Canadians have been looking south of the borderinbewilderment. How could a thrice- married, immodest billionaire like Donald
Trump, who is very noncommittal
about his moral and religious views,
be popular among Evangelicals?
There’s no simple answer, but there
are interesting things we can learn.
First we should realize that, even
among Evangelicals planning to
vote Republican, many are not
Trump supporters, especially the
clergy and regular attenders. Instead
they support Ted Cruz or another
candidate (depending, of course, on
how the poll defines Evangelicals).
It’s also important to counter
the assumption that all Evangelicals vote Republican. While it is
true a small majority of (white)
Evangelicals lean or identify as
Republican ( 56 per cent according
2014 data just released by the Pew
Research Center), sizeable numbers are also independent ( 16 per
cent) and Democrat (28 per cent).
The lead-up to the November
election in the U. S., besides causing
considerable hand-wringing on
both sides of the border (and an
overwhelming number of Facebook
posts), presents a good time to
clarify the differences and similarities between American and Canadian Evangelicals.
LET’S BEGIN BY
ADMITTING OUR BIASES
Canadians have long relished distinctiveness from the United States.
In fact, some say the most important aspect of our national identity
seems to be that we are not Americans. For their part, Americans
like to distinguish themselves from
all other nations of the earth.
Evangelicals in both countries
follow this tendency as well. Canadians in general stereotype American Evangelicals as brash, showy,
fundamentalist, right-wing and
aggressive politically.
And what do American Evangelicals think of their Canadian
counterparts? Well, not much and
COVER STORY
By Sam Reimer
ARE AMERICAN AND CAN
REALLY THAT DIFFEREN
I
L
L
U
S
T
R
AT
I
O
N
:
J
A
N
I
C
E
V
A
N
E
C
K