Recently, while hosting a couple of youth groups on their urban outreach here in Winnipeg, I had the opportunity to lead them through a day of cultural awareness & orientation in missions. My first activity with the group was to make a list with two categories:
Canada and the
United States of America. I started by asking them their impression of Canada. Along with the expected “maple syrup” and “beer” (a proud moment), there were also things such as “terrorist haven” and “military chickens”. Following this, I had them list their impressions of their own country, proffering such responses as: George W. Bush, democracy, One Nation Under God, and prosperity.
I then had them go through the list, cheering for characteristics they thought were positive and ignoring the ones they disliked (which usually meant booing). The results were fascinating. I realized instantly how the contrast of American & Canadian culture, even in the churches of both countries, reflected many of the difference that the emergent/postmodern Christian conversation is trying engage, such as surpassing conserative/liberal dichotomies, embracing new paradigms for intentional diversity and defining our identity beyond deconstructionist extremes.
As many of you already know, having been born in Minnesota to a Canadian family…
…I have the rare privilege of being a dual citizen. This has always allowed me to walk a path between these two nationalities, embracing them both with great respect, while maintaining a moderate amount of distance from each that allows for a different perspective.
From this vantage point, I truly believe that, should we be able to move past (or through) the conflicts that separate our nations, the resulting relationship offers powerfully mutual benefits in this emergent journey.
One of the key ways we can work towards this reconciliation is to learn to understand and honour that which the other nation models well. I am not a sociologist and can only speak from my limited perspective, experience and education, however I would like to offer here a few characteristics from both countries that I believe demonstrate how this relationship is crucial and promising. I will start with observations about Canada:
- A Mosaic People The multiculturalism of Canada is often referred to as being a cultural mosaic. The idea was developed in direct opposition to previous concepts of assimilation, such as the American concept of the melting pot. While the US concept has slowly broadened their understanding to be more multicultural, this concept is a key difference between these two nations. Cultural mosaic has a stronger emphasis on immigrant citizens maintain strong cultural and historical ties to their countries and cultures of origin. It is far more common, therefore, to here Canadian refer to their cultural identities of their origin before they refer to being Canadian. This does not reflect a lack of patriotism to Canada, but rather is one of the truest expressions of Canadian patriotism. I believe that Canadian concepts of multiculturalism offer promising models for the emergent conversation in the United States. (NOTE: We should not assume by this that Canada has been free from the colonialization and subjugation of assimilation practices and values. Canadians retains a tainted history with the First Nations people, French Canadians, Chinese immigrant, and many more)
- Political Diversity of Christian Population While amoung Canadian Evangelicals, there is still largely a trend of adherence to Conservative politics, the partisanship within the church (generally speaking) is not as distinct or assumed within Canadian Christians. For example, though I consider my morally conservative, my political stances tend to lean far more “left”, thus leading to a more Liberal voting pattern in my recent years. I believe this relative openness within the Canadian church to allow for differing political positions (something that I believe very strongly differentiates us from American Evangelicalism) in part owes its roots to socialist democratic ideas. Because of this, I believe many Canadian Christians are well positioned to engage the emergent movement with a certain level of freedom/flexibility that many American Christians do not, another reason to be more intentional about dialoguing across the border.
- Church in a Pluralist Society While the Canadian church has been referred to as one of the fastest declining churches in the Western world, having lost its United Nations status as a Christian nations year ago, there has been some greatly beneficial results from this process. In the past few years, due to the decline of denominationally stringent Christian churches, new congregations have been emerging that seem to be better equipped to respond and function in the pluralistic society that is emerging. Responding and adapting to some of the very factors that led to the demise of Canadian churches, many of these faith communities are thriving through a greater appreciation of the diversity within Christian traditions, more intentional embrace of multiculturalism, etc. Unlike the US, Canada as a Christian nation/subculture no longer exists, giving us a moderate “heads up” on the future of Christianity in the post-Evangelical, post-Christian world.
At the same time, Canada faces significant challenges and weakness that need to be addressed, such as establishing our national identity by what we are not (namely NOT American); cynical and subversive attitudes to leadership and great vision; general apathy- to name a few.
Conversely, the United States of America has a great deal that Canadian Christians desperately need to embrace, such as:
- Social Justice Leaders Though it would be easy for any of us (American or Canadian) to point out where to US has failed in the areas of human rights and freedom, justice and civil liberties, we need to balance this with a fair understanding and appreciation of the how much the US has done (historically and today) in the fight for human equality and freedom. Even when its government did not get involved in such issues, American citizens often led the front in bringing awareness and change, not only in their own countries, but also throughout the world. America speaks with a loud “voice”, playing an important role in addressing injustice throughout the world. Canadian Christians need to learn to acknowledge that, despite legitimate concerns and criticism, we have a great deal to learn from our American sisters & brothers in this regard.
- Unbeatable Spirit One of the core characteristics that has distinguished the people and the nation of the United States of America is their unquenchable drive to achieve the vision and goals they set before themselves. Circumstances, rather than hindrances to discourage, seem to further inspire these people to strive all the harder. Through this perseverance, they have accomplished some of the greatest achievements in many field, including being the most generous missions force in the world (perhaps, in history). Canadians, too frequently prone to dismiss what they perceive as “over zealous American emotionalism”, could learn to look beyond their critical (often cynical) evaluations and step out with vision bigger than their apparent means.
- Freedom Though I was going to entitle this point “Freedom of Speech”, I felt it was more appropriate to feature the larger theme. While obviously an ideal not perfectly pursued, one cannot deny the contribution that the US has made to freedoms of all varieties. Though recently challenged in some circles, the freedom to dissent is a value that the church (in both countries) needs to learn from. The freedom to experiment and explore, to try new things. This theme of freedom is central to the Gospel, and while there may be a gap between this concept and American freedom, the difference is not (I believe) as big as we might think. While Canadians embrace and celebrate our freedom, we have not held it as universally for all people.
Conversely, as far as the US has come in its fight for equality, there is a great deal of deep healing and reconciliation that remains unfinished, especially with the African American and Native American communities. Their fierce determination, when fixed upon a goal, can become dangerously single-minded, even when committed to “bringing freedom” to others.
The emergent/postmodern journey is one that seeks a more authentic manifestation of the Church- thus requires voices from all peoples, cultures and nations. However, here in North America, the proximity and interconnection our these two nations requires specific attention. Americans would be wrong to dismiss Canada as a “small” voice, disconnected from their context, just as Canadians would be wrong to ignore or reject the US out of spite, frustration or even misplaced (though often denied) inferiority issues.
I would like to invite you, the readers- both American & Canadian- to add you voices here. Have anything add? Anything you disagree with? Let’s talk it out! All I ask is that we discuss, dialogue and even debate with grace and openness all around.
