Rosella Melanson: What’s religion got to do with it?

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Fewer and fewer Canadians have a religion or say religion is important in their life. So why are politicians sending out more and more religious messages?

This Easter, I had a surfeit, not of chocolate, or religious services, but of politicians.

Pierre Poilievre made a “He is risen” video, which solemnly sermonized about “our Saviour” and ended with Vote Poilievre for Prime Minister. That was the strangest. Blaine Higgs’ message about the “miracle” of Easter was as inappropriate as his December text about the “miraculous truth of the Christmas story”.

It seems that every other day, politicians are wishing us Eid Mubarak, a joyful Diwali, a happy Pessah or a blessed Christmas.

The effect is to make us think Canadians are a religious lot, and that religion is important in Canada. Yet close to 40 per cent of Canadians have no religion. In British Columbia and the Yukon, the majority of people have no religious affiliation. That is happening even with the inflow of immigrants who are somewhat more often religious than Canadians.

Who cares if politicians act as if we are all religious? Why care if they use religion as a cynical tactic to get power?

One would think that religious people would object to such exploitation, but many don’t seem to mind.

There are also democratic reasons to call attention to what is happening.

The main reason for politicians to keep their distance from religion is public interest requires a critical view of religion. Mixing religion and politics has never ended well. Consider world history. It was abuse of human rights by religious politics that first gave rise to the democratic ideal of separation of church and state.

Even today, it is the absolutism of religious activists that most often threatens the rights of women and minorities. According to a 2023 study, over half of Canadians say religion does more harm than good in the world.

To be aware of the tension created by religions in the political sphere is not religious intolerance. It is good public stewardship.

Charities that are non-prophet as well as non-profit don’t pay taxes but at least their mission is charity, and they must abide by anti-discrimination laws and cannot engage in politics. Religions, whose mission is the advancement of their beliefs, some of which go against public interest policy, don’t pay taxes, but preach politics. And now politicians preach religion.

Rosella Melanson is a writer based in Fredericton