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Friday January 20, 2006
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All Guns Trained on Social Conservatives in Canada - Editorial
By John-Henry Westen
Editor
LifeSiteNews.com
The current election has taken the attack on social conservatives in Canada to new heights. Never before have pro-life, pro-family and pro-faith Canadians been as frequently and broadly painted as extreme, scary, and harbouring secret agendas.
The two leading political parties in the election have had an ongoing war to point out to the media the subversive social conservative elements in each others ranks.
An example of the invective comes from Prime Minister Paul Martin who said at a campaign stop in Atlantic Canada today: "What's going to happen after the election? Are these social conservatives going to stay in hiding ... (or) are they going to come out and start expressing their views, advancing their causes?" God forbid that Christians would actually do what Christians have openly lived and preached for 2000 years!
The Conservatives have sent out more than half a dozen press releases in recent days identifying pro-life and pro-family Members of Parliament within the Liberal Party. While the intent may not have been to smear the candidates, the media has understandably taken that impression and run with it.
The mainstream media is reporting moreover that Conservative Party headquarters has warned its social conservative candidates to keep their mouths shut on life and family issues at all costs, even that of skipping all-candidates debates. They have ordered some candidates to refuse to answer pro-life questionnaires.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has successively come down more and more against even openness to social conservative causes within the party. The original position of the Party was to allow for private members bills on moral issues including abortion and for free votes in the House of Commons on those measures. However, in response to increased pressure from the Liberals and the media, Harper vowed to "use whatever influence I have in Parliament to be sure that such a matter doesn't come to a vote."
Even on the issue of traditional marriage Harper has backed away from social conservatives indicating that legislation on the matter is by no means a priority.
In the United States where such harsh politicking is commonplace, social conservatives have at least one mainstream political leader to speak up for them - the President - who, rather than being afraid, is proud and usually confident to affirm that he is pro-life, pro-family and pro-faith. This publicly projected confidence in his beliefs, totally lacking in many Canadian social conservative politicians, has had a powerful effect in disarming the influence of opponents on those issues.
Surveys have shown that television is where most Canadians receive their news. However, television is by far the most uniformly biased form of communications, with harldly any meaningfull socially conservative Canadian presence represented on mainstream stations whatsoever.
Fox News, in the United States, while not socially conservative, is at least usually 'fair and balanced', leaving openings for socially conservative views to be expressed and respected.
The Internet and other alternative media are where Canadians should be turning for most of their news about what is really happening in their nation and in the world. That is why LifeSiteNews.com exists.
It is time for social conservatives in Canada, those in public life especially, to learn how to effectively present their beliefs, to project total confidence in those beliefs and to no longer shamefully cower from the cameras or voters.
In the media, we must make our voices heard. We must demand fair and balanced coverage, and work to repair the damage done by this election campaign which has left the general public with the completely wrong impression that we are second-class citizens, if not dangerous and untrustworthy.
The best weapon against destructive propaganda is the truth, presented boldly, charitably and with well reasoned arguments.
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