Ha ha - that's my MP in the second photo.

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/1083554--the-christian-left-needs-to-be-more-vocal-ordained-minister-says

Hi,

The Blaikie Report book has sold quite well since its release earlier this fall. I'm wondering if there are any WonderCafe visitors who have read it and would like to share some of their thoughts on it?  

The Blaikie Report could be a great opportunity to discuss a number of items, such as the relationship of faith and politics, the Social Gospel, the United Church and the NDP, the history and state of the Canadian Christian Left, the impact of the United Church in Canadian politics, etc. 

Anybody interested? 

If you haven't got a copy of The Blaikie Report, you can pick it up here:

Print version

e-Book version

In his book, Bill Blaikie points to a number of causes for the Christian left's political failure... things like single cause movements and churches failing to tell people who to vote for... and an unaware electorate.

Any views?

Personally it makes me wonder whether, in fact, what the left considers justice and decency aren't on most Canadians' list of things that matter. When conditions at  Attawapiskat turn into a political "pass the blame" game and widespread public indifference it certainly seems that way. I mean, what are the the good people of Kashechewan doing this Christmas season after all the problems of Christmas 2005? Planning their winter vacations in Florida? 

I don't always see a strong consistency in his perspective, Graeme, and this interests me: there's the Christian teaching (which is the touchstone for a shared set of what really are personal principles if they are to mean anything); there's morality (the standards of conduct that are constructed from the shared personal principles), there's the "moral" party (the collective that aims to express that morality in public life and, specifically, in government). And that all seems nicely locked up. But then there's a democracy to contend with: other parties with other principles, morals and intentions for governance. And there are electorates. And there are the media.

There are provinces. And there's the country, the nation state.

Somehow, a politician aiming to be a statesperson has to arrive at some personal synthesis. Just being a bit "bendy" makes it hard to follow the plot. And it's that synthesis that makes Stephen Harper hard to handle: he has put together a wholeness of character and intention that is seldom muddled. Jack Layton had that clarity, Trudeau had it.  Bill Blaikie gives the impression of one never quite holding it together and it's almost certainly his decency that kept getting in the way.

And that tracks back at least as far as his principles. The message of his book may well be that that gospel imperatives have no place in government, not even a little bit. And that's maybe the biggest problem with our democracy: leadership has to be duplicitous, devious, bullying and manipulative to make the cut.

To rankle with irritation that churches, single issue lobby groups, etc, do not express their principles as unequivocal support for a particular candidate or party in a federal election — or that electors are unreflective and ill-informed — may be understandable but it's not Canadian politics. 

The person who'll take Stephen Harper down will have to be a hardman or woman with an uncompromising knack for opportunism. Someone who can slalom past every potential scandal and be on the spot to ruthlessly put the boot in the moment he or any of his allies falter.  At the moment, these opportunities serenely glide by almost daily as though there's no parliamentary opposition at all. Democracy needs an opposition that is as conscientious or more conscientious that the the government of the day. If only half of its points have substance enough to hit home, it's still a long way behind the government of the day. The DND as MacKay's taxi service, MPs flirting with Chinese hotties, aboriginal people living in abject misery… let's re-vist Stas Can, the prisons, the tarsands without a pipeline, asbestos exports, overstretched foodbanks, prison conditions, court congestion, education standards, government-abandoned veterans, higher education funding and student fees, the Senate, bilingualism, the Post Office, immigration injustices, the nuclear industry, inadequate minimum wages, Canada as the dark force whenever environmental issues are raised, Canada as the U.S's toy boy, overpaid CEOs, failure to meet aid commitments,  the international reputation of Canada's mining companies, Canada slipping down the pole when it comes to government ethical standards... it's all in the news. Pile it on, our Loyal Opposition!!!

Bill's in a good position as a theology prof to kick a bit of butt from outside the ring...  go for it, Bill!!!