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Onward Christian soldiers?

Canadians aren’t, as a rule, particularly pushy. This is a country of two solitudes, multiculturalism, universal health care and collective goodwill. The west in Canada was never really wild; it was well-managed.
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Canadians aren’t, as a rule, particularly pushy. This is a country of two solitudes, multiculturalism, universal health care and collective goodwill. The west in Canada was never really wild; it was well-managed. Our Indian wars were, with notable exceptions, more misguided paternalism and land swindles than bloody subjugation. We are a nation of peaceful tree choppers.

One of the defining social principles of Canadians’ lack of pushiness is a sort of laissez faire, live and let live, you do your thing and I’ll do mine, go along to get along kind of social interaction. It’s been generations since Canadians have had to repel invading forces and the idea of Canada starting a war is ludicrous.

So what’s an Olympic-fevered mountain resort in a peaceful nation of I’m OK; You’re OK co-dependents supposed to think when an invading ‘army’ is poised to assault its placid, guest-welcoming borders?

Former Whistler councillor Krispi Wells wants to lead an army of Southern Baptists to our happy mountain home to spiritually transform Whistler. This begs more questions than can possibly be asked in one column but one of them is clearly transform Whistler into what?

I know; you think I’m making this stuff up like I usually do. Au contraire, mon cher. It was thus reported in that bastion of hard news, BPSports. BPSports is an online zine of all things Christian and sport, run by the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Baptist group in the world, the largest Protestant group in the U.S. and the second largest Christian club in the U.S. after the Roman Catholic Church — ironically an organization the Southern Baptists don’t view as exactly Christian.

In a piece entitled Planning underway for Winter Olympics Ministry ( http://www.bpsports.net/bpsports.asp?ID=5769 ) in the Feb. 14 edition, Alan Au, director of Vancouver Focus (described as a “church-planting and discipleship initiative sponsored by the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists”) says the Olympics are seen as a great opportunity to “extend our growth into the future.”

Apparently, VANOC agrees. Among all the other things VANOC is doing to bring the 2010 Games to fruition, partnering with the Southern Baptists is on the list. Mr. Au is a board member of the Vancouver Whistler — finally we get some billing — Games Network (VWGN). VWGN is a coalition of churches, ministries and individuals VANOC has partnered with to, according to the BPSports story, assist them in four official capacities: “chaplaincy, lodging for athletes, the use of church parking lots for carpooling to events, and helping the city build a lasting legacy after the games.”

If all this sounds benign, it is. But, as so many of faith are fond of saying, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Chaplaincy may well have some traction in and around the athletes’ village during the games, if only for the already-converted seeking succor and solace in their quest for gold. I don’t think the handful of churchgoers in Whistler and the total lack of committed church buildings are going to do much to ease the lodging problems, and other than the bit of blacktop down at Our Lady of Perpetual Powder, there aren’t any church parking lots in town.

And while I’m hoping the “helping the city build a lasting legacy” language is meant for Vancouver, demonstrably a city, comments by former Whistlerite Ms. Wells suggest otherwise.

Krispi wants Whistler to experience a spiritual transformation. She wants visitors to Tiny Town, seasonal workers, athletes and even those who didn’t vote for her for mayor to find Jesus in Whistler, as apparently she has with the Southern Baptists in ways she never did with the Catholic church.

“More than the beautiful mountains or the party lifestyle or their chance to get better at their sport, they're going to say, 'I met an amazing group of people, and I found Jesus.',” is how she put it to BPSports.

Now every religion proselytizes, some more than others. The Witnesses were kind enough to come around just the other day peddling subscriptions to the Watchtower and Awake and everlasting salvation. I politely declined; they politely departed. They did not lay siege to my condo, threaten me with eternal damnation or cast incantations. They came in peace.

The Southern Baptists seem intent on coming in force. “We don't have a whole lot of churches here, but that's where Southern Baptists in Canada can say, 'We got this army of volunteers (in the U.S.) who are trained and ready to come and are excited.' This is what we can bring to the table," Jeff Wagner, manager of resorts and special ministries for the North American Mission Board was quoted as saying.

An army?

I don’t know about you but the image of an army of Southern Baptists descending on Whistler leaves me just a little bit uncomfortable… and I’m only a converted Canadian.

I mean this is another narrow-minded religious group who believe homos are an abomination before God, who believe women don’t belong in the pulpit, who believe it is their divine duty to spread their own brand of intolerance around the world, and who believe their God is the only true God and anyone who believes otherwise just booked a one-way ticket to Hell.

There are already a handful of Southern Baptists among us, some of whom I count as acquaintances and friends. If that particular form of faith is their choice, I’m down with that. The Church on the Mountain is apparently a Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists member.

But being part of this place, their brand of religion seems to have been filtered through the lens of a —let’s not mince words here — Godless town. At least Godless in the sense of not ascribing to any one brand of God as determined by the dogma of an organized religious group. All the churchgoers in Whistler — generously estimated at three per cent of the population — wouldn’t fill a pew in a U.S. mega church.

Until recently, in fact, there wasn’t anything in town that could be called a church and that was understandable. Whistler was built by hard-working, outdoor-loving individualists. It is, still today, peopled by hard-working, outdoor-loving individualists, all of whom are employed by a service economy that never stops. Sabbath days are like any other days.

Whatever confirmation we need of a higher power — if that be our belief — we can find in more abundance at the top of Whistler and Blackcomb than we’ll ever find in the narrow-mindedness of an army of Southern Baptists.

So when the army invades, just remember, your best defence is to tell ‘em you’re queer. They may pray for you but they definitely won’t want you to enlist.