Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Darrel Reid, Past President of Focus on the Family Canada, who prophesied in 1998 that the day would come when Focus Canada would drive Canada's social and moral agenda, is in the lead in his Richmond, BC riding [near Vancouver]

Cindy Silver, Legal Counsel for Focus on the Family, Canada is in the lead in her North Vancouver riding.

So too is John Weston, evangelical Christian lawyer and frequent speaker at evangelical Christian lawyer-type organizations, who mounted a campaign against Native rights in BC.

The Past President of Promise Keepers Canada. David Sweet,  is leading in his constituency in Ontario, where nearby Rondo Thomas [http://www.trailervision.com/trailer.php?id=166] from Canadian Bible College is currently tied with the Liberal Candidate.

Add in numerous other evangelical pastors and lay leaders and the picture becomes clear.  All have been told to downplay their evangelical Christian rhetoric/beliefs until after the election.  In fact, in the last week or so, a number of specific references to evangelical organizations on these candidates websites have disappeared.  

The Conservatives promise to hold a `free vote' to make gay marriage illegal in Canada again, opt out of Kyoto, and probably opt in to the missile defense plan.   Maybe they could look for WMD somewhere.  How a party who, until recently, was considered decidedly fringe by most Canadians came to this point is combination of a strong, disciplined campaign, coupled with a lacklustre, clumsy effort by the scandal-plagued Liberals.  The New Democrats [similar to Britain's Labour Party] have, in an effort to get more seats, been hammering at the Liberals, with no sustained effort to critique the Conservatives.   In fact the Conservatives are even making inroads in Quebec against the Bloc Quebecois [who want an independent Quebec].  

The Conservative campaign has been indeed remarkably disciplined. Gone are the outbursts from holocaust-denying western wingnuts, or the rantings of pro-life candidates [‘we are not discussing that at this time’], etc. But they are the same party. One of the marks of fundamentalism is a willingness to deceive, because the ends justifies the means. Because God is leading them to bring in a new era of righteousness, if, in order to get the requisite votes, a few people have to keep their mouths shut for a while, what harm is that? If they have to bend the truth a bit, what harm is that.

And so my entreaty – to any Canucks in exile in the US or abroad – find a way to vote! With cheap Air Canada seat sales it’s probably worth it for you to fly home on the 23rd, have a visit with some family you haven’t seen for a while, and vote, please, vote. Canada, as we know it, may be on the line this time.