Leadership candidate denies “Christian” agenda
CALGARY, AB—Christian politicians have certain expectations of voters who profess faith in Christ, just as voters have expectations of Christian candidates, says Canadian Alliance leadership candidate Diane Ablonczy.
Following a February 2 all-candidates forum in Calgary, the three-term Member of Parliament for Calgary-Nose Hill told CW she has several expectations of Christian voters. "Intelligence is one attribute I expect of Christians when it comes to the political sphere," she says. "I also expect insight along with wisdom and discernment.
"Christ told us to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves," notes Ablonczy. "Believers need to avoid being shallow in their political discernment—not everybody that names the Name plays the game, and it's time we learned that.
"It's also time we recognized that there are fine people with real competence to offer our country who may not share our faith background," adds Ablonczy. "Christians need to support people who will do the right thing, not just those who wear the same badge as we do."
Mission focused
Ablonczy observes that in the 15 years she has been associated with the Reform-Alliance movement, she has generally found Christians to be focused on missions other than politics. "A lot of Christians seem to have chosen not to become politically attuned because they have other priorities."
She advises believers who are politically active to be wary of being treated as just another special-interest group.
"If a politician thinks there's a significant political force that can be tapped into, they can be very cynical in exploiting it," warns Ablonczy. "They know which hot buttons to press to mobilize the Christian community, but sometimes will do so in a manner that does not truly respect the mission and values of believers.
"Thankfully," she adds, "I think Christians are becoming a little bit more sophisticated in their awareness of this danger."
The sole female candidate for the leadership of the Canadian Alliance points out that she has witnessed to such exploitation, which is one reason why she has never gone directly into the Christian community and said, "I'm a Christian, I love the Lord and I want your support because of that fact and will fight for the values you think are important."
"I'm not in politics because I have a Christian agenda," she explains. "I'm in politics as a Christian to serve in the way I think God wants us to serve—caring about other people with compassion, respecting their free will and really wanting to bring people together to reconcile competing interests. I don't play interest group politics even with groups with whom I share a belief system."
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