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in Canada and the United States - Similarities and Differences Tom - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Oct 25, 2022 142 likes •1.49k views

God keep Our Land In God We Trust Religion and Politics in Canada and the United States - Similarities and Differences Tom Sherwood 1 2 Those who believe religion and politics aren't connected don't understand either. Mahatma

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“God keep Our Land… In God We Trust”

Religion and Politics in Canada and the United States

  • Similarities and Differences

Tom Sherwood

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Those who believe religion and politics aren't connected don't understand either. Mahatma Gandhi Those who believe that politics and religion do not mix, understand neither. Albert Einstein

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https://www.united-church.ca/community-faith/get-involved/faith-and-politics https://www.anglican.ca/resources/2019-canadian-federal-election-guide/ https://cija.ca/pr-statement-on-court-ruling-2019-fed-election/

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On April 19, 2019, imams at 69 mosques in five provinces — Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec — delivered a coordinated sermon in four different languages, emphasizing the importance of voting. "As believers, every single one of us has social responsibilities that our very faith is contingent upon," Imam Faraz Rabbani told congregants at the Bosnian Cultural Centre in Toronto. Voting, he said, is one of those responsibilities.

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Do you think that religious leaders and

  • rganizations should be

involved in political matters?

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Pew Research, USA, 2009

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Do you think that religious leaders and

  • rganizations should be

involved in political matters?

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Arguing from different “premises”

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Premises about Politics and Religion

What do you mean by “Politics” ? What do you mean by “Religion” ?

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“Politics” – partisan politics

Liberal Party of Canada Conservative Party New Democratic Party The Green Party The Republican Party The Democratic Party

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“Politics” – public policy issues

Abortion Immigration Refugee policy Carbon/fossil fuels Environmental issues Aboriginal issues taxation, health care, education

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2 questions / responses Should religious leaders and

  • rganizations endorse political

parties? Should they advocate for and against public policies?

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2 questions / responses Should religious leaders and

  • rganizations endorse political

parties? No. Should they advocate for and against public policies? Yes.

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POLITICS political parties public policy issues RELIGION Formal org’n 1. 2.

  • Rel. values

3. 4.

  • 1. Falwell backs Reagan
  • 2. RC Bishop opposes abortion
  • 3. Public interest lobby backs Greens/NDP
  • 4. faith-based group urges environmental concern
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Glossary – “lobby”

A group, organization or association seeking to influence the passage or defeat of

  • legislation. Originally the term referred to

persons frequenting the lobbies or corridors

  • f legislative chambers in order to speak to
  • lawmakers. ... A 'lobbyist' is the actual

person or entity that does the work of the lobby.

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Registered lobbies in Canada

Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers Canadian Bankers Association Canadian Cattlemen’s Association Mining Association of Canada Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses … General Motors, Chicken Farmers, CNR…

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Interest groups / Public interest groups

/ MADD Friends of Canadian Broadcasting Canadian Wildlife Federation David Suzuki Foundation Campaign Life Coalition Pro-Choice Action Network Canadian Medical Association

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November 1973 The United Church Observer

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March 8,1988

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October 2, 1988 The Ottawa Citizen

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March 3, 1991

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issues

Advertising directed to children Same sex civil marriage Aboriginal issues Immigration, refugee policy Environment

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Falwell – Reagan, 1980

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Falwell, Jr. – Trump, 2016

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“OS” = “operating system” Remember Beta & VHS? Apple vs PC?

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“Religion” “Politics” different operating systems in Canada and the United States

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“football”

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“football”

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“football”

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“politics” There are different political cultures in Canada and the United States. 2-party Adversarial Minimal government/ republic Multi-party Compromise /accommodation Social democracy

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“politics” There are different political cultures in Canada and the United States.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness Peace, order and good government

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“politics” There are different political cultures in Canada and the United States.

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“religion” There are different religious realities in Canada and the United States. Roman Catholic history, presence Protestant fundamentalism Ethnic denominations Accommodation of pluralism Judaism Islam Minority religions

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“religion” There are different religious realities in Canada and the United States. Roman Catholic history, presence Protestant fundamentalism Ethnic denominations Accommodation of pluralism Judaism Islam Minority religions

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American landscape

  • Fundamentalism
  • Apocalypticism
  • American Civil Religion
  • King Cyrus leadership
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Canadian landscape

  • social gospel
  • multiculturalism and diversity
  • uniquely Canadian religious

identities

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Social gospel school of thought in Canadian religious, social and political life since the 1890s which relates Christian ideas to the collective ills

  • f industrializing society
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  • J.S. Woodsworth
  • T.C. Douglas
  • Stanley Knowles

seniors’ pensions employment insurance health insurance working conditions, min. wage

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Jagmeet Singh

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Bramadat and Seljak, 2005

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Bramadat and Seljak, 2005

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I would argue that religious ideas, texts, rituals, symbols and institutions are in the end redeployed by newer Canadians in a uniquely Canadian way.

  • Paul Bramadat, page 13
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Bramadat and Seljak, 2005

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  • Hinduism transformed itself as individuals

adapted to the Canadian cultural context (page 30).

  • Canadian Buddhists have had to negotiate

new forms of religious and ethnic identity (page 69)

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Bramadat and Seljak, 2005

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  • the author aims to convey what is unique

about Jewishness in Canada (page 129)

  • Muslims of diverse ethnic groups

redefine themselves as primarily Canadian Muslims (page 148).

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American landscape

  • Fundamentalism
  • Apocalypticism
  • American Civil Religion
  • King Cyrus leadership
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King Cyrus leadership King of Persia who ended “The Exile” or “Babylonian Captivity” 597 - 536 bce

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End of Babylonian Captivity - Ezra chapter one: 1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit

  • f King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald

throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared: 2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God

  • f Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem;
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Coins bearing the images of US President Donald Trump and King Cyrus, to honor Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital February 28, 2018.

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Religious fundamentalism

is characterized by a return to essential, foundational principles, usually including a resistance to modernization and an emphasis on certainty through a literal interpretation of scriptures

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Religious fundamentalism

Totalism (vs. separation of religion) Scripturalism (justification in terms of inerrant religious text) Traditioning (historic texts considered to be of contemporary significance)

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Origin and use:

  • 1920 first used
  • 1876-1900 conferences in the USA
  • the Fundamentals: 5 central doctrines
  • f conservative Christian faith...
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The Fundamentals

  • 1. inerrant inspiration of Bible
  • 2. Virgin Birth
  • 3. Substitutionary atonement
  • 4. Bodily resurrection
  • 5. Second Coming
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Related doctrines: divinity of Jesus, sin, salvation, bodily resurrection of believers… refutation of errors: evolution, biblical criticism, RC, LDS, etc.

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Other concerns: science, empiricism, Marxism, suffragettes, independence of social institutions from religious influence

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1920 - the term is first used 1980 - started to be used beyond Christianity

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Other fundamentalisms

  • Jewish
  • Islamic
  • Hindu
  • Sikh

But usually considered more as an ideology than a religious form

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Apocalypticism

a systematic belief in the unltimate devastation or end of the world. Present in many cultures Pre- or postmillennial Accusations of apocalyptic thinking in Bush cabinet and policies

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American Civil Religion (ACR)

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“solidarity” – the way in which a society is held together

  • “ritual” – a patterned recurring

sequence of behaviours periodic rituals, religious rituals

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Robert N. Bellah (1927-2013)

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Civil religion

“any set of beliefs and rituals, related to the past, present and/or future of a people (nation) which are understood in some transcendental fashion”

(Hammond, 1976: 171)

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Presidential inaugural addresses https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_ menus/inaug.asp References to “that Almighty Being” “Almighty Ruler of nations” "Almighty God” “Almighty Being” “Divine Providence” Also: prayer

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Presidential inaugural addresses

“God” mentions Nixon 1969 6 Reagan 1985 8 GW Bush 3, 3 Obama 5, 5

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Trump, 2017

“The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.” “God bless you and God bless America! Thank you. God bless America.”

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Elements of “religion” / a religion

  • ritual and ceremony
  • shrine and sacred place
  • symbol and sacred object
  • myth and sacred story
  • hero, saint and sacred person

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American exceptionalism “We Americans are the peculiar, chosen people – the Israel of our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world.”

– Herman Melville, 1892

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American exceptionalism “Chosen people” “New Israel” “God’s people” GOP platform, 2016

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Is there a civil religion in Canada? “any set of beliefs and rituals, related to the past, present and/or future of a people (nation) which are understood in some transcendental fashion” What would it look like?

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7:15 pm

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https://www.united-church.ca/community-faith/get-involved/faith-and-politics https://www.anglican.ca/resources/2019-canadian-federal-election-guide/ https://cija.ca/pr-statement-on-court-ruling-2019-fed-election/