I wonder if Canada has any progresive Christian party that I might never have heard of, however fringe it might be with its nine or so members.
I'm not a Christian myself, but I could see the benefit of such a party. A progressive Christian could, for instance, find himself in agreement with Conservatives on points of personal morality (abortion, homosexuality, etc.), but more in agreements with the NDP on social issues (peace, demilitarization, racial relations, social justice in the world, poverty alleviation, etc.). Such a person would probably feel ill at ease in both the Conservative party for its more militaristic and nationalistic stance on issues, but also ill at ease with the NDP for its stance on personal morality issues such as support for homosexual marriage, etc.
This kind of party could, for example, switch with the times. When the public mood is in favour of personal morals over social ssues, it would ally itself with the conservatives. And when the public mood is more iin the direction of international issues, it would switch to the NDP.
The closest party I could see in this respect, strangely enough, is the Green Party, though even it would have its problems. The Green Party is very progressive on social issues, but though a little less aggressive in promoting Gay rights, Abortion, etc. than the NDP, it still does; maybe it just doesn't focus on those issues as much as the NDP does. Plus it's not officially Christian, so some more fundamentalist Chrisitans might feel that it still compromises on certain Christian issues. though then again, neither is the Conservative Party, though the Reform party came close, and I think there is a Christian fringe party that does exist, but it's not so progressive as far as I know on social issues.
I'm not a Christian myself, but I could see the benefit of such a party. A progressive Christian could, for instance, find himself in agreement with Conservatives on points of personal morality (abortion, homosexuality, etc.), but more in agreements with the NDP on social issues (peace, demilitarization, racial relations, social justice in the world, poverty alleviation, etc.). Such a person would probably feel ill at ease in both the Conservative party for its more militaristic and nationalistic stance on issues, but also ill at ease with the NDP for its stance on personal morality issues such as support for homosexual marriage, etc.
This kind of party could, for example, switch with the times. When the public mood is in favour of personal morals over social ssues, it would ally itself with the conservatives. And when the public mood is more iin the direction of international issues, it would switch to the NDP.
The closest party I could see in this respect, strangely enough, is the Green Party, though even it would have its problems. The Green Party is very progressive on social issues, but though a little less aggressive in promoting Gay rights, Abortion, etc. than the NDP, it still does; maybe it just doesn't focus on those issues as much as the NDP does. Plus it's not officially Christian, so some more fundamentalist Chrisitans might feel that it still compromises on certain Christian issues. though then again, neither is the Conservative Party, though the Reform party came close, and I think there is a Christian fringe party that does exist, but it's not so progressive as far as I know on social issues.
