It should be of great concern to everyone in Canada that white supremacist organizations like Action4Canada are openly fomenting hatred against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community particularly against transgendered people. All were born that way.
Think it can’t happen here? it is! Aping their U.S. counterparts, they are now targeting school board parent meetings, libraries and teachers in Ontario with their campaigns. Historically, anti-LGBTQ and gender ideology has been emblematic of fascist and far-right political platforms. Now in Canada these groups are boldly operating in the open promoting a return to “tradition” of Judeo-Christian, gender roles and whiteness as Canadian “heritage”.
What happened to “Never Again”?
Just two years ago far-right-wing groups from all around Europe, met together in of all places Warsaw, Poland on December 4 and 5 in 2021. We are seeing extreme nationalism and authoritarianism rising in many places around the world, most disturbingly the hatred and antisemitism on the rise in the U.S. But by far the most terrifying thing is to see the silence on the issue.
At the end of the Second World War many countries of the world joined together in a chorus of Never again! The loudest of which was the U.S. “Never again” to extreme nationalism. “Never again” to hatred and genocide! It’s evident that with social media and the internet these groups are very well organized and all communicating with each other. Make no mistake, the religious right and white supremists that exist in the U.S. are clearly communicating with the like-minded and operating here in Canada.
Worldwide, the use of religion by the right to gain and maintain power and control is very disturbing. Most concerning is the use of the completely invented version of Christianity by the far-right in the U.S., where they have gained complete power and control over the Republican Party there. They are now demanding that America become a Christian theocracy with no division between church and state. Watch for Republican wannabe presidential candidates cater to them endlessly. Their version of Christianity is the religion of white supremacy. Very dangerously, they have leaked across the border. These groups are also the primary source of antisemitism.
Here in Canada, you do not become leader of a Conservative party provincially or federally without the support of the Christian right. Scheer, O’Toole, Ford, Danielle Smith and Poilievre all required support of the American style Christian-right to become leader.
My question is what did these leaders promise them in order to gain their support? Three guesses, but you’re only going to need one. This brand of Christianity has no problem promoting intolerance and fear of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and treating the transgendered as being some kind of evil mutants. They are constantly dehumanizing them and promoting fear and anger against them. Fear and anger are the recipe for hate. They promote the fear that they are somehow a danger to children, ignoring the abuse of children for many decades by priests in the Catholic Church.
Where are the leaders who are supposed to be speaking up? We must remember what Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller said:
“First, they came for the Communists and I did not speak up, because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the homosexuals and infirm, and I did not speak up because I was neither. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak up, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, And I did not speak up, because I was Protestant. Finally, they came for me and there was no one left to speak up for me.”
The lyrics to Carol Popes 1980 song “What’s the Furor About the Fuhrer” was very prophetic.
Hate is the main organizing tool of fascists and the far right. This is a very dangerous threat to everyone in Canada. This campaign of hatred must be denounced by everyone and stopped right here and now. Particularly dangerous is Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre who has been praised by U.S. far-right conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones as “the new superhero of the right.”
Now is the time to Speak up before they come for you!
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