Mennonite Weekly Review

In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a federal election going on up in Canada.

John Longhurst is director of marketing and sales for Mennonite Publishing Network and a member of River East Mennonite Brethren Church.

On Oct. 14, Canadians will go to the polls to choose a government from among five parties: Conservatives, Liberals, New Democratic Party, Bloc Quebecois and the Greens.

When considering who to vote for, Canadians will evaluate the positions of the various parties and candidates on issues like the economy, jobs, the war in Afghanistan, health care, the environment and crime, among other things.

But one thing that will almost certainly not enter their minds is religion.

Unlike in the United States, where religion plays a dominant role in presidential elections, what a candidate believes, or what faith he or she belongs to, is not at all relevant to most Canadians.

For example, while many Canadians may know that present Prime Minister Stephen Harper is an evangelical, I’m betting that few know what denomination he belongs to (it’s the Christian and Missionary Alliance), and nobody knows his pastor’s name or cares what he preaches on Sunday mornings.

When it comes to the leaders of the other parties, I very much doubt they know what churches they belong to, either. It’s just not important. In fact, NDP leader Jack Layton is part of the United Church, Liberal leader Stephan Dion is Roman Catholic, Green Party leader Elizabeth May is Anglican and, near as I can figure out, Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe claims no religious affiliation at all.

While some Americans might find this strange, Canadians like it this way. Though a majority of people in this country say they believe in God or are otherwise spiritual, religion in Canada is regarded mostly as a private matter when it comes to politics. Politicians do not feel the need to talk about their faith while campaigning for office, tout their religious credentials or pledge allegiance to any belief or religious group.

In Canada, it would be impossible to imagine the leaders of five federal parties agreeing to be interviewed at one of Canada’s megachurches, as John McCain and Barack Obama did at Rick Warren’s Saddleback church.

Likewise, it is unlikely that the media would take a keen interest in the religious faith of the candidates — listening to the sermons of their pastors, examining the beliefs of their churches or denominations, or parsing their every utterance for hints about how their beliefs might affect the way they do their jobs.

That doesn’t mean that religion doesn’t play a role in Canadian politics or public life. Each time a Canadian goes to the doctor for free, for example, he or she is benefiting from the hard work of politician and Baptist minister Tommy Douglas.

As well, more and more evangelical Christians, and a growing number of Mennonites, are becoming involved in politics, and church groups are active in campaigning for and against various issues. This was especially true in 2005, when Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. The voice of concerned Christians, and members of other religious groups, was heard loud throughout the land.

But, in the main, religion plays a minor or negligible role in Canadian politics, and we seem to like it that way. And sometimes, when I watch what is going on in the United States — in the country that championed the separation of church and state — I wonder if some of my American Christian friends might not also occasionally wish it could be that way in their country, too.