Our new Prime Minister
Well, we have a new prime minister and a new minority government. My prayers will definitely work in overtime for Mr. Harper and whoever he appoints to his cabinet.
If you know me, I have some serious reservations about the Conservative party. Their general neo-conservative approach to economics has lead to some serious problems in my own province of Ontario (ie. Walkerton, child care, poverty, etc.). Big business has generally improved and flourished under a Conservative government. Unfortunately, the theory of trickle-down economics brought little other benefits to our province. Ontario reacted by electing a Liberal government in our last provincial election.
I fear that these same effects may occur in a Conservative federal government. Mr. Harper has already shown signs of falling in line with the Republicans of America with his recent decision to not support the Hamas government democratically elected in Palestine. That's not going to make friends anytime soon. True enough, Hamas is linked to terrorist activities, but we won't get into Israeli military activities against Palestinians and Canada's subsequent support of Israel.
I also don't like the idea that many of my Christian brothers and sisters are shouting for triumph over the recent Conservative victory. Most of these celebrations revolve around the issues of same-sex marriage and abortion (and the idea that a Conservative government will revoke these), and not around the issues of poverty and social welfare (issues that are fundamentally more important to me as a Christ-follower). I sometimes feel like I need to apologize to people for the idea that Christians are vehement about whether or not the state gives two people of the same sex property rights through the act of marriage; rather than being vehement about what we need to do to ensure the well-being of those people who have suffered or are incapable of providing for themselves.
I sincerely pray that Mr. Harper and his government will work to ensure social welfare and maintain some of the institutions that observe some of the best Christian values (ie. free public health care, social programs, etc.). I also pray that with this minority government, we can enjoy a time of true democratic process where no one party will be able to mandate so much public law but will actually have to work with others in order to get something done for the good of the Canadian people.
2 Comments:
Do you really believe Canada should support Hamas, an organization which has publically advocated for Israel's destruction? They're a militant group that masterminds suicide bombings against Israelis. Why support them? In the name of democracy?
I don't believe that Canada should support the Hamas mandate to destroy Israel, but we must exercise a degree of introspection before we readily denounce them.
Unfortunately, the state of Israel does not have the best track record of non-violence against Palentinians; and much of this has fueled the rise to power of Hamas.
Before we quickly say, "we will not recognize Hamas," we have to look at the larger reasons for their existence and also take a look at the entire political situation in the Middle East.
Hamas expects people to reject them. They're not going to be shocked by Mr. Harper's declaration. But we have seen how they react to this kind of declaration; they react with violence.
The question now becomes how does Canada reach out to this newly-elected democratic party and address the concerns that they raise? How do we oppose the use of violence as a national mandate and not incur hatred as a result?
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