Milton Friesen spoke with Mark Connolly on CBC Radio’s Edmonton AM talking about the Halo Project.

Milton Friesen, Program Director of Cardus Social Cities, explains the halo effect on the Danielle Smith Show on AM770 Radio in Calgary.

Milton Friesen appears on AM800 to discuss how the city of Windsor now has a dollar figure on the economic impact provided by religious based organizations in the city. 

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Religion and politics, it is often said, don’t mix. Just because it’s said doesn’t mean it’s true — and in Canada, it’s not true. Freshly released poll numbers collected by the Angus Reid Institute (ARI) and Faith in Canada 150, in collaboration with think tank Cardus, suggest faith and religious belief do indeed play a hefty role in our views on politics and the world. A majority of respondents — 52 per cent — told the pollster that personal faith or religious beliefs were an important factor in how they thought “about public issues and problems facing society.” Segregate the most religious respondents – the one-fifth of Canadians that ARI calls “religiously committed” – and you’ll see that faith is important for a full 88 per cent of them in how they think about public issues. Given the Canadian propensity to privatize religion and leave it out of polite conversation, many may be surprised at that. Still, there’s simply no getting around the fact that Canadians, to varying degrees that depend on their level of belief, more often than not see the world through the lens of faith. Things actually go even deeper. The poll indicates 54 per cent of Canadians draw their own personal identity from their faith and religious belief. That jumps to 94 per cent when you consider only the swath of Canadians who are religiously committed. That’s statistical backing for something that we all intuitively know: Religion is more than mere worship. It brings identity and worldview with it, every bit as impactful on public life as sexuality does. But we act as if that’s not true. In fact, one Ontario political leader even told his caucus members shortly before Christmas that they can hold whatever “private religious views” they want, but that such views are neither their party’s nor the government’s interest. In other words, keep your religion in the closet. But that kind of approach can’t work when majorities of Canadians are affected so deeply by their personal faith and religious beliefs. If we’re to have true tolerance in Canada, it will involve respectful exchanges of views. Some of those views will be religiously inspired. Others will not be. No view should be discounted simply because of its religious grounding or lack thereof – not if we’re to be respectful of each other’s deeply held convictions and identity. Some will fear, no doubt, that opening the door to religion in our conversation about public issues will lead to extremism of some sort. The numbers, however, don’t back such fears. Fifty-four per cent of Canadians say they’re “in the middle” politically. The rest are almost equally divided among the left-leaning and very left on the one hand, and the right-leaning or very right on the other. Faithful are more caring, but compassion has its limits: poll Canadians may be vacating the pews but they are keeping the faith: poll Doubting Thomas redeemed: Once an obstacle, skepticism is now seen as a stepping stone to faith What about the most religious amongst us? Just over half identified as middle-of-the road politically – not significantly different than Canadians as a whole, and no different than what non-believers said about themselves. It’s true that just over one-third of the “religiously committed” self-identified as being on the political right, while 14 per cent said they were leftist. But non-believers were the mirror image: Just over one-third were leftist, with 14 per cent on the political right. So, just as we see with those who take a negative view of religion, religious belief leads neither to homogenous views, nor to political extremes. However, bringing religiously inspired perspectives to public issues will help us create a more caring Canada. On the question of which was the best way to live life – achieving our own dreams or being concerned about helping others – religiosity was the clear dividing line among Canadians. Fully two-thirds of the religiously committed prioritized helping others. An almost equal proportion of non-believers chose taking care of yourself first. We also asked Canadians whether “rich people” should enjoy spending their money as they wished or should share the wealth with the less fortunate. Almost 70 per cent of the religiously committed said that those with wealth had a responsibility to share it. Only 54 per cent of non-believers said the same. Religious faith has a role to play in Canada’s public life. It’s key to personal identity for most of us and helps us to make sense of the world. It doesn’t push us to the extremes. It impels us to care for others. That’s worth thinking about when we consider the next 150 years of Canadian society.

The larger the role faith plays in the lives of Canadians, the more likely they are to say they value altruism over self-fulfillment, a new poll has found. Religion and politics, it is often said, don’t mix. Just because it’s said doesn’t mean it’s true — and in Canada, it’s not true. Freshly released poll numbers collected by the Angus Reid Institute (ARI) and Faith in Canada 150, in collaboration with think tank Cardus, suggest faith and religious belief do indeed play a hefty role in our views on politics and the world. The survey, conducted by the Angus Reid Institute in partnership with Faith in Canada 150, is part of a year-long project gauging Canadians’ beliefs and religious practices. It grouped respondents into four categories ranging from non-believers to religiously committed who attend places of worship regularly. “Caring for others versus personal fulfillment, those are two very different value constructs,” Angus Reid, the institute’s founder and chairman, said in an interview. “And the relationship between them and religiosity is really significant.” Asked to choose between two approaches as “the best way to live life,” 53 per cent of respondents picked “achieving our own dreams and happiness” over “being concerned about helping others.” But when the results were broken down along the spectrum of religiosity, 67 per cent of the religiously committed favoured helping others. For non-believers, 65 per cent chose the pursuit of happiness.   The question revealed significant differences across Canadian regions. Quebec had the highest proportion of respondents across the country opting for self-fulfillment, at 65 per cent. Alberta was second at 54 per cent and British Columbia next at 53 per cent. In all other parts of the country, a majority of respondents picked helping others, with Saskatchewan the most altruistic at 59 per cent. “What this survey proves is that having a faith, being part of a faith community, seems to propel people in the direction of developing higher levels of compassion or caring,” Reid said.   But that compassion has its limits. The 2,006 Canadian adults surveyed were asked a series of moral questions. The responses showed that the two groups on the religious end of the spectrum – the religiously committed and privately faithful – were together the most likely to say: Canada should accept fewer immigrants and refugees; They would be uncomfortable if a child planned to marry someone from a different cultural or religious background; There should not be greater social acceptance of people who are LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer); Preserving life is more important than people’s freedom to choose on issues like abortion and doctor-assisted death. In another question, the poll asked which statement corresponded most closely to respondents’ personal views: People are fundamentally sinners and in need of salvation; or People are essentially good and sin has been invented to control people. Two-thirds of those polled sided with the essential goodness of people. But among the religiously committed – who made up about one-fifth of the survey group – 73 per cent said people are fundamentally sinners.   Another set of questions sought to gauge positions on moral relativism – whether the concept of right and wrong is absolute or can change depending on the situation. A large majority, 68 per cent, said what is right or wrong “depends on the circumstances.” But nearly the same proportion, 66 per cent, rejected the notion that “answers to moral questions will be different for different cultures.” At 74 per cent, the religiously committed were the most likely to say universal rights and wrongs apply to the whole human race. Ray Pennings, executive vice-president of Christian think tank Cardus, welcomed the poll’s finding that a majority of Canadians say their faith is important to their personal identity (54 per cent) and their day-to-day lives (55 per cent.)   “On the one hand, in contrast to the prevalent public narrative that religion is private and it doesn’t matter, it’s quite clear that for the vast majority of Canadians, it does.  Over half say, ‘Religion is actually shaping my identity and my decisions,’ ” Pennings said. “On the other hand, that engagement is a relatively thin engagement.” Reid said the poll results challenge the “uber secular narrative” put forward by Canadian political leaders. Canadians may be vacating the pews but they are keeping the faith: poll Doubting Thomas redeemed: Once an obstacle, skepticism is now seen as a stepping stone to faith Ray Pennings: It is time to change the narrative around religion in Canada “I find it noteworthy that we have significant divisions in this country on some moral issues, and those divisions seem to be heavily correlated with religious belief and membership in faith communities,” he said. “We like to sometimes paint ourselves as this country where, unlike the United States, which has deep value differences, we are all sort of linked arm-to-arm on all issues. Actually, that’s not true.” The poll is part of a multi-faith effort initiated by Cardus called Faith in Canada 150, which aims to highlight the role religion has played historically and continues to play in Canada.