Faytene Grasseschi’s “clarification”

On February 9, Faytene Grasseschi responded on X to those of us inquiring about whether or not she still holds to some disturbing views published in her 2009 book, Marked: A Generation of Dread Champions Rising to Shift Nations. My opinion column was published in Brunswick News on January 27.

Once again Grasseschi, the Progressive Conservative candidate for Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins in the next New Brunswick provincial election, refuses to answer the simple questions placed before her, specifically if she still sees herself as a divinely inspired prophet fighting against same-sex marriage and the right of women to access abortion care, among other things she identified as against God’s order. Instead, she complains about “some opponents [who] have focused on words spoken many years ago.” So, does she still believe this or not? It is vital that voters know the answers to this before the election.

She then claims that these “opponents” are “generally attacking people of faith.” This is nonsense. Canadian voters normally don’t want to know the religious views of their candidates, seeing these as a private matter.

However, concern does arise when any candidate has published views that fit the definition of Christian Nationalism, yet now pretend that this is merely a “fear-mongering label” used for “political gain.” It is not; it is a term developed by scholars to signify an approach to governance that would privilege a particularly narrow version of the Christian faith in society. In her book, Grasseschi herself acknowledges the problem when she writes: “with the echo of the Crusaders in our global history, I can imagine that most non-Christians would freak out to hear Christians speaking zealously about controlling, reigning over, or subjugating the earth! (It is chapters like this one that get people like me maligned in national secular media as whacko-freaky, right-winged, narrow-minded, Nazi…)” (p. 33). I have to say, not without reason.

And yet, instead of seeing such criticism as worthy of serious consideration, she alleges that it is part of the media strategy of “demonizing anyone who professes faith in Christ” (p.141, and her “Clarification” on X). Is this not a tactic intended to protect one’s published views from criticism?

So, I ask again, does Grasseschi still see her mission as part of a “take-over plan” of Canada, and other nations, for God (p. 32)? Would this result in outlawing any practice believed to offend God, such as same-sex marriages and abortion?

Why is the label Christian Nationalist so offensive? Perhaps because it describes a segment of the Christian right in the U.S. that has been involved in the “Big Lie” about the 2020 election? The historian Matthew Taylor has called this movement the “New Apostolic Reformation” or in his fascinating documentary, “New Charismatic Fury,” available online. Some of these people were prophesying a second term for the former American president and, unable to admit that their prophecies were incorrect, they alleged that the election was stolen (by Satan, obviously). Taylor reveals that a number of these people – including a “prophet” admired by Grasseschi, Cindy Jacobs (see Marked, pp. 73, 76, 87) – were present at the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Some blew the ancient Hebrew horns, called shofars, which, in the biblical story of Joshua, destroyed the walls of Jericho. In her book, Grasseschi describes blowing a shofar at the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in 2005 as a “miracle” which she implies led to the revelation of “deep corruption” in the socially liberal government, and to its defeat in the election of that year (pp. 138-39).

So, clarity is still required. To raise questions about or to object to the published views of a political candidate is not persecution, nor is it mud-slinging. It is part of normal civic discourse. It is an entirely fair thing to expect clear answers, no?

Gary K. Waite is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of New Brunswick.