Canada is one of the most secular countries in the world. I’ve often referred to it as a swamp of secularism. I was recently talking to a Polish lady. She had been born and raised in Poland and had gone to church all of her life. She came to Canada and she stopped going to church while she lived here. She later moved to Ireland and resumed going to Church. Canada had that affect on her like it does on many people.
Two days ago I talked to a second generation Muslim. She was dating a non-Muslim guy, had no problem with drinking, didn’t wear a hijab, did none of the five daily prayers, and didn’t know anything about the Quran. Canadian secularism had gutted her Muslim faith, though she still proudly declared herself to be a Muslim. This is the state of the vast majority of Canadian Muslims. I recently talked to a Muslim who was born and raised in a Muslim country. She had lived there for 18 years before moving to France and then moving to Canada. No daily prayers, no hijab, huge supporter of the LGBTQ community, and all of the standard trimmings of a Canadian Muslim.
I would go as far to say that Canadian Muslims are less loyal to their faith than Catholics or Protestants. Canadians who are raised Catholic or Protestant tend to identify as nothing when they lose their faith. Because of this, the Christian faith isn’t tarnished. However, because of Canadian multiculturalism, Muslims in Canada are encouraged to identify as Muslim but are indirectly discouraged from holding any of its core values.
Islam and secularism are both enemies of the Christian faith. While I would like to see these two Muslims that I mentioned become Christian, it probably won’t happen. From a Christian point of view, is secularism preferable to them than Islam? I honestly don’t know the answer. I can think of arguments on both sides.
Let’s take a look at an example from the other Abrahamic religion. When Theodore Herzl met with Pope Pius X in 1904, he asked the holy father to endorse this Zionist settler colonial project in the holy land. The Pope refused to support the project then said:
There are two possibilities. Either the Jews will cling to their faith and continue to await the Messiah who, for us, has already appeared. In that case they will be denying the divinity of Jesus and we cannot help them. Or else they will go there without any religion, and then we can be even less favorable to them.
Jews with no religion were “less favorable” to Catholicism than Jews who took the Jewish religion seriously? Should Canadian Christians think the same way about Muslims? Keep in mind, atheistic Jews at the time of Pope Pius X were promoting marxism which less than two decades after this meeting would consume much of the world and cause much suffering and loss of life. Secular Muslims aren’t promoting that, though they’re promoting abortion, sodomy, and other depravities.
Neither of these Muslims, not to mention the vast majority of Canadian Muslims won’t have Muslim grandchildren. This is because cultural religion cannot be passed down without a community. Should we rejoice in Muslims losing their faith to secularism? We can, but its just one demonic belief replaced by another. Feel free to share your thoughts.
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