Michael Coren: The U.S. president's demand that churches reopen is an attempt to exploit a uniquely American view of Christianity
Trump and Melania Trump walk to Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base on May 27, 2020 At the end of last week U.S. President Donald Trump followed through on a long-standing threat and called on, “governors to allow our churches and places of worship to open right now”. He continued, “These are places that hold our society together and keep our people united. The people are demanding to go to church and synagogue and to their mosque.
Trump went even further, arguing that, “The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important, essential places of faith to open right now, for this weekend. If they don’t do it, I will override the governors” when in fact the president doesn’t have the constitutional authority to do so.
Most Christian denominations recommend but don’t insist on weekly church attendance, and those that do—Roman Catholicism being the most prominent—have responsibly and wisely ruled that receiving the Eucharist each week is suspended while health and safety are under threat. Whether this U.S. model could even happen in Canada is a fascinating point to consider. It won’t under Justin Trudeau of course, but would also be extremely unlikely with any other prime minister, whatever the party. Canadian Evangelicals are much fewer and not quite as conservative as their southern brethren, and Canadian Catholics—though numbering more than 40 per cent of the population—haven’t voted as a bloc in generations.
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