Devon Clunis, Winnipeg's new police chief, recently told a Christian magazine that prayer is a "powerful weapon" that he hopes will lead to positive action and community involvement, and help reduce crime in the city. He also spoke at length about how his faith has helped him personally, and said that no matter what is happening in Winnipeg, God is in control. He told the interviewer,
"This is about the health and the welfare, the well-being of our community. I'm not trying to create converts into any particular faith or religious belief system – that's not what this is about. But because I know this [faith] is such an integral part of so many individuals, why would we not engage that in terms of fighting crime and creating a better city for all our citizens?"
You can watch the interview by
clicking here (it is about 15 minutes long).
As is to be expected in today's society, many strict secularists have called Mr. Clunis's comments inappropriate, postulating that religion is a private matter with no relevance in public settings and something that should definitely not be mentioned by any prominent government official. Unfortunately, some have even reached the conclusion that Mr. Clunis is unfit to be Winnipeg's police chief, merely because he talked about his personal faith and suggested that prayer is beneficial to society.
Here is what I think. Canada should have a full separation of religion and state, for three main reasons. Firstly, because religious institutions should not be able to dictate government decisions. Secondly, because the government should not be able to dictate the decisions of religious institutions, nor the spiritual decisions of individuals. Thirdly, because every citizen should be able to contribute to society and a person's religious faith should not determine whether or not he or she can hold a position in government.
That being said, Canada's constitution also guarantees religious freedom and freedom of speech, two basic human rights that are necessary for a country to be free and democratic. Without the freedom to make spiritual decisions for yourself and develop an individual worldview apart from government interference, and without the freedom to express those spiritual beliefs and act according to your own worldview, a nation cannot be a free and democratic country. Because these freedoms are so vital to Canadian society, our government should not proscribe or even discourage its citizens from expressing their religious beliefs (with the exception of hate speech that directly encourages the use of violence against any group or individual, which is incontrovertibly wrong and detrimental to society). Without this freedom to express spiritual beliefs and act upon them, freedom of religion is paralyzed and useless. Even the citizens of the dystopia depicted in George Orwell's novel
1984 could think as they wished. However, Big Brother forbid his citizens to act out on their beliefs or express them openly, killing the usefulness of their free will.
I believe wholeheartedly that these freedoms must correlate directly into government as well. Civil servants of all shapes and sizes must be able to determine their own beliefs, act upon those beliefs, and express those beliefs openly, even while on the job. The principle that government officials must "leave their religion at the door" as they begin their job and refuse to discuss matters pertaining to their core beliefs is not only anti-democratic, dangerous, and in violation of human rights, but also next to impossible. You cannot cut a person's mind in half to completely separate their beliefs pertaining to God and their other beliefs (such as those pertaining to politics, government, other people, and their job). A person's core beliefs will influence their job, whether they believe in Christianity, Islam, atheism, agnosticism, or any other worldview. This is especially evident with Mr. Clunis, who says that his Christian faith is foundational to everything he does.
Furthermore, a democratic government is supposed to represent all of its citizens. For that reason, government departments in Canada try to be racially diverse and include minorities. I see the inclusion of religion as a mere extension of that diversity. Government will never be able to get rid of religion. Our governments should instead embrace religion, realizing that allowing government officials to be religious while on the job is another way of representing their citizens more fully and enabling their officials to serve the public better.
In conclusion, I think government should be religion-inclusive, not religion-free. Devon Clunis's comments were certainly appropriate, and I will be praying with him for the people of Winnipeg.
