Hundreds flock to National Prayer Breakfast in Ottawa

[maldon_road]

Given the way MPs have been behaving lately it is hard to see where much Christian charity is being manifested.

This is religion and, especially when you add politics in, you can expect controversy.

Should it be expanded beyond what is in essence a one-religion (Christianity) gathering? And of course there are those who see religionists using this to pursue their own political agenda.

Hundreds flock to National Prayer Breakfast in Ottawa

Many MPs say it brings people together and acknowledge the role their faith plays in public life.

NDP MP Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.), who, before running for the provincial Parliament in Ontario, worked for the Catholic church, said Wednesday afternoon that this will be his first National Prayer Breakfast. In addition to attending the breakfast, Mr. Martin also spoke on a panel that was part of the youth forum the day before the breakfast. He said he thinks the event is a good thing because it brings people together and acknowledges the role that Parliamentarians' faith plays in their public lives, however he said it should be less Christian-focused.

"I think it should be more inclusive, I think there's room for that. Certainly people can come to it from their Christian faith journey, but to connect with, and share with, and learn from others of other faiths I think would be in the best interest of the work that we do here on the Hill and in the country," said Mr. Martin.

Jack Layton, who said he's been coming to the breakfast for many years, said though it has a diverse array of attendees it could still go further in reaching out to other faiths.

"I think what we're seeing here and what I've noticed over the years is the diversity of the gathering has really just blossomed and I think that's a very, very exciting thing," he said. "I think it would be very interesting for the group to explore the commonalties among the religious traditions we find here in Canada. I've been spending a lot more time with Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, aboriginal friends, Sikh friends and talking with them about their conceptualization of God, and humanity and all I see are commonalties, that's all I see. It rings like a clarion bell, like off the Peace Tower, that we're just not picking it up, but it's there and I'd love to see us explore that further."

While Mr. Martin said he feels the breakfast should be less Christ-centred, he believes overall there needs to be more open discourse about the role of faith in politics. He said that when he was an MPP in Ontario he felt like he was expected to leave his faith "coat" outside the door.

"Since I came [to Parliament], with some others, I've committed to not hang that [faith] coat up, but to try to integrate, in a healthy way, in a balanced way, some of my faith life with my public life."

He said he thinks there has been a "chill," particularly on the left, of connecting religious life with public life.

"We've heard from members of the [NDP] party across the country, a few, that they're concerned and they're afraid this might open the door to a revisiting of some issues driven by the right wing faith elements here around abortion, same sex marriage, that kind of thing, and that's not where we're going at all. The primary focus in terms of issues for us...are issues of justice, issues of poverty, of concern for the environment, issues of peace as opposed to war, these are the three big things I think all of us coming from a faith perspective can bite into."

Mr. Martin is part of an initiative called the Faith and Justice Commission, which will be a forum to publicly discuss the connection between religion and politics and reach out to people of different faiths....

(full story)

Faith and Politics

[Leafless]

There is nothing as volatile as a pile of non- Christian minority faiths in a country that was formed on Christianity ideologies, with Christianity still being by far, the majority religion of Canadians.

There is no common ground in an issue like this and if Canada is truly officially multicultural it must swallow its true Christian identity and discontinue national prayer events such as this.

Multiculturalism is a curse relating to Canada's true identity and now we must SUFFER the consequences from this ill conceived piece of anti-Canadian propaganda.

[CANADIEN]

Given the way MPs have been behaving lately it is hard to see where much Christian charity is being manifested.

This is religion and, especially when you add politics in, you can expect controversy.

Should it be expanded beyond what is in essence a one-religion (Christianity) gathering? And of course there are those who see religionists using this to pursue their own political agenda.

Discussion of, and reflection on, the role prayer plays in the lives of our elected representatives is a VERY good thing. Granted, like with anything involving politicians, there is the risk of events such as this being co-opted by political agendas, but from that article I doubt it had happened here.

As for including non-Christians as well... Absolutely.