How Canada Truckers' Protest Parallels American-Style Christian Nationalism

February 18, 2022 Bobby Ross Jr.

Weekend Plug-in 🔌

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(ANALYSIS) “Honk if you love Jesus.”

That headline on a recent story by the Ottawa Citizen’s Blair Crawford sets the scene as the Canadian newspaper explains “Why so many Evangelical Christians have joined the ‘Freedom Convoy.’”

Unfamiliar with the Freedom Convoy? The Wall Street Journal explains the protest in Canada’s capital city this way:

Since late January, downtown Ottawa has served as a parking lot for hundreds of heavy-duty trucks, pickup trucks and other vehicles, operated by individuals who say they are fed up with the social restrictions and vaccine mandates meant to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Back to the faith angle: The Ottawa newspaper notes:

At the ongoing demonstration … Jesus references and Bible quotes share space alongside “F*ck Trudeau” signs. The evangelical Christian message of love and peace clashes with reports of Ottawa residents being harassed for wearing masks, houses displaying the rainbow pride flag vandalized and the sight of Confederate flags and swastikas among the demonstrators. At one booth on Wellington Street you could get buttons with the yellow Star of David, likening the plight of Jewish people in Nazi Germany to the unvaccinated.

CBC News’ Jorge Barrera reports that “For many inside the freedom convoy, faith fuels the resistance.”

According to Barrera’s story:

Christian faith — with an overtly evangelical feel — flows likes an undercurrent through the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa.

It's unclear how many of the roughly 4,000 people who gathered in the Parliament precinct this past weekend call themselves Christians, but the biblical references were everywhere — in the hand-made placards lining the stone and iron fence at the border of Parliament Hill reading, "We are praying for Justin [Trudeau]," quoting parts of Psalm 23 or paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 1:27 in the New Testament:

"God chose the foolish to shame the wisdom of the wise."

While no mainstream Christian organization has thrown its official support behind the Freedom Convoy, some of the funds raised for the cause have been donated through the GiveSendGo crowdfunding site, which is administered by a Christian group.

Religion News Service’s Jack Jenkins points to parallels between the Canadian protest movement and American-style Christian nationalism:

A Vice News analysis of leaked, illegally hacked GiveSendGo data from 92,000 trucker protest donors revealed that messages attached to their contributions contained more than 13,000 references to “God” or “Jesus.”

The analysis also revealed that most of the donations appeared to originate from the U.S., where anti-vaccine and anti-mandate sentiment has emerged as a rallying cry for a vocal minority of religious people in the U.S. The cause has become especially popular with religious voices who championed forms of Christian nationalism in the lead up to the Jan. 6 insurrection, and Canadian demonstrators appear to be sharing some of their tactics: Protesters have begun conducting “Jericho Marches” around Canada’s parliamentary precinct, just as religious supporters of former President Donald Trump did in the days before the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In general, Canada’s culture is viewed as more secular (think post-Christian Europe) and less traditional Christian than that of the U.S. In a 2011 article, veteran Vancouver Sun religion writer Douglas Todd put the Canadian evangelical Protestant population at 8%-10%, much less than the 35% he cited in the U.S. at that time.

For more on the faith angle, see Canadian scholar Christine Mitchell’s piece for The Conversation on “How white Christian nationalism is part of the ‘freedom convoy’ protests.”

For the latest news, including Ottawa police moving in to make arrests Thursday night, see The Associated Press, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Why are thousands of baptisms deemed invalid?: Associated Press religion writers Peter Smith and Nicole Winfield provide expert analysis on a Roman Catholic priest in Arizona using “the incorrect baptismal formula” for more than two decades.

In related Washington Post coverage, Godbeat pro Michelle Boorstein asks, “Did a faulty pronoun really cancel Catholics’ baptisms, marriages, confessions?”

2. Closing to dodge COVID, rural churches faced threat from another microbe: mold: This is a fascinating story by Thad Moore, a projects reporter for The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina.

Moore’s extensive reporting cites the mildew and mold damage at one church — Harmony Presbyterian — as an example of “a hidden secondary toll of the pandemic on rural churches, an extra cost at a time when many are already struggling with declining membership and reduced collections.”

3. Amid debate, women lift their voices with sacred Muslim text: Marian Fam of The Associated Press and Aysha Khan of Religion News Service team up on this story with a Cairo dateline.

The piece highlights an “effort by some Muslim women who say they want to build on the historical examples of other women in their faith to expand their spiritual leadership roles in Islamic spaces.”

For more background, see Plug-in’s earlier mention of a special project by AP and RNS on women in male-led religions.

Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines

Kelsey Dallas, religion reporter for the Deseret News, writes about “What Russell Moore taught me about arguing with my husband.”

“Moore told me his goal is to model how to have hard conversations without losing your cool,” Dallas notes. “I praised the effort before admitting my own propensity to treat political conflict like a fight to the death.”

Enjoy the Godbeat pro’s self-reflection.

Charging Station: In Case You Missed It

Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.

• Canadian government to be reviewed for its response to the Uyghur Genocide (by Ewelina U. Ochab)

• Tennis star and Orthodox believer Novak Djokovic refuses to get vaccinated (by Madi Marks)

• Across U.S., $89 million of taxpayer money goes to Christian abortion alternative programs (by Steve Rabey)

• New documentary ‘jeen-yuhs’ shows Kanye on his best behavior (by Jillian Cheney)

• Which is a more ‘Christian’ chant: ’Let's go Brandon!’ or ‘Pray for Biden!’ (by Terry Mattingly)

• Oscar-nominated ‘The Power of The Dog’ gets its title from a famous Psalm (by Jillian Cheney)

• Bread Breakers: New Jersey church finds creative way to do ministry during pandemic (by Tracy Simmons)

• Entering a religion-beat minefield: What is the proper definition of the word ‘cult’? (by Richard Ostling)

• Jail ministries find ways to reach incarcerated amid pandemic (by Steve Rabey)

• Former plaintiffs in Bill Gothard abuse lawsuit hit back at Institute In Basic Life Principles’ statement to NBC News (by Shannon Cuthrell)

• Azerbaijan government takes direct control of mosque leadership (by Felix Corley)

• Liberians memorialize 29 lives lost in Christian revival stampede (by Kaipee Luther Newray)

The Final Plug

Adelle M. Banks, longtime national reporter at Religion News Service, has a cool Twitter thread going related to Black History Month.

Each day, Banks tweets a different story from her exceptional past coverage of race and religion.

Check it out.

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for ReligionUnplugged.com and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.

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