Sunday, April 16, 2006

Canadians Not Social Conservatives


The right wing in Canada is a minority because most Canadians are not evangelical Christians, which has been the sole source of the rights power in the U.S.

Social Conservatives that attempted to dominate Harpers Conservatives had to rely on their American counterparts in the election to lobby for their christian values coalition. Their power is far less than the power of their bankbooks.

So says a recent poll.

So when folks tell us about how their 'values' are Canadian values, well no they aren't.

One of the key libertarian findings of the survey was that Canadians distrust institutions. And the church in all its forms is an institution we have a healthy scepticism about. Which is why Quebecois are Catholics as a community and individuals but disdain the church and its values.



The survey shows a widening gulf between Canadians and Americans.

In the U.S., regular church attendance is more the norm and has remained virtually unchanged since the Second World War.

Thirty-nine per cent of Americans said they went to church at least once a week, more than double Canada's regulars.

The difference can be attributed to Canadians' mistrust of institutions and the fact that there are fewer smaller evangelical churches in this country that there are in the U.S, said Richard Ascough, a religious studies professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

"The church in a way is perceived as just another institution and people are shying away more and more from things institutional," he said.


And the greatest growth in religion in Canada was in paganism and alternative spiritualities according to the last census done by Stats Canada. Alternative religions such as Wicca and Paganism were placed under the rubric "no religion".

Those who identified as pagans or had increased over 200%.

And the greatest growth was in Alberta. And contrary to Alberta's evangelical/social conservative image over a quarter of Albertans reported that they had no religion.

Which is why this makes sense;
Da Vinci Code gospel to 22% in Alberta



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