Saturday, March 01, 2008

hasn't harper seen before night falls?

Today's soundtrack:
Exitos by Elefante

Yesterday - or maybe the day before - this story broke about the Conservatives trying to get a bill through the senate that would restrict funding to film productions that were deemed offensive. From the article:

"Charles McVety, president of the Canada Family Action Coalition, said his lobbying efforts included discussions with Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, and "numerous" meetings with officials in the Prime Minister's Office.

'We're thankful that someone's finally listening,' he said yesterday. 'It's fitting with conservative values, and I think that's why Canadians voted for a Conservative government.'

Mr. McVety said films promoting homosexuality, graphic sex or violence should not receive tax dollars, and backbench Conservative MPs and cabinet ministers support his campaign."

Honestly, I'm really not surprised. Seven or eight years ago, I was inadvertently at a small Thanksgiving dinner that included our local MP, who is now a Conservative backbencher. We had an interesting conversation throughout the evening that ranged from Canadian involvement in the Holocaust to then-current government policy. At the end, before he left, he took me aside and said "you know what the problem with the Canadian government is? It's that we're not doing a good job of representing the kingdom of God on earth". In my understanding of his argument, the way to properly represent the kingdom of God on earth was 1) to vote Conservative (or at that time, Canadian Alliance), and 2) to allow a narrow reading and understanding of Christianity to dictate Canadian political policy.

Ridiculous? Yes. Surprising? Not in the least. As though any of us expected anything different from the Conservatives, whose base seems to be channeling the Evangelical Republican base of the States. I don't know about you, but I sense some angry letter writing to my local MP tonight.

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