Christian candidates gear up for Canadian Alliance race
EDMONTON, AB–The former pastor who spearheaded a drive that delivered more than 6,000 votes to Stockwell Day's successful 2000 bid to lead the Canadian Alliance will assume an advisory capacity in Day's new campaign to regain leadership of the fractious party.
Roy Beyer, who resigned as founding president of the Calgary-based Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC) to join Day's team, says he left CFAC because of the partisan nature of his involvement with Day's campaign. He describes his role with Day as attempting to secure the support of Christians and "compassionate conservatives."
Beyer maintains his fundamental motivations for further involvement with Day's leadership aspirations are his deep concerns about the absence of committed Christians at the political table in Canada and his firm belief that Day is a highly qualified leader.
"Whereas last time I emphasized the family values aspect of Stock's platform, now I want to remind people of the many other qualities that are true about our candidate."
The former Victory Church minister says he is ready for a challenge. "Let's face it," he asserts, "the cultural elite in this country as represented by mainstream liberalism is fundamentally antagonistic to the Canadian Alliance–the CA is public enemy number one and Stock has been the whipping post.
"I see my role as helping persuade people that the very ones pointing fingers at us are largely responsible for many of the hurdles presently confronting Canada."
"We have a lot of problems in this nation," Beyer continues, "and at least part of the reason is due to the Judeo-Christian perspective simply not being articulated as often as it should be at the decision-making level.
"I believe we need to elect people like Stockwell who can properly advance and defend Christian principles–who can persuasively argue, for example, that the ideal of Christian marriage is in the best interests of society."
In light of Day's troubled tenure as Canadian Alliance leader, Beyer is even more convinced of the need for a higher level of involvement by principled people. "We can't afford to permit the ever-present 'us versus them' mentality to continue to divide us," he says. "We need a broad coalition of people who do not expect everyone to think like them yet are committed to persuading fellow Canadians to support certain fundamental economic, social and moral ideals."
Although Beyer is non-committal regarding his own political aspirations, he makes no apologies for his involvement in the political scene. "Even when I was a pastor, I was never reluctant to get involved," he acknowledges. "I've never been able to fully appreciate the arguments of those who contend that pastors and churches should remain completely non-partisan."
Beyer suggests that if there are pastors and churches that are too involved in politics, there's no shortage of those who are too uninvolved. "Part of our spiritual and political heritage here in the West," he advances, "is a close association between clergy and the political arena as names like Douglas, Manning and Aberhart attest."
While Beyer prefers to focus on the threats to Day's leadership posed by a liberal-minded cultural elite–including the media–even the Christian community in the province where Day was once a popular provincial cabinet minister is unconvinced that he should be re-elected Alliance leader.
Ray Matheson, chair of Calgary's Evangelical Ministerial Association, says no one has the ministerial to endorse Day's candidacy, and "that may be because they know we wouldn't. That kind of thing is simply not a part of our mandate," he notes.
Pointed criticism
And former journalist who now pastors a Baptist church in Edmonton is pointed in his criticism of Day in particular and other Christians in the Canadian Alliance caucus in general. "Despite Stock's reputation as a social conservative," contends Shaeffer Parker, "when has he ever put that reputation on the line when it's come to moral issues that concern many believers? He didn't do it in the Delwyn Vriend vs. King's College case on homosexuality that went to the Supreme Court.
"I don't have a lot of confidence in Day's ability to represent the values of those in the faith community whose support he seeks. I think he's like a broken reed–he'll collapse if we lean on him."
Parker says he is disappointed with other Christians in the Alliance movement including caucus like Deborah Grey and Chuck Strahl.
"Given the acrimony we've seen between Christians in the Canadian Alliance, I think some Christians are having second thoughts about their initial support of both Day and the Alliance."
Greg Quapp, a farm implement dealer in Grande Prairie, Alberta, where he attends the Church of Christ, is indicative of the kind of Christians that Parker refers to.
"Eighteen months ago, I think many people here supported Day not only because he was a Christian but because he'd been part of a very popular provincial administration," he says.
"How many people will support him again simply because he's an evangelical Christian? I don't know, but I think some who supported him the first time around now realize that there have to be some other criteria taken into consideration."
According to Jennifer Ferguson, co-pastor of Calgary's Deer Park United Church, "involvement in human community is at the essence of my understanding both of Christianity and politics. Although Christians don't have a monopoly on goodness, politicians who call themselves Christians should certainly model the kind of compassion, justice and equality that Jesus introduced into the human community. It troubles me when that is absent."
Do these notes of disillusionment mean that many Christians who initially supported Day and/or the Canadian Alliance may end up not participating in this leadership vote?
Roy Beyer is convinced the percentage of Canadian Christians actively involved in the political process today, as compared to 10 years ago, is considerably higher.
"Christians in Canada are beginning to realize that they have something to say to our culture that is intelligent, sensible and reasonable."
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