Christianists!

Mixing politics and religion? That's downright un-Canadian...for conservative Christians, anyway:

George Addison thought he had found his calling several decades ago when he was ordained as a United Church minister.

But now he’s one of the candidates in the Oct. 14 federal election who have traded their Bibles for campaign pamphlets and are going door-to-door in search of a different kind of convert.

The religious professionals vying for a seat on Parliament Hill say their political campaigns are just a natural extension of their faith.

“Social justice is really the core of my faith,” says Addison, who is running for the NDP in the southern Ontario city of St. Catharines after retiring as the ecumenical chaplain at Brock University.

“It seemed sort of logical that one would try to translate that into the political arena.”

[...]

...Addison says he’s not worried about potentially serving two masters. He points out that other ministers have successfully balanced the sometimes conflicting duties of church and state, including the founder of medicare, Tommy Douglas. More recently, Green party Leader Elizabeth May has been studying theology part-time with the goal of becoming an ordained Anglican priest.

The idea is not to go to Ottawa to impose your religion on others, Addison says. Rather, faith should be something that guides politicians in their decisions. And this election, he adds, gives people plenty to pray about.

“I pray for justice. I pray for a good outcome and I pray for a better body politic.”

Bryan Ransom was moved to enter the race after seeing firsthand the impact of social policies at his Toronto-area United Church. The church often ministers to the homeless, has a well-used food bank and provides second-hand clothing to the needy.

Ransom says his parishioners are grappling with issues that stem from political policies.

“If I’m not able to make effective change in the position that I’m in by caring for people, then maybe one of the ways that I can make some change is to be able to sit around a committee table,” says Ransom, who is running for the Liberals in Bowmanville, Ont.

“So, when we are creating policy, I can add my two cents.”

Politics and religion aren’t so very different, he adds. Being a good church minister means having a “listening ear” and working with others to make things better. The same goes for people in politics.

“Politicians have to be pastoral.”

Damian P.

Posted by damian at October 6, 2008 09:18 PM