train said:
You hope.
The guy that's spearheading this is an MP from Scarborough and he has all the earmarkings of a religious wingnut.
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1650066
It looks like that McKay guy is the one pushing this but he at least seems clear about the dangers of mixing politics and religion. If what he says in the article is true, Iggy might be able to allow more dialogue with religious types without making any foolish promises. There are plenty of social justice issues where religious organizations with their community involvement and do-good volunteers line up quite nicely with the Liberal agenda. If they can engage these organizations on the basis of youth problems, poverty etc, they might even drum up a few political donations.....
..."He [McKay] acknowledged that there is a fear among more secular citizens that any outreach to religious groups could be misconstrued as breaching the societal norm of keeping church and state separate. "Religion and politics is a pretty dangerous mix," he said. "We don't want to get into a position where we're talking to you because we're only concerned about how you'll vote. I'm more concerned that we have that space there for religious groups to have their say. Freedom from religion is not the same as freedom of religion."
Mr. McKay recently met with Thomas Collins, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto, who has often argued religious people are unfairly pushed to the fringes of society even though many of them donate their time to charitable works.
"It's important to recognize that religious people, believers, exist in our community.... They serve generously, motivated by their religious faith. They give generously and they are citizens and taxpayers," Archbishop Collins said recently. "People of faith have earned a place at the table by their devoted service.... They walk the talk and therefore it would be very odd indeed if their values, which motivate them to do so much good, are marginalized."
