After an absence of six years, I have returned to my native land. Your European correspondent is now officially Ex-Gay Watch’s man in Canada.
When I’m not out hunting polar bears and eating poutine, I’ll be reporting on ex-gay news north of the border.
Back in 2006, I offered some modest observations about the differences between the ex-gay movement in the US and in the UK. If anyone has observations to share about Canadian-US differences, feel free to share in the comments thread.
You’re not a true Canadian until you make a pilgrimage to your local Tim Horton’s, preferably a standalone. Every time I visit Canada, I head straight for Timmy’s to get my combo meal–a chicken salad sandwich, hot coffee and a maple donut. And soup, too, if it’s cold outside.
I adore Canada and love Canadians, but I have noticed one odd thing about them; compared to Americans, they tend to be very literal when it comes to humor. For example:
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road? A: To get to the other side! (Cue laughter.) Canadian: Um… why was a chicken ranch so close to the main highway? Wouldn’t the rancher lose a lot of chickens that way? Didn’t the ranch have a fence?
I’m totally serious.
On the upside, I’ve never seen a single protester at a Pride event like I have here in the States. It appears Christians have better things to do in Canada… like feed the poor, or something.
I meant to say conservative Christians.
Thanks, Christopher.
I’ve never found the literal thing with Canadians.
And don’t worry. I had my Tim Horton’s fix within days of arriving back on these shores. (Regular, unsweetened black coffee and a Boston Cream for me. Just a regular donut for dunking if I’m eating in.)
I’d definitely expect the ex-gay movement in Canada to be much less politically charged than in the US. Look at Wendy Gritter, for example. I would have linked to XGW’s previous posts about Gritter, but I can’t seem to find them.
Christians in the US who are political are doing so to change the US from a democracy to a theocracy. It is creating some very strange bedfellows. The Mormon Church and the Roman Church hooked up to defeat Prop 8. Both churches view each other as the enemy, yet they were able to get into the political bed together and raise enough money to feed the poor twenty times over to rid Californians the right to choose whom they wish to marry. Conservative Christians have also hooked up with Rome and Salt Lake for the same purpose. If you read what’s going on in the world of politics in the US, you will see the Catholic Bishops have their nose in everything from defeating Gay Rights to Healthcare. Evangelicals and Mormons are in there too.
What will be interesting to see is when all this comes to a hault because eventually they are going to get so greedy with power that they are not going to be willing to share the throne. Because what it all boils down to is POWER. The Roman Church has always wanted power beyond its means. Mormons want the US to be a Mormon country – they consider the US to be the New Promised Land. Evangelicals want to eliminate the Constitution, rewrite American History, and make everyone pray on their schedule (aka school prayer).
There are still Christians within those institutions who see beyond the box, and understand the separation of Church and State. But not enough are making their voices heard, and so for now, in the US, Roman, Mormon, and Evangelical Christianity is seen as the new political machine that aims at forcing Americans to their brand of Christianity.
Feeding the poor? When I worked with the homeless in Long Beach I remember a Baptist (who was kicked out of the program eventually) telling the homeless that they would not be homeless if they accepted Jesus in their heart. The new wave of religion in the US is that poverty is caused by not being Christian, not because our jobs are being sent overseas by the thousands, or that greedy cooperate CEOS are making trillions of dollars while their employees make minimum with little or no health care.
If Canadian Christians are different from American Christians, perhaps we need to look North for guidance, because America’s religious bullies here are no example for what Christ was and is.
Oh – I’d say that Canada has its own share of wingnut christianists … just wander by noapologies.ca or freedominion.com . It’s just that Canada is a smaller country overall, so we just have fewer of them.
Dave – where in Canada are you? Maybe we can hit a Timmy’s together 🙂
Sorry to be late on this comment …. I’m still getting back to the blogging world after my sabbatical.
BTW – wouldn’t identify myself as part of the ex-gay movement in Canada at this point ….
Thanks, Wendy. You’re on for the Timmy’s!
Wendy! Glad to see you around.