Virginia Lettinga

Thanks for your helpful reflections, Jim.  It is discouraging to hear friends and relatives in the States who cheer on actions that seem transparently foolish and undeniably cruel in their abrupt applications.  The end of USAID is tragic.  And we've hear World Renew friends wring their hands in despair.  But the old teacher in me encourages everyone to keep challenging one another to think and rethink the things that are being said.  Could friends south of the border feel unsure that what Canadians have heard was really said?  Have the bubbles of their social media kept what Canadians fear from resonating?  How do we help our American sisters and brothers wake up?

Thank you, Douglas, for your comments.  What you wrote is a great way to acknowledge the betrayal, threat and bewilderment Canadians are currently feeling.  It is good to read it.   In the midst of the things that are currently getting upended, we're not surprised that the insults made to Canada aren't top of Christian's attention.  No one has unlimited bandwidth and attention.  Folks with deep hearts for World Renew are in turmoil over how to pick up some of the pieces dropped by US AID, and we know of a  church in deep distress because a Christian refugee who was legally in the US got swept up by ICE and is seems to be lost amidst the deportees, though return to her home country will almost certainly lead to her death.  Still, the steadily escalation of aggressive statements toward Canada and the willingness of Americans to take the inaccurate assertions as true are discouraging.  At some stage the CRCNA may be politically pulled apart -- and Canadians don't feel confident that our American sisters and brothers will notice.

Thanks for your thoughts, Eric.  I apologize for the rough words some Canadians have spoken to you as an American.  It is sad to be abused for who one is.  It reminded me that our Canadian car was vandalized after a U.S. sports loss to a Canadian team.  Cruel and expensive aggression.

Let me take you up on just a couple of your points.  When it comes to Trump’s rhetoric, I concur that he is a showman and as such is inclined to “overstate matters for effect.”  But should I conclude that you think he is basically truthful in his assertions about Canada?  Do the existing treaties about borders the Great Lakes no longer matter? This may be bluster…but does that make it any less troubling?  Many of Trump’s statements contradict actual U.S. government trade data and the USMCA trade agreement that he negotiated and signed back in 2018.  Serious U.S. economists don’t think that the U.S. has subsidized or been exploited by Canada.  But your answer makes me feel like many of our American CRC friends are inclined to believe Trump.  What you call “highly protectionist policies and tariffs for agriculture” were hammered out in the 2018 trade agreement crafted by Trump in his first term.  The final agreement basically meant that US farmers, like Canadian farmers , function essentially duty-free within an assigned quota.  And both are hit by tariffs when they go beyond the quotas.  That’s not a management system most American are familiar with so perhaps they are confused. But the dairy farmers in our congregation were bitterly unhappy with it. So I presume that the U.S. dairy exporters were pleased.

I confess that I feel confused about what you mean when you write about “a settled confidence in our mutual commitment to a spiritual union.”  If you mean that our first loyalty is to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom, then Amen.  But I was presuming that a denominational/binational identity was something somewhat smaller and more concrete.  Doesn’t it mean something solid to share cultural, historical, creedal and social connections as well as ministries under a denominational umbrella?  Outside of some passionate sports fans, do you see the U.S. and Canada with a history of “national rivalry”?  Doesn’t it seem distressing that the U.S. is currently making past friends into wary neighbours?  There is lots to think about.  Shalom.

This "non-violent" act of solidarity makes us chuckle.  While Tim's certainly is a Canadian institution, we don't care for their coffee either.  

Hmmm. 

Overall this conversation makes me feel that there are fewer and fewer reasons for the CRCNA to exist as a binational denomination.  Which I find very sad.  But what good does adding the word “confessional” to a list of shared binational values, commitments and practices?  Do you know any congregations in which people have a real acquaintance with the Canons of Dordt or the Belgic Confession and the 17th century issues that were driving their articulation?  I worry that we damage our witness by employing the Catechism and the Confessions the ways that the Pharisees employed the Old Testament Law.

You write that  “I am not denying that Trump’s rhetoric ‘contains some underlying realities.’”  But if under the soft inexactitude of your words you are implying that what he has said about the Canadian border being a major source of the scourge of fentanyl and illegal immigrants into the U.S., that would mean you are ignoring lies.  Is there any particular sympathy you feel because a significant portion of your denomination is north of the U.S. border?

The “protectionist agricultural trade policies” you complain about were hammered through in Trump’s own 2018 trade deal.  Canada limits the amount of products many farmers produce (and added U.S. dairy farmers into the same system in 2018).  The U.S. gov’t instead buys overproduction from U.S. farmers.  (And sometimes pay farmers simply to throw milk away.)  Two different ways to help farmers survive.  Both approaches are flawed.  But you sound unaware of the U.S. government support to farmers. 

Kudos to you, Peter, for trying the conversation. Frustrating for sure.  But personally, I think it's worthy continuing to  try conversations like this.  You've been a teacher often enough to know that if one example or set of logic doesn't work for students, it behooves one to come up with a fresh example or metaphor.  It's not just frustrating to see people you care for believe what isn't true, it's also unhealthy for their souls.

Borders are historically ephemeral and I certainly concur that we live as foreigners and strangers on earth (Hebrews 11).  But I am asking much more basic questions of my Christian Reformed sisters and brothers in the U.S.   Have you heard what your president says about Canada?  (Knowing that many are weary of politics and don't listen to it.)  Do you believe what he has been saying about Canada?  (Knowing that some of my  U.S. friends are convinced that everything he says is true).  As God calls us to expand our trust in and allegiance to Him, how do the Americans in our denomination think that could be reflected in their connections north of the border?

Thanks, Peter, for putting forth the Canadian indignation so many feel at this moment.  I'm hoping that some of our American sisters and brothers will address my very basic questions:  Have they heard what their president has been saying about Canada (knowing that many eschew news about politics) and do they think that what he has been saying is reasonable and true (knowing that some are inclined to give him a green light on everything at the start)?  I'm fumbling around to explain why I think advocating for knowledge and truth are crucial.  If our American sisters and brothers haven't been paying attention to what the president has been saying, we need to urge them to listen.  If they believe all the things he has said, we should  help them reconsider what has been said before and find sources we can all trust. 

Some may think that to be bi-national means that Canadians in the CRC should just smile and take it.  But surely that is a mistake.  Even the mouse sleeping beside the elephant can squeak.  Speak out to American friends and relatives.  Don't risk their apparent indifference as more intentional than it may be.

Thank you.  That's very helpful.