life, the Catholic Civil Rights League, and REAL Women of Canada?

“Well, they believe they have much more traction with the Harper government than they had with the Liberals. I have seen a number of statements to this effect. But they win some and they lose some on the issues. The Institute of Marriage and the Family provides research and strategic advice for conservative causes and lobbied hard on the issue of same sex marriage, but they lost that one. 

“They did win, however, on having the Conservatives ditch the public childcare initiative negotiated by Paul Martin with the provinces and territories, replacing it with a tax credit to middle class and wealthier families.  REAL Women lobbied the Conservatives to have the Court Challenges Program eliminated and it was. They also wanted the Status of Women offices shut down. The Conservatives did not eliminate Status of Women entirely but they did cut them back severely and weakened their mandate. Religious conservatives seem to be getting pretty well everything they want on crime and Canadian support for Israel. 

“But they should be careful. They have cast their lot with the Mr. Harper but he is playing a game with them. He wants them to think he is solidly on their side but he can’t give them everything that they want because that would turn off a majority of Canadians who want nothing to do with religious conservatives or with their agenda. Mr. Harper has disappointed religious conservatives on both the same-sex marriage and abortion issues. Some of them are beginning to believe that he is taking them for granted.”

“What do you think the point is of the new Office of Religious Freedoms set up by the government at Foreign Affairs? Do you think this is the Conservatives’ effort to win the religious vote here in Canada too through this office?

“I would have thought that our Foreign Affairs department was already watching and working on issues of religious freedom, which is after all a question of human rights. I am concerned that a new stand-alone office might be used to politicize issues that are best handled diplomatically. A similar type of office set up by the U.S. government has been criticized as being designed to convert people around the world to Christianity. I think that the Conservatives would see this office as playing to their base among religious conservatives.”

kmalloy@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times