NEWS DIGEST: Religion in Canada

c. 2004 Religion News Service Faith to Cause Most Tension, Poll Shows MONTREAL (RNS) For the first time in years, religion has surpassed language as the expected cause of social strife in the coming years, according to a poll conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies. The poll, conducted by Environics between March 29 and […]

c. 2004 Religion News Service

Faith to Cause Most Tension, Poll Shows


MONTREAL (RNS) For the first time in years, religion has surpassed language as the expected cause of social strife in the coming years, according to a poll conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies.

The poll, conducted by Environics between March 29 and April 18, surveyed 2,014 Canadians.

Forty-three percent of respondents felt conflict between religious groups would be the greatest source of tension in the years ahead.

Residents of Quebec, Ontario and Alberta were most likely to think this, while the majority of those polled in Saskatchewan (52 percent) said friction between aboriginal and nonaboriginal groups would be the greatest source of tension.

Tensions between ethnic groups were rated as the second-most-likely cause of discord.

Only 13 percent of those polled felt that tension between English- and French-speaking groups would be a problem.

“In 30 years, I’ve never seen this,” said Jack Jedwab, executive director of the association. He said the results surprised him because in past polls, Canadians were usually concerned about English-French or aboriginal vs. nonaboriginal differences.

“There is a growing concern about the vulnerability of religious groups,” he said.

Liberals Blast Own Party for Religion Query

OTTAWA (RNS) Some devout Liberal MPs are upset by what they see as their party’s attempt to demonize the Conservatives as a bunch of religious zealots, and are urging Prime Minister Paul Martin to repudiate the “inappropriate” and “hypocritical” election tactic, Canadian Press reports.

For Toronto MP John McKay, the tactic is “antithetical to everything I believe as a Liberal.”

“Either we think that we have an inclusive notion of pluralism in this country where we accept people based upon their religion or we are hypocrites,” he told CP.

McKay is one of a number of evangelical Liberal MPs who were horrified to discover their party last month commissioned a pre-election poll asking Ontarians if they’d be more or less likely to vote for the Conservatives if they knew the party had been “taken over by evangelical Christians.”


McKay, who is a member of an evangelical church, estimated that between 10 percent and 20 percent of his fellow Liberal MPs share “evangelical sympathies.”

Steven MacKinnon, the Liberals’ deputy national director, defended the question, saying the Liberals were merely trying to expose the Conservatives’ “social conservatism” and their predilection for “blurring the lines between church and state.”

Earlier this month, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada demanded an apology from Martin and called for the firing of the Liberals’ pollster.

Bill’s Passage Raises Christian Ire

OTTAWA (RNS) The passage of a bill that adds “sexual orientation” to the Criminal Code section on hate propaganda has drawn unprecedented ire from Christian groups across the country, who fear it will be used to ban the Bible as hate literature and prosecute those who quote the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual behavior.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada said it was “deeply disturbed about the possible impact of (Bill) C-250 on religious freedom in Canada,” in a statement released April 28, the day the bill was approved by the Canadian Senate by a vote of 59-11.

“This bill was pushed through Parliament with little public consultation,” noted Derek Rogusky of Focus on the Family Canada. “Canadians are now stuck with this poorly worded legislation, and it’s left to the courts to define what is and what isn’t hate propaganda.”


Sen. Anne Cools, who led opposition to C-250 in the Senate, said she fears the bill exposes “millions of Canadians … who hold moral opinions about sexuality to criminal prosecution.”

Other networks of concerned Christians, such as the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Canada Family Action Coalition and the Concerned Christian Coalition, ran aggressive campaigns to alert Christians about the dangers of the bill and stimulate grass-roots political activity.

Activists on all sides agree the coming federal election will become a battleground for religious issues, including Bill C-250 and changes to the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

Court Will Hear United Church on Gay Marriage

TORONTO (RNS) The Supreme Court of Canada has granted the United Church of Canada intervenor status in the court’s hearings on same-sex marriage, scheduled for October.

In its request to appear, the church argued that as one of only three Christian churches to perform same-sex marriages, it offers “a unique perspective” by bringing philosophical, religious, social, theological and moral arguments in support of equal marriage for people regardless of sexual orientation.

The court needs to hear the views of a mainline church, it added.

The church, Canada’s largest Protestant denomination, also argued that its own experience demonstrates that equality for same-sex couples can be balanced with religious freedom.


“The United Church has balanced these rights with respect to same-sex marriage in the way proposed by the legislation: by making same-sex marriage services generally available but allowing congregations to refrain from offering such services as a matter of conscience.”

In a statement, the church said resolutions to same-sex conflicts “result in a more inclusive community, where healing of past divisions can occur, and where the total community becomes healthier and more enriched.”

Quebec Muslims Second Largest Non-Christian Group

MONTREAL (RNS) Islam has become the number one non-Christian faith in Quebec, as in Canada as a whole, reports the Montreal Gazette.

Swollen by immigration from South Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, the number of Quebec Muslims increased by almost 11/2 times between 1991 and 2001.

Data from the 2001 Canadian census made public by Statistics Canada this month show that the 108,620 Muslims in Quebec were up by 141.8 percent from a decade earlier.

The Jewish figure, by contrast, slipped by 8 percent, to 89,915.

Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies, says the Muslim community is a young one.


“Clearly, the conventional Catholic-Protestant dichotomies in Quebec are going to be more and more difficult to justify.”

The census data show Roman Catholics are still by far the largest group in Quebec. The 5.9 million Catholics in 2001 were up by 1.3 percent, although they declined to 83.2 percent from 86 percent of the population.

Protestants declined a little in both absolute and percentage terms. However, Baptists rose by 28.9 percent to almost 35,455.

Buoyed by some of the same factors as Muslims, Christian Orthodox rose 12.4 percent, Buddhists 30.8 percent, Hindus 73.7 percent and Sikhs 81.7 percent.

Franklin Graham Opens New Headquarters

CALGARY (RNS) Evangelist Franklin Graham was here this month to dedicate a $9 million headquarters for two Christian organizations. The 75,000-square-foot building in northeast Calgary will be the base of operations for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada and Samaritan’s Purse Canada.

“I want to lift up the name of Christ from one end of this country to the other,” Graham, son of gospel preacher Billy Graham, told more than 500 friends and supporters in attendance.


Last year, the BGEA celebrated 50 years of ministry in Canada, and it’s been 30 years since Samaritan’s Purse opened an office in the country.

Claiming too many Canadians are without God in their lives, Graham said the world is engaged in several key battles _ against terrorism and against attacks on Christianity.

“People want to strip Jesus Christ from government and society, and restrict Jesus to the church,” he said.

Missionaries Plan to Step Up Jewish Outreach

TORONTO (RNS) Jews for Jesus-type groups in Canada are promising to redouble their efforts and adopt new strategies _ including outreach to children _ to convince “unsaved” and “perishing” Jewish communities that Jesus is their savior, a conference on evangelizing to Jews heard here this month.

In fact, Canada is fertile ground _ though not as much as the United States _ for spreading the Christian gospels and bringing Jews to Jesus, about 50 leading lights of the so-called messianic Jewish movement from North, Central and South America were told.

The conference, dubbed “Training for Jewish Evangelism,” didn’t attempt to hide participants’ efforts to convert Jews to Christianity. Books, tapes, CDs and other material were plain in their aim to win as many Jewish souls for Jesus as possible.


Canada is a “welcoming yet challenging place to spread the gospel to my people,” said Andrew Barron, director of Toronto-based Jews for Jesus, Canada.

He estimated there are fewer than 1,000 Jewish “believers” in Canada, 47 of whom have converted in the past eight years.

“That’s too few. It’s disappointing. I believe we can do better,” he said.

The question before messianic Jews is how to be “a viable option” to the normative Jewish community, which was described, according to the Canadian Jewish News, as “unsaved,” “dying” and “perishing.”

RNS/PH END CSILLAG

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