I have been sharing multiple award winning journalist, Marcie McDonald's story: Stephen Harper and the Theo-cons, which should be a wake up call to all Canadians.
So naturally, I was thrilled to learn that she has written a book on the subject, which is due out in April, 2010. I am pre-ordering a copy and encourage all Canadians to buy it or borrow it; and read it with an open mind.
In many respects, the fact that we are 'nice' may be our downfall. Sadly, our 'niceness' is being used against us and exploited by the powerful political movement that has brought Stephen Harper and the Reform-Conservatives to power, and threatens to give them majority control of the Canadian government.
I had always approached the topic of the Religious Right with caution, not wanting to offend anyone or attack their religious beliefs. However, we have to understand that this is a political movement, so must be brought into our discourse and debate.
Since they actively campaign for Harper and the Ref-Cons, they can't hide behind the cloak of religious persecution. They should also lose ANY TAX ADVANTAGES the MOMENT that they become partisan. Instead, they must register as a third party, and work within the confines of spending limits. There is absolutely no question there.
When Stephen Harper suggested that the backing of the neo-conservatives would not be enough, but instead they must tap into the enormous money and power of the Theo-Cons, putting muscle behind our foreign policy; that should be our call to action. He is exploiting faith for political gain, one of Leo Strauss's recommendations.
Strauss is the father of the neo-conservative movement and his three main principles for political success were: deception, religious fervour and unbridled patriotism (achieved through perpetual war). The movement supports Social Darwinism, which is a theory that only the 'elite' have a right to govern, while the rest of us are the ignorant masses who must be controlled.
They call for an end to the 'Welfare State', which means an end to all social programs that assist the most vulnerable. Poverty they believe is genetic, and in a 'survival of the fittest' scenario, nature must be allowed to take it's course. The Northern Foundation that Stephen Harper helped to create, was kind of a big tent Anglo superiority movement, that housed everyone from intellectual theorists, race scientists and skinheads; not all working together, but simultaneously.
Harper claims that he was kicked out of the group after two years (he is the only one to make this claim), but why did he find the need for such a group in the first place? As many people who knew him back in the day warn: the image of Harper that we see now, is not the man they knew.
A brief outline of Ms McDonald's book:
An urgent wake-up call for all Canadians who think that this country is immune from the righteous brand of Christian nationalism that has bitterly divided and weakened the United States.
In her new book, Marci McDonald documents the startling extent of the influence that the religious right already wields in Canada and shows how, quietly, often stealthily, it has provoked far-reaching changes in Canadian policies and institutions, including our public service, our schools and our courts.
In four short years, galvanized by their failure to stop same-sex marriage, not only have conservative Christians developed a permanent infrastructure in Ottawa, designed to outlast whatever party is in power, but they have done so by borrowing the rowdy style of the American religious right to which most of their leaders boast close ties.
Their rise has been tied to the election of Stephen Harper and it is no secret that evangelicals have already re-shaped Harper's foreign policy in the Middle East, guided by what McDonald terms the Armageddon Factor. But few Canadians are aware that a militant band of conservative Christians with a direct pipeline to Harper's cabinet is also attempting to reshape the country's social, cultural and even scientific policies, driven by a belief that Canada has a biblically ordained role to play in the final days before Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ.
I have actually been researching that last part on my own, and if you think their plan to put all the Jews in boats because the days of them being harboured in North America is over, wait until you read the rest of the story. As crazy as it sounds, it ties in with The Chronicles of Narnia, also based on a biblical prophesy. We apparently are Narnia. I'm putting together some extensive material on that that I will also share soon. Some really weird stuff and Stephen Harper is right in the thick of it.
Fortunately I'm not the only blogger concerned with this. I can recommend a few:
Pulpit and Politics - Dennis Gruending
Bene Diction Blogs On
Religious Right Alert - Turning Over Rocks
I like your style.
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Thank you.
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