Posted on 04/13/2006 10:29:57 AM PDT by Squawk 8888
He is found at the very, very end, these days, with little fanfare or triumphalism. If you blinked, in fact, you'd miss Him. But He is there, just the same, and -- to some people in the news media -- it is a very big deal, indeed.
God, that is.
At the conclusion of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's March 28 speech to the Conservative Party's national caucus, and his March 13 speech to our troops in Afghanistan, God is acknowledged, and His assistance is sought. "God bless Canada," said the Prime Minister on both of those occasions. And Mr. Harper has used those words many other times since.
To say that the Prime Minister's invocation has stirred up media hysteria would be too strong. But quite a few media observers -- and not just the heartless atheist ones, either -- have expressed disdain for the Prime Minister's littlest of prayers.
In a pre-election column in the Montreal Gazette, writer Sue Montgomery was scathing. "This brings to mind [Harper's] buddy south of the border, George W. Bush, who sees the Lord, not the constitution, as his guide," wrote Montgomery. "This should be the first red flag to Canadians set to elect Harper as prime minister that we are in for the right wing ride of our lives."
The Vancouver Sun's Barbara Yaffe was a bit less critical in a February opinion piece, but perturbed, nonetheless. "Lord protect me for saying this, but any reference to God or people's prayers should be curtailed by Harper. Canadians don't mix religion with their politics ... it's crass."
Even international media organizations were unimpressed. Le Figaro and Liberation observed that the words rendered Mr. Harper too Bush-like. Le Figaro went so far as to caution the Conservative leader that "at the slightest misstep, Quebecers will throw themselves into the arms of the sovereignists."
Finally, in the pages of the Toronto Star, Linda McQuaig was highly agitated by it all. "Is it just me, or does anyone else find it ominous that Harper says 'God bless Canada' ... deliberately aping the most unsavoury president in U.S. history?"
Yes, Linda. It is just you. No one else finds it ominous in the slightest.
As a card-carrying member of the latte-sipping, Volvo-driving, Toronto-based secular humanist internationalist conspiracy, I can say that I have not lost any shut-eye since I first heard Stephen Harper utter those three words. None at all. The black helicopter remains parked in the back yard, in fact, ready to whisk us to Havana at a moment's notice. But, so far, none of the criticisms of Mr. Harper's speech-ending petition have persuaded any Satanic One-Worlders to abandon the snowy commune. There are three reasons for this.
First, by making reference to the deity in a speech, the Prime Minister has not even inferentially signalled his intention to rewrite the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, or even the Migratory Birds Convention Act, S.C. 1994, c.22. He has passed no legislation, nor has he sought the approval of the House of Commons for a wholesale rending of our constitutional fabric. He has merely asked the Almighty to look favourably upon Canada, which the Almighty may or may not do (He clearly was otherwise occupied when the Olympic Men's hockey team needed Him, earlier this year).
Secondly, the notion that Mr. Harper is, as Mesdames Montgomery and McQuaig claimed, "aping" George W. Bush is, well, plain silly. Certainly, the U.S. President is unafraid to request that "God bless America." He does it quite often. But so do plenty of other American politicians. One of them, named Al Gore, said this on December 13, 2000: "Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I'm with you, Mr. President, and God bless you." (He then went on to mention God five times after that.)
Another American fellow, rumoured to be one John Kerry, said this at the August 2004 convention that saw him designated the Democratic Party's presidential candidate: "And let me say it plainly: In that cause, and in this campaign, we welcome people of faith. America is not us and them ... I don't want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side." Damned Bible-thumping Democrats!
There is, however, a third and final reason why Prime Minister Harper's most diminutive of prayers is already known to you, unless you happen to have been in a coma since 1980. It is this:
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
If Stephen Harper has offended our constitutional law, so too has every red-blooded Canadian above the age of five. God bless us, every one!
(((.)))
Geritol?
As an atheist I won't be invoking God's name to ask for his blessings or whatever anytime soon, but it bothers me not one iota that Stephen Harper has done so. Similarly, singing the lines (nevermind their mere prescence) "God keep our land, glorious and free" in our national anthem does not bother me one bit. Everyone, please remember that bitter cranks do not represent the majority of us atheists who want nothing more to live and let live.
It is incredible that people should try and make an issue over this. Good luck to Stephen Harper. I wonder what liberals think when a liberal such as Al Gore says "God bless America"? They can't deny that it has happened as it has been captured on film.
They think he's trying to get the Republican vote, and let it pass.
bump
hehehehehe!! Ya think some of these aetheistic communistic media types are having a hissy fit a day??? Harper is calmly driving these media types bonkers isn't he?
Yes, they are acting like spoiled brats because of their lack of access. Well, it's been decades since we have had any semblance of a responsible media, so I have no compassion for them.
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