Prime Minister Jean Chretien has refused to submit to pressure from the Roman Catholic Church and base his policy decisions on what Catholicism dictates. He is, apparently, even unconcerned about the threat that he will go to hell just for allowing a vote on whether to approve same-sex marriages. The reason is that Chretien comes from a very different political tradition, one which respects and emphasizes the importance of the separation of church in state in practice as much as in principle.

Alexander Panetta writes Canadian News:

The Chretien family has been defying similar warnings from the Roman Catholic church since the early days of Confederation. As a fire-breathing young protester, Chretien would aim a loudspeaker at parish churches and hurl his own menace of damnation at the clergy for their active role in Quebec's politics of that era. His family history symbolizes the traditional separation between church and state that has dominated Canada's political culture and differentiated Ottawa's politics from those of Washington.

"My family has always been rouge (red), Liberal in the free-thinking, anti-clerical, anti-establishment tradition of the 19th century," Chretien said in his best-selling book, Straight from the Heart. "At that time people were ex-communicated for their liberalism, which advocated the separation of church and state among other radical measures."

Religious tensions in Canada's early history could have torn it apart if it were not for the courage of politicians to insist that the state not be governed by one exclusive religious tradition. The only way to avoid that was to split the church from the state and rule the nation based upon principles that were not based just on religion. So far, they have managed quite well.

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