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Social Conservatives Come Out of the Closet

JAY BARWELL and DEREK ROGUSKY
Globe and Mail
Tuesday, July 11, 2000

Reproduced by LifeSite with permission of the authors

Social conservatives have watched with keen interest the growing media attention focused on social conservatism and its goals. Since the media have ignored and marginalized this segment of the Canadian populace for years, we find the attention both exciting and amusing.

Obviously, the basis of this renewed attention has been the Canadian Alliance leadership race. It is intriguing to witness the nationwide debate that has been ignited: Will social conservatives impose their views on the country? Why are family-oriented institutions supporting Stockwell Day?

Stockwell Day and Preston Manning's ability to articulate social conservative values within a culture of political correctness has encouraged many conservatives to speak out. The candidates' willingness to openly discuss sensitive issues -- such as heterosexual marriage and the rights of the unborn -- on the national stage has signalled a maturing for Canada's social conservatives, a much larger number than many pundits had imagined.

It has been amusing to watch commentators and columnists acting as if they had witnessed the ascension of some mythical creature. That so many Canadians are, at the very least, open to hearing what social conservatives have to say has left many commentators dumbfounded.

In light of the media's consistently mean-spirited portrayal of social conservatives, it is astounding to witness the growing ranks of those Canadians -- particularly among the young -- willing to be identified with the movement. After all, social conservatives have recently been characterized as scary, repent-or-be-sent Christians, as intolerant xenophobes who threaten progress, as narrow-minded Neanderthals on the fringe of society.

Such descriptions display the venom, oversimplification and intellectual licence employed by many opponents of things conservative. Many peddle fear, their propaganda a collection of half-truths. Their interpretation of freedom of expression means freedom for them, silence for the dissenter.

Social conservatives, as Mr. Day has repeated time and again, espouse a platform of respect. While Canadians hold a variety of disparate views, social conservatives believe those views and their proponents have essential self-worth and are deserving of respect, dignity and a public voice.

Social conservatives, although not perfect, are not monsters. They are women and men of various backgrounds, nationalities, faiths and ideologies, desirous of the respectful right to hold and practise deeply held values, ideas and beliefs without being branded as pariahs.

Social conservatives recognize the diversity of our culture and understand that pluralism demands mutual respect -- my freedom is essentially dependent on your freedom whether we are in agreement or are ideological opponents.

It is here that social conservatives come into stark contrast with many of their politically correct rivals.

Social conservatives believe that public debate and the democratic political process should determine public policy. The continuing characterization of social democrats as simple-minded zealots out to dupe Canadians is ridiculous. The "imposition" of a social conservative platform would require some 40 per cent of the electorate's vote in an election. It is absurd to assert that a socially conservative "agenda" can be foisted on this country against the will of the electorate.

Anyone who believes that such a fraud is possible must also believe that Canadian voters are unreasoning and incapable, a view held by many left-leaning elitists: those who believe the state, not its citizenry, knows best.

Social conservatives believe Canadians deserve more credit. If voters choose socially conservative candidates in the next election, it will not be the result of foolishness or stupidity. Rather, it will demonstrate the electorate's belief that those candidates represent their views and goals for Canada.

This social conservative belief in, and preference for, the democratic political process stands in contrast to the practice of many left-wing organizations that prefer to use the legal system to force their agenda on Canadians. These organizations don't trust Canadians to vote properly so they turn to the courts in pursuit of their agenda and rely on judicial activism to impose their values and beliefs on society.

For example, the Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law recently challenged Section 43 of the Criminal Code that allows parents to use reasonable force to discipline their children. The CFCYL knows full well that most Canadian parents have spanked their children and would not support this intrusion into their parental rights. Reasonable and loving parents, like all reasonable and right-thinking Canadians, are opposed to child abuse and fully support the existing laws that outlaw abuse. But the CFCYL, with the assistance of more than $50,000 in grants from the federal government, ran to the courts in an effort to sidestep the democratic political process and the dissent of the good and loving parents working hard to raise their children.

Had its efforts been successful, the CFCYL could have trampled on the rights of parents, turning law-abiding citizens into criminals -- all this occurring outside of the democratic political process. The CFCYL essentially argued that it, and not parents, was the most qualified to decide the best interests of our children. Fortunately, the judge determined that Section 43 is constitutional, keeping the CFCYL and the government out of our homes. The CFCYL has indicated it will appeal the decision.

The ludicrous accusation that social conservatives will impose their agenda on an unsuspecting Canadian electorate is nothing more than a smoke screen to mask the fear of those who clearly sense that Canadians are rejecting a left-wing agenda in support of a more conservative view. We need not fear social conservatives with their strong support for the democratic political process. Rather, we should question the motivation, goals and agenda of those alarmists and elitists who, with their disregard for the intellect and wisdom of the average Canadian, would ignore the democratic political process and impose their will through fear-mongering and legal manoeuvring.

Jay Barwell is director of communications and Derek Rogusky is senior researcher at Focus on the Family Canada, a Vancouver-based Christian charity.

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