James Lunney, an independent MP in Canada's Parliament, has written an editorial that defends both his Christian faith and his view of the world through that lens.
In an editorial published by the National Post on Monday, Lunney argued that the Christian worldview in law, medicine and academia was under attack in Canada. He contended that many of the attempts to discredit that point of view came from atheists who hid under the banner of science.
"As a multi-racial, multicultural, multi-faith society, Canada has been known to a world in conflict as a standard for respect for diversity and inclusion," Lunney wrote. "However, a religious defense of science seems to be the vehicle for the most vitriolic, pejorative, vulgar campaigns of intolerance and ad hominem attacks in Canada today."
Lunney believed that the "public shaming assaults" did not adhere to "the nature of scientific inquiry or the character of an otherwise extraordinarily tolerant nation." He then made a controversial comparison.
"They are the hallmark of scientism and evolutionism bearing all the hallmarks of religion, but unrestrained by any modicum of respect for anyone who contradicts the tenets of the faith," Lunney wrote. "In this regard, militant atheism is more akin to militant Islam than any of Canada's multi-faith communities."
In his editorial, Lunney made the case that the pursuit of science and the belief in God do not have to be "incompatible" with each other. He cited the examples of Gregor Mendel, who laid "the foundation for modern genetics," and Francis Collins, an evangelical Christian who helped "decode the 3 billion base pair sequence of human DNA."
"Science is agnostic," Lunney wrote. "There is room for people of all faiths or no faith to contribute to science; indeed that is the historic record."
Lunney argued that the atheists' "militant" defense of evolution could drastically change Canada if they ended up being successful.
"It is as repugnant as any other form of bigotry," Lunney wrote. "If this campaign for a godless Canada were successful, the Canada that would emerge is one that few Canadians would recognize and most would not want to live in."
According to Karl Yu of Nanaimo News Bulletin, the Canadian MP resigned from the federal Conservative caucus on March 31 and became an independent to defend his religious views. He also defended an Ontario politician who argued on social media that people should stop treating evolution as a fact.
"There's an attempt to really displace a Christian world view from influence in Canada, from academia, from medicine, from law and I think clearly with these attacks on Christian politicians, there's a deliberate attempt, with three of us being attacked in the past month, to make Christians look unintelligent, unelectable and uninformed," Lunney said.
Yu noted that the MP tried to place the blame on the media for bringing up the controversy.
"I think it's a trial run for what they're attempting to do to others across the country," Lunney said about the media coverage surrounding him.
