A shiver runs through it
The Armageddon Factor misconstrues a subculture
The critics have not been kind to author Marci McDonald, but her publisher is laughing all the way to the bank as sales of The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada soar in the aftermath of its early May launch. The interest is fueled by her controversial thesis that socially conservative Christians are using subterfuge and stealth to seize the levers of power and impose an unwelcome theocratic government on multicultural Canada.
"My main purpose was to outline a movement that coincides with a specific strategy of government that together could bring out the worst impulses," McDonald told ChristianWeek. "My book is not a polemic. I was trying to lay out the geography of a growing movement unlike any we have seen here recently in Canada. I've written about a political movement. It's not an attack on faith. And I'm not saying that people of faith shouldn't be involved in the political arena."
She continues: "I hope it's clear I'm not lumping everybody as Christian nationalists; it's just the sliver of the community which is calling for a Christian nation." And adds: "If nothing else comes out of this book than a debate over how much religiosity we want in public life, then maybe it will have served a purpose."
McDonald's personal sentiments aside, the presentation does seem more calculated to foment fears than to stimulate healthy debate. Blazoning "Armageddon" in the title scarcely qualifies as traditional Canadian peacekeeping. And statements warning of the Christian nationalists' "dark and dangerous vision, one that brooks no dissent and requires the dismantling of key democratic institutions," do not build many bridges. The Armageddon Factor is not the dispassionate and balanced presentation of relevant facts its author is capable of producing. A shiver runs through it.
A lot of critics were quick to emerge, sneering at the work and accusing it of containing a welter of errors, omissions and misconceptions. Writers at the conservative National Post and Maclean's were particularly harsh. Even the review in the socially left-leaning Globe and Mail was less than complimentary, noting that "McDonald sees Christian nationalist conspiracy everywhere she looks. Yet much of what she describes merely sounds like politics as usual."
Canada's political system has indeed been taking a turn to the right and social conservatives are much more welcome in Ottawa than they were under Liberal leadership in previous decades. A genuine regime change is in process. The Harper government has been doing what governments do—promoting its policies and making political appointments. Now, after several years of Conservative direction, the cultures of the civil service and federally funded institutions are inevitably adopting a bluer ideological hue.
Disconcerting as this is to many Canadians, it's downright comforting to others.
But does it constitute a conspiracy of the Christian nationalists? Hardly. McDonald positions the high-level access to federal politicians enjoyed by people like Faytene Kryskow and others associated with the House of Prayer as indicative of policy influence. And she highlights the aggressive pro-marriage, pro-life and pro-Israel activism of Charles McVety as evidence of a U.S. style Christian right.
McDonald acknowledges that the actual numbers of such people are small and reminds us repeatedly that well-organized and well-focused activists can "punch above their weight." But she examines only one side of the hurly-burly of public life. The book allows no inkling that advocates of same-sex marriage, proponents of abortion or strident pro-Palestinian campaigners may have used and may still be employing similar tactics.
For the moment, however, the pendulum is swinging right. Thus, when a leader of the House of Prayer says "We believe there is a current momentum of righteousness in the decision making process of our nation that needs prayer to continue," it is possible to construe a sinister agenda. But you have to really work at it.
Yes, Ms. McDonald, there is a Christian right in Canada. Some of its constituents are organized and vocal, but the actual constituency of theocrats is miniscule. These are not primarily religious skirmishes, though certainly some of the beliefs are informed by religion. But social conservatives and the social left are found in all of the Western nations. As Michael Wagner observes, "It's not the 'Canadian values' of the left versus the 'American' values of the right, but traditional Western morality versus the perspective of the sexual revolution. It is a civilizational and cultural civil war."
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