Saturday, February 25, 2012

77 Percent of Canadians are Christian

In the last census 77% of Canadians claimed they were Christian.  Some 15% more from other religions clamed they were theists, that they too beleived in God and spirituality.  At one time 'Science' was the playground of Theists.  Newton and Einstein were very godly men.  Just because science is a game requiring we play within the arbitrary limitations of materialization, empiricism and determinism doesn't mean science or scientific method can 'deconstruct' God.  As C.S. Lewis would say, why are you looking in the wall for the Architect. There are scientific questions and spiritual questions.
Why is the media so aetheistic?  However aetheism by denying God implicitly insists on the existence of God.  Logic says if I say, 'the dog isn't there' by citing the Dog' I've given it's existence.
But what force or forces would de Christianize the greatest country on the planet. I can understand a Buddhist agenda that would have Christians become Buddhist but no Buddhist would destroy a Christian's faith in God. Neither would a Muslim or a Jew for that matter.  So what force is intent on destroying Christianity or more specifically Canadian Christianity?
Admittedly Christianity has done a fair job of boring people with televangelist nut cases and nutbars only beatable by the immans who speak on behalf of Allah like Allah was as much a fool as they are.
Communism was a religion. Reason was it's God and the ego was it's Christ.  Communism continues to affect Canadian thinking. Communism is not socialism and is not democratic.  Communism is a 'curse' that says we are all paranoid, trapped in dualism, forced to fight one against the other until  there is a one class society ruled by the rulers.  It's a retreat to feudalism and has returned those countries where it has prospered to warlords or gangsters and everyone else. It's dictatorship of the proletariat.  In contrast socialism is a democratic meritocracy that doesn't have a religion attached to it like the dialectic war of words that fuel the silly slogans of communists.  Instead socialism speaks to the highest principles of people and asks questions like who would best be the shepherd not whose cousin or brother would best be the shepherd.
There are choices to the 'survival of the fittest' which was the aetheist Darwin's contribution to the world. The biggest lizard wins.  American Idol and Hollywood as a template for creation. God as a ratings board.
I don't think so.
77% of Canadians are Christian.  Christianity brought stronger than all other religions the idea we are all equal before God and that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. More importantly the Bible said that through prayer and meditation we could have direct contact with God and the history of the church is rife with people who had visions and served others as a consequence of what they called a 'calling'.
We criticize Christians for not being Christ like.  We criticize emperors for failing to dominate the world.  Emperors fail because they are not brutal enough or loving enough. Christians fail always by not being loving enough.  A very different kingdom, the Kingdom of God versus the Kingdom of the World.
77% of Canadians are Christian.  The largest growth in Chrisitanity is in the protestant new churches and the new thinking catholic churches. The mainstream thinking has lost an amazing number of adherrents. 10's of thousands.  People believe they are Christian but like fans of the Canucks who would say they are Canucks fans fewer attend the games for various reasons.  The Canucks games are exclusive.  The churches are exclusive.  Canadian politics are exclusive too.  Minorities want to rule the majorities everywhere we look but don't really want the majority opinion or participation.  Corporativisms with wild CEO's representing absentee boards and shareholders.
I am an ecumencalist and that means I'm big on agreeing with what we all can agree on.  Maybe Canadians believe we're Canadians only because we inhabit a longitude and lattitude. Maybe Canadian Christians believe that we are Christian because we were born in this great land of Christianity where the Christians built the cities and railways and made Canada the polite apathetic nation that claims multiculturalism despitet the fact that multiculturalism so easily devolves into the un-cultured and uncouth.  The Christianity of Canadians is by nature 'inclusive'.
I'm a Canadian Christian too.  As such I disagree with other Canadian Christians who would say that their Canadian Christianity is superior to my Canadian Christianity. Canadians have a provincial and federal system.  Like Christianity there is orthodoxy and spirituality.  The provincial Canadians outnumber the federal Canadians though of course the Quebec Christians would be a smaller number than the Federal Canada Christians. Canadian Christians can think in these terms. We don't all have to goose step to a single tune . We don't want to blow up our neighbours. We are trying to love one another.  Our Jesus was a god of love in that sense.  He said Love is more important than fear.  The Beatles were popular as a British group with Christian origins because they said "all we need is love'.  That made their essentially Christian message resonate with the Hindoos and Buddhists who also didn't want a revolution.  Sufi Muslims have long loved living in Canada because they know the Love that the highest of Wicans espouse and that the finest of pagans can aspire too.
Spirituality is central to Canada where the soul of the wilderness we live so close to speaks to the hearts of even those living in the centre of the city.  St. Francis, St. Theresa of Avila, all of the saints and all of the apostles have a place in Canada. Thomas Merton was the Canadian Christian who touched the core of the eastern teachings and showed where the similiarities lay.
God smiles on all as the sun smiles on all.  No wonder Constantine favoured his father's sun till himself faced with the darkness of death where a spiritual son shines more bright. Milton said that God never stopped smiling on Satan but that his angel son turned his back on the light and preferred to revel in his shadow.  The arrogance of man is that he forever wants to claim the child's belief that he is the sole creator of the poop in the toilet or the artistic sandcastle or the empire for that matter.  But nothing occurs without God who is the fabric of all.
And God is love.  Jesus also taught  the parable of the Prodigal Son.  Thank God!

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