Harper, who heads a minority government, is a member of the East Gate Alliance Church, part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, a denomination with 400,000 members that believes in the literal word of the Bible, faith-healing and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. Women cannot be ordained in his church, homosexuality is a sin and abortion is murder. Canada, however, is unused to public displays of faith, and Harper has had to tread more lightly than George Bush. But many fear the prime minister is taking a cue from the Bush Administration and slowly mobilizing Canada’s 3.5 million evangelicals–along with the 44 percent of Canadians who say they have committed themselves to Christ–as a power base. Harper has spent the past three years methodically knitting a coalition of social conservatives and evangelicals that looks ominously similar to the American model.

“While the Ottawa press corps has been preoccupied with Harper’s ability to keep the most blooper-prone Christians in his caucus buttoned up, he has quietly but determinedly nurtured a coalition of evangelicals, Catholics, and conservative Jews that brought him to power and that will put every effort into ensuring that he stays there,” wrote Marci McDonald in the October issue of the Canadian magazine Walrus.

Letter from Canada: Chris Hedges, The Nation. November 9, 2006 
The New York Times - November 19, 2006. Gay Marriage Galvanizes Canada’s Religious Right.

Harper and the Theo-Cons, The Walrus Magazine, Marci McDonald

Hagee’s assessment of Harper isn’t based on news clips alone. His Toronto host, not to mention his longtime Canadian major-domo, was Canada Christian College president Charles McVety, one of the most outspoken players in this country’s religious right wing. During the last election, as head of a handful of pro-family lobbies including the Defend Marriage Coalition, McVety emerged as a power to be reckoned with. He bought up the rights to unclaimed Liberal websites such as josephvolpe.com and stacked a handful of Conservative nomination contests in favour of evangelical candidates adamantly opposed to same-sex matrimony, a campaign he has vowed to repeat. As Harper navigates the tricky waters of minority rule — keeping the lid on any eruptions of rhetorical fervour from the rambunctious theo-cons in his caucus — it is noteworthy that he has continued to cultivate a man regarded as the lightning rod of the Christian right. Last spring, those around the prime minister drafted McVety to help sell the government’s contentious child-care policy, and on budget day he was the personal guest of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in the Commons’ vip gallery.

Theocracy eh? The Revealer January 2006 Kathryn Joyce

Interesting side point to me - Lloyd MacKey in an interview about his book: The Pilgrimage of Stephen Harper says:

…he does not see radical conservative factions as a detriment to party unity, if both sides work towards communication and mutual understanding.

Instead, he says the focus of the book is on Harper’s achievements in building unity within the new Conservative party.

“The task of Stephen [has been] to respond to faith-based social conservatism, to encourage [social conservatives] towards incrementalism,” Mackey says. He suggests that Harper’s gradual approach to advancing party standing has greater potential for the future of the party than the stand-and-defend approach of the radical conservatives.

“There’s a better way to gain influence than in alienating each other,” MacKey says.

Garth Turner would probably agree with MacKey on that, but it’s too late to turn back that clock.

“My view is that the purpose of a Christian church is to promote the message and the life of Christ. It is not to promote a particular political party or candidacy. I don’t think this is good religion, besides being bad politics at the same time.” - Stephen Harper