Canadian Politics! Now 12% less boring!

[pyat]

So, a former pastor of mine, the man who married velvetpage and I, is using Facebook to organize a political protest at Bob Rae's office. The text of the invite is as follows:

"Join the protest this Friday, December at 12:00 noon in front of Bob Rae's Cabbagetown office, 514 Parliament Street, Toronto. Join those who want to tell Mr. Rae that no Canadian voted for a government that seeks the support of separatists. Tell Mr. Rae that our economy can not afford these kinds of games right now."

Well, first off, a rather large number of Canadians voted for a government that seeks the support of separatists. We call those Canadians "Quebecois." But, that aside, I am still not sure what I think of my former Pastor inviting me to a political protest. I'm not one who thinks that separation of church and state extends to forbidding pastors from expressing any politics publicly or engaging in political activism. So, that doesn't bother me too much.

That said, I am frankly uncomfortable with the idea of a mass-invite to any kind of protest when there is no clear moral imperative or danger. It's simply more political gaming. ("Oh no! Canada might have a short-lived coalition government, just like any number of other democracies have had! Doom!)" I generally approve of political arrangements that force cooperation and compromise - governance according to a single political creed or philosophy is a mistake.

If the coalition is created and does poorly, the public backlash will be pretty strong. They will be punished or rewarded by the electorate. I am not terribly happy with the possible concessions that may be offered to the separatist element, but presumably the NDP and Liberals would recognize that handing over too much would be bad for them in the next election.

Then again, I'm also one of those people who thinks that Quebec independence would basically be a historical blip. And also rather silly that people regularly accuse Separatists of treason.

Comments

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't get this. What does this have to do with any sort of religious issues? I mean, this is over things like economic stimulus packages, the right to strike, and funding frameworks for political parties. I don't remember any sermons *ever* talking about those things.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Not very interesting sermons, anyway.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Heh.

You know, sometimes I miss church, just for the sermons (and the singing, and the coffee and baked goods at the end).

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I agree. While I'm not entirely happy with the theology of the Unitarian church we attend, I wasn't entirely happy with the theology of the Salvationist church before it, either. And the Unitarians have nearly as much singing, shorter sermons, and more baked goods!

[zenten.livejournal.com]

I actually started looking up unitarian churches after making that comment. There were two churches, one seemed cool, while the other one didn't quite so much.

[neosis.livejournal.com]

The Conservative Party of Canada is bristling with Social Conservatives, and thus many churches hope that the Conservative party will eventually pass laws that they support. You know the usual, ban gay marriage, ban gay adoption, fund religious school programs, bring prayers back into public schools, ban stem cell research, and ban abortion.

All the other major parties are pretty rigorously secular in their policies and agendas.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

I see.

Half of those couldn't even be done without a constitutional amendment. And the religious school programs is a provincial issue.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

It doesn't matter. They just want a government that postures loudly on their behalf.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

But... why exactly?

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Because they are used to living in faith.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

I see.

I totally don't get that mindset, as in it is totally alien to me. And my parents were quite active in the church when I was growing up.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Well, also because they don't realize that not much can be done. :)

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes sense.

I wonder if something can be done about that...