Learning not to fall for Canadian Religious Right tactics

MP (Halton) Garth Turner made a fundamental mistake when he attempted to argue and reason with Charles McVety on a recent TV appearance.

The fallout was swift and Turner was the subject of attack from this single issue, religious right group led by Dr. Charles McVety called Institute for Canadian Values.  McVety is involved in Canadian Christian College and Christian Coalition International Canada. Turner was not surprised to  find himself targeted in Lifesite  News, (US-Canada religious news site) by emailers, while McVety had his group email every federal conservative MP as well as the PM. (Turner does not hold a cabinet post)

Joseph C. Ben-Ami of  the Institute for Canadian Values who is also chastising Turner attended the War on Christian Conference in Washington held by Vision America, a well known religious right restoration/dominionist group.  
Lifesite readers commented under some posts at Turners blog: in allowing them to speak for themselves, we voters do ourselves the favour of seeing these tactics for what they are.

Turner was the only Conservative MP to stand by Saskatchewan Christian fundamentalist MP Maurice Vellacott recently when Vellacott made some more of his famous inflammatory, inappropriate public remarks.

But that ethical act doesn’t matter to McVety.

My advice to Garth Turner. Don’t allow McVety and his ilk to prompt you into public anger. They are trained masters at the attack, opportunism and misrepresentation of perceived opponents.
They’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of that TV appearance and anger and defense by their perceived opponent only feeds their agenda and cry that Canadian Christians are under persecution. They genuinely believe that is true and will go to great lengths to establish their sense of security and push it on the rest of us.
 
Groups such as McVety’s aren’t that hard to spot, the lobbying and language is familar, they are the superspiritual – single issue groups operating under Christian faith, who work to polarize with fear and anger. Again, I don’t doubt the sincerity for a second, and I see no reason to be rude or angry back - realistically they doubt your sincerity and find anyone comfortable in a flexible society difficult to reconcile with.
The are not  representative of the vast majority of evangelicals and Christians in Canada.

Cerulean Sanctum: 

I’m sure at least a few folks out there have crossed paths with this particular beast. For those unacquainted with The Superspiritual, a few of their traits stand out:

1. They have a tendency to get up before the sun and have incredibly long quiet times that rival those of the great saints of old. In fact, the saints of old were pansies compared to these folks. 
2. They’ve memorized large swaths of the Bible—and in multiple translations. Ask them to quote a specific passage—they’re dying to share it with you. 
3. They have an answer to every possible theological question anyone might have. The best of them will offer multiple perspectives given by a chosen set of favorite authors. Always a very narrow selection of authors. Come to think of it, those authors always agree with each other on everything, so there isn’t much variation of perspective when you get right down to it. 
4. Their library of Christian books, if sold on eBay, could feed a hundred AIDS orphans in Africa for a decade, though it is doubtful they’d ever part with those books. Go ahead, try to snatch one out of their hands. (Fast reflexes, eh?) 
5. If they own a business, that business will be founded on, run by, and ever beholden to “Christian principles.” Those principles appear to include making as much money as possible by any means available. 
6. If you’re a heathen—meaning you’re not as spiritual as they are—you’re held at arm’s length until you ARE as spiritual as they are.  (Good luck! Typically it’s taken decades for them to reach their own peculiar nirvana.) 
7. “Christian practice” is defined as going to church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesdays nights, and at least a small group or two on a free night. Oh, and there’s a number of church boards to sit on, too. Christian practice is critical for enhancing one’s standing in order to maximize #5 above. 
8. They talk, talk, talk about family values, and you can’t help but think they’ve got the insular family thing down to a T, seeing that no one else associates with them. Just don’t bring up their middle child in conversation. 
9. They do an outstanding job of  telling you what the Bible says we should be against, but stumble a bit when pressed on what the Bible says we should be for. 
10. They have a way of making anyone who stands near them feel oddly guilty. 

Sound familiar now? Certainly you’ve met one of these folks.