Anglican Church of Canada denounces Christian nationalism

[Anglican Church of Canada] On Dec. 1, the Anglican Church of Canada issued a statement denouncing Christian nationalism and calling it “a distortion of the gospel of Jesus and a threat to Canadian democracy.”

The full text of the statement follows.

The Anglican Church of Canada believes that everyone is created in God’s image and that all members of society have an equal right to participate meaningfully in the public square at all levels. We have been enriched, as a church, by our relationships with other Christian denominations, along with the great variety of religious traditions that are found across our communities. Canada’s longstanding commitment to religious pluralism has enabled members of many faith communities and those with no faith commitment to live in civic harmony with one another without sacrificing their respective theological convictions.

A growing threat to this principle of pluralism and inclusion is the ideology of Christian nationalism, which seeks to merge Christian and Canadian identities, conflating them and distorting both Christian faith and Canada’s parliamentary democracy. Christian nationalism demands that Christianity be privileged by the state and implies that to be a good Canadian, one must be Christian. This ideology can provide cover for discrimination against marginalized groups and can increase threats and violence against religious communities at home and abroad. In that light, we denounce Christian nationalism as a distortion of the gospel of Jesus and a threat to Canadian democracy.

In our Baptismal Covenant, we promise to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to strive for justice and peace among all people, to respect the dignity of every human being, and to strive to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation, and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth. These commitments lead us to call for the full inclusion and welcome of diverse voices engaging constructively in public debate, building connections across differences and celebrating the contributions of many communities to our collective wellbeing.