January 13, 2024
HERE'S MY TAKE
The phrase “Mind your Ps and Qs” is inherited from old English pub culture, where beer was served in pints and quarts. It appears in English literature going back as far as 1602. It was a late Wednesday evening early in 2024, however, as I was catching up on my social media feeds while nursing a glass of Shiraz, that the phrase came to mind. Three items in succession—none noteworthy in and of itself—ended up making me squirm. They forced me to ask myself, “Why do Christians in the public square insist on so foolishly embarrassing themselves and harming the cause?”
The specifics don’t really matter. We’ve all seen examples of this sort. But to give you a sense of what disturbed me, the three posts that got me thinking were:
It’s not that the core points of each post were wrong. Businesses need to make profits or they don’t survive. Churches must speak truth even if it’s not politically correct. Politics requires winning power to get anything done. What was being said was defensible in every case and matched everyone’s social roles. In other words, they were all doing their jobs. None of them is accountable to me for delivering on responsibilities. Even so, the cumulative effect of their posts caused me to wish there was some teacher authority telling the whole class of us who speak publicly as Christians to “mind our Ps and Qs.”
The usual debate involves winsomeness and approach. Are we called to be cultural warriors or peacemakers? And to be sure, that’s part of it. But there’s more to the issue than courage and approach only.
To use the three examples that crossed my screen, the posters were promoting good things. Profits, truth, and power–each is good and necessary in its own right. But for what? Might it be that we sometimes forget that these are means, not ends? Profits make stewardship possible, allowing the efficient allocation of resources in order to produce goods or services, which is what businesses should do. Truth matters, but church is about worship and a right relationship with God. It’s not just truth for truth’s sake. Power is good and necessary, but only when used in pursuit of justice. These good “whats” are only good when they are used in pursuit of the right “whys.”
Talking about “whys” in the public square is in itself countercultural. The answers usually involve presumptions, if not explicit articulations, of religion, philosophy, or ideology–stuff our culture considers matters of personal choice. Freedom and choice are foundational to our liberal democratic society. Most of us consider them to be good concepts. Does anyone really prefer captivity and coercion?
This newsletter reflects on leadership in today’s public square as it relates to current affairs. It’s not the place (nor is there space) for deep dives into philosophy or theology. Meaningful answers to “why” questions inevitably bring us there. However, we can point out the necessity and inevitability of “why” questions and the consequence of stripping them from the public conversation. Living together and sharing space with others require minimum shared answers to such questions.
Those of us who call ourselves Christians should note the scriptural warning about noticing the speck in our neighbour’s eye without paying attention to the plank in our own eye. I’ve ranted before (eloquently and with measured language I hope) about the emptiness of Canada’s euthanasia regime that has made such an idol out of individual autonomy and choice. As a result, the so-called “right to choose” has become a greater good than life itself. I’ve asked out loud whether progressive ideology can lead to flourishing if it rates people’s worth and social standing based on group identities and classifications of those groups as either oppressed or an oppressor. I base both of these conclusions on my core conviction that to be human is to be created in the image of God. So, how I view and treat myself and every other human being–including those who are most marginalised and those who conduct themselves in ways that make them feel like my enemy–doesn’t just matter for social arrangements. It also matters for my own relationship to God. To mistreat the glorious art that is a human being is to dishonour the artist. That’s the public square “why” that shapes my “whats.”
Candour is always important but in times of tension, we need to choose our words carefully. There’s “a time to keep silence and a time to speak.” We live in times of tension, especially as it relates to a gospel witness in the public square. I know (having faced criticism) that some think the “winsome” and “strategic” approach to public square communication is cowardly and a compromise of biblical truth. I’ve already referenced the extensive online debate about Christian “winsomeness” in the public square with people I respect making arguments on both sides. But the more I think about it, I wonder if the debate shouldn’t really focus on whether we tilt toward courage or candour. Perhaps we need to think more carefully about our “why” questions. Sure, there are some controversial or unpopular things that we will need to say publicly. But before we simply say what needs to be said, might we remind ourselves on why it needs to be said? That would, I think, lead us to be wiser about how and when we say things. It won’t solve everything, of course. Still, I do wonder what would happen if Christians in the public square were more attentive to mind their Ps and Qs?
WHAT I’M READING
Can Universities Be Saved?
University of Calgary Professor Ian Brodie, perhaps better known as a former chief of staff to Prime Minister Harper, has an insightful, longer substack post regarding the challenges that universities face these days. Placing the campus debates regarding Hamas and Israel (and the high-profile resignations of university presidents) into the broader context of free speech on campus, Brodie questions whether defunding universities or forcing campus free speech codes can address these concerns. He suggests that fixing the academy requires either the creation of new institutions or reform from within, which almost certainly would need to be led by faculty.
Keeping Justice Current
Verdicts and outcomes usually influence public confidence in the justice system. However, this Toronto Star piece exposes some of the process challenges, not least as it regards the jury system and how it has not kept up with the times. On a very different but justice-related note, my colleague Renze Nauta released a very insightful paper on changes that might help people with criminal records find work and reintegrate into society, with employment being a major factor in reducing recidivism.
Houthi Piracy
The recent escalation of piracy on commercial shipping in the Red Sea has brought this Yemeni political movement (named after the tribe from which it primarily emerged in the 1990s) into greater focus. Almost 15% of global shipping travels through the Red Sea, saving about two weeks' time compared to travelling around the African continent. The Iranian-backed pirates have significantly increased their activity against any ships that are perceived to have connections with either Israel or the U.S. Given that this is as much a political issue as a security one, with Iran providing state-of-the-art military equipment to the pirates, there are real concerns that shipping security for western trade may escalate into political conflict. In fact, already this week we saw American-led military strikes.
Evolving Police Tactics
Police forces made headlines for all of the wrong reasons twice this week, first having to apologise for delivering coffee to anti-Israel protestors who were disrupting traffic, and then for the arrest of journalist David Menzies for what appeared to be a straight-forward questioning of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. It’s hard to think of any significant defence for either, but that doesn’t mean policing protests is a straight-forward assignment. Paul Wells’ essay on the evolution of policing demonstrations since the early 2000s when mass protests against globalisation were commonplace provides useful perspective and background on policing tactics.
Election Reverbs
Last week’s editorial mentioned the more than 50 elections scheduled for 2024 around the globe. This AP piece highlights some of the more impactful ones, not least of which is the election in Taiwan scheduled for today (Saturday, January 13th). This New York Times article provides an overview of the most likely possible outcomes and their implications.
MEANINGFUL METRICS
Quebec Has Issues with Religion
A recent Angus Reid survey starkly confirms what was generally known—Quebecers have a very different relationship with religion than do residents in the rest of Canada. The survey conducted just before Christmas was framed to understand how current issues might be impacting anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim sentiment. The issues, however, are much broader with 96 churches vandalised or burned since June 2021. What stands out in this data is 40% of Quebecers being negative regarding the contribution of faith to society (compared with 26% overall). When trends are considered (ARI began measuring this as part of a partnership with Cardus in 2017), positives are down by about a third and negatives have nearly doubled in just seven years. Yes, Canada has a problem understanding how religion relates to the public square!
TAKE IT TO-GO
Order in the Hive
The buzz in Cardus circles this week was the announcement of Brian Dijkema as our Canadian president. For those unaware, Insights is a product of the hive of activity at the think tank I was privileged to co-found with Michael Van Pelt. While formal congratulatory niceties would be appropriate here, the “Brian” thing to do would be to stand on a chair and read some poetry. That’s his way of keeping staff meetings from getting too stuffy. I’ve no ready rhyme suitable for this time but I do have a current internal email to share. Brian sent a stinging editorial suggestion to a colleague who used the metaphor of a beehive for peaceful order. In terms of Brian’s style, it’s pure honey.
Sirs,
I regret to inform you that honeybees, while orderly, are not peaceful. They are a chemically controlled, totalitarian, matriarchal society, founded on violence, where the non-procreating females are controlled by the pheromones of their half-sister queen, who manipulates them to feed, wash, and maintain her until such a time when she ceases to be fertile, at which point her half-sisters feed their incestuously created children with royal jelly to create a series of new queens. The first of these new queens to emerge then stings every other potential rival and the existing queen herself, and thus takes over the circle of life and death by chemical manipulation. One might also add that males of the species sit around doing nothing but eat until they are killed or kicked out in the fall when times get tough. So much for peace, and so much for the ancients who viewed them as the ideal society.
Thankfully there is a recent issue of Comment to provide a more nuanced take on gender roles than bees provide. I won’t drone on much further, except to note that there is no question of whether Cardus will continue to bee or not to bee a place for creativity, hard work, and good fun. I’m not pollen your leg when I say that Brian will make sure of it. He deserves hive fives and congratulations.