Can Christians Participate Fully in the 21st Century?

Why you should attend and why you should care

Leslie Rosenblood

On September 9 at 3:30 PM ET, Cardus will present a webinar: “Can Christians participate fully in 21st-century western pluralism?” 

If you’re not familiar with Cardus, it’s probably worthwhile to gain at least a passing familiarity with the organization. In many ways, the folks at Cardus are just like us – educated, articulate, passionate, and working for a better Canada and world. There are, however, two crucial differences: 

1. Whereas humanists promote secularism in both the philosophical and political senses, Cardus is dedicated to injecting faith into every aspect of the public sphere, from law to media, from education to societal norms. 
2. Cardus is not led by volunteers. They are a well-funded organization, with several full-time employees and many close, personal connections with powerful and influential politicians.

Christian nationalism is on the rise in the United States. If the humanist/secularist/atheist/agnostic community is to be effective in preventing the same from occurring in Canada, we should be intimately familiar with the arguments of Christians so that we may more effectively counter them.

You may register for this public webinar here. Feel free to share the registration link with others who are interested in learning how faith groups make the case that religious belief should permeate more societal institutions. 

Please be polite and respectful if you attend. The goal is to gain knowledge, not engage in a debate. Only through understanding our social environment can we be effective in changing it. I look forward to continued efforts working with all of you to make Canada a fairer, more compassionate, and more secular society.

Cardus similarly keeps tabs on our community. They realize our goal of a secular society – promoting reason, compassion, and secular values (including government neutrality in matters of religion) – is antithetical to their aims. In November 2024, Cardus published a research report entitled “Why Religious Tax Exemptions Benefit All Canadians”. In it, they explicitly cite the Centre for Inquiry Canada’s Cost of Religion series of report as a motivating factor. 

Why has Cardus submitted a report to Canada’s Finance Committee?

Every year, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance publishes a report containing recommendations for the following year’s budget. The latest report, published in December 2024, contained Recommendation 430: “Amend the Income Tax Act to provide a definition of a charity which would remove the privileged status of ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose.” (See CFIC’s House of Commons Recommends Ending Religious Privilege”.) 

Cardus’ recent submission to Canada’s Finance Committee advocates for more public expenditures on faith-based initiatives.

CFIC’s Cost of Religion series of reports details how Canada’s three levels of government already subsidize religious institutions by more than $5.5 billion every year, a cost borne by all Canadians. Religious charities appear to be worried. The Canadian Centre for Christian Charities argued against this series, claiming that the “Cost of Religion” reports paid insufficient attention to the purported benefits of religious institutions. Both CFIC’s and Cardus’ viewpoints were included in a Ryan Jespersen Real Talk episode, “Should Churches Pay Taxes?” 

Cardus has a strong incentive to maintain Canada’s current high level of taxpayer-funded proselytizing.

Let’s do this together

I have come to the conclusion that we, both as individuals and as secular / humanist organizations across Canada, need to work together to be effective. The ad-hoc group working on changing Canada’s census question is an excellent example. I would love to see more humanist coalition-building. I keep thinking of Aesop’s fable of the sticks: individually, each stick is easily snapped in two, but bundled together they are utterly impervious to attempts to break them. 

I look forward to continued efforts working with all of you to make Canada a fairer, more compassionate, and more secular society.