Nearly 40 municipalities across Canada have proclaimed December as Christian Heritage Month. The national campaign, launched by the Christian Music Festival, wants to ensure that Christians receive the same recognition as other religions.
The response has been mixed, to say the least. Last week, we asked you whether you think Canada needs a Christian Heritage Month. Here’s what you had to say.
These opinions are those of our readers and not necessarily shared by Broadview. The responses have also been lightly edited for clarity.
“Christian Heritage Month reflects a white nationalist, evangelical extremist agenda aimed at promoting the idea of making Western countries “Christian and white” again.
It is, in other words, a safe way to be racist (wink wink).
It is profoundly disturbing to witness how such ideologies are tearing America apart and, to a lesser extent, impacting Canada.”
—John Ryerson, Toronto
“While I may not believe in everything the Christian Music Festival declares, ridiculing their campaign is the equivalent of opening a window in the liberal/reform silo, or grabbing a megaphone and shouting at those in the conservative/evangelical silo. They undoubtedly will do the same, directly or indirectly. The result? Neither side listens, and no meaningful dialogue takes place.”
—Dave Henderson, Pembroke Ont.
“While I can understand the impetus from the Christian Music Festival to declare December as Christian Heritage Month, as United Church minister, I find the secularization of Christmas annoying. That said, when the country’s two major religious festivals are already statutory holidays, Christians are not an oppressed group. We do not need a Christian Heritage month. It’s the sort of thing that leads to the heresy of Christian nationalism.”
—Stewart Walker, Richards Landing, Ont.
“As Douglas Tindal did not say, ‘Bah! Humbug!’ One sure way to win hearts and minds is to lay claim to special recognition. Even the WWJD set knew better. Christmas in St. Matthew’s Calgary was beautiful, from the lighting of the First Advent Candle, to the children’s pageant and the candle lit service on Christmas Eve. There was great joy in singing carols of celebration and in the giving of goods, money and time to communities in need. All of this—and so much more—captured the true spirit of the season.
We have always shared the joys and crush of our heritage at Christmas. But a public Christian Heritage Month? It feels like trivialization—another nod to the consumer frenzy that has come to supplant the Joy to the World of Jesus’ birth.”
—Wayne Valleau, Calgary
“Creating a Christian Heritage Month in Canada may send an unhelpful and divisive message. The idea appears to be motivated by a misguided belief that Canada should be a Christian nation. It’s ironic that most Christian churches want to be seen as welcoming, but the welcome does not always extend to people who exhibit a different belief system. The idea begs the question: How can a proclamation about Christian heritage be an honest reflection of actual Christian heritage? Would such a declaration instead promote an unhelpful narrative of Christian superiority?”
—Debra Leedham, Waterford, Ont
“As a multi-faith society, a wide diversity of religious communities play an active role in giving to civil society. How to recognize these contributions equitably is always going to be a challenge. What we don’t want to do is ignore anyone. Given Canada’s literal Christian heritage, we do have to be mindful, however, of the legacy of Christian privilege: only Christians get statutory holidays at Christmas and Easter to celebrate religious festivals without having to take a day off work. This isn’t true for any other religious community.
As Christians struggle to graciously move from a position of privilege in society and recognize our increasingly minority status, clearly, we need to make space and celebrate the religious traditions of others if we expect others to honour ours. We have been on this trajectory since the 1960’s. Absenting ourselves completely, however, would not honour the religious freedom the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects. We live in a secular society only to the extent that one religion is not privileged above any other. In the Westminster parliamentary system religious expression is not barred from the public square, normally most religious communities are making too many positive contributions! Profiling one faith above another is not acceptable or legal, but I suspect the City of Mississauga is struggling to celebrate all our religious faiths.”
—Richard G. Chambers, Toronto
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