Not Quite Us
Anti-Catholic Thought in English Canada since 1900
How anti-Catholicism reflected and constructed English Canadian identity in the twentieth century and why it remains important today.
Description
In twentieth-century Canada, mainline Protestants, fundamentalists, liberal nationalists, monarchists, conservative Anglophiles, and left-wing intellectuals had one thing in common: they all subscribed to a centuries-old world view that Catholicism was an authoritarian, regressive, untrustworthy, and foreign force that did not fit into a democratic, British nation like Canada. Analyzing the connections between anti-Catholicism and national identity in English Canada, Not Quite Us examines the consistency of anti-Catholic tropes in the public and private discourses of intellectuals, politicians, and clergymen, such as Arthur Lower, Eugene Forsey, Harold Innis, C.E. Silcox, F.R. Scott, George Drew, and Emily Murphy, along with those of private Canadians. Challenging the misconception that an allegedly secular, civic, and more tolerant nationalism that emerged excised its Protestant and British cast, Kevin Anderson determines that this nationalist narrative was itself steeped in an exclusionary Anglo-Protestant understanding of history and values. He shows that over time, as these ideas were dispersed through editorials, cartoons, correspondence, literature, and lectures, they influenced Canadians' intimate perceptions of themselves and their connection to Britain, the ethno-religious composition of the nation, the place of religion in public life, and national unity. Anti-Catholicism helped shape what it means to be "Canadian" in the twentieth century. Not Quite Us documents how equating Protestantism with democracy and individualism permeated ideas of national identity and continues to define Canada into the twenty-first century.
Reviews
"Not Quite Us is an important and original book that adds a crucial dimension to our understanding of inequality and exclusion in twentieth-century Canada." Lynne Marks, University of Victoria
"Kevin Anderson's analysis of the Canadian embrace of the 'last acceptable prejudice' reveals a unique dynamic [and] demonstrates the subtle distinctions that separate the Canadian experience of anti-Catholicism from its American counterpart prior to 1965." Journal of Ecclesiastical History
"Kevin Anderson's recent examination of anti-Catholic thought in Canada ... lays a solidly evidenced foundation for further study into the intersection of culture, religion, and prejudice in twentieth-century Canada. Anderson has provided us with a valuable overview of the contours of anti-Catholic thought, while raising many questions upon which future studies may be built. [He] has set the bar high and given us much food for thought." Canadian Historical Review
"Not Quite Us is mature, well-written history by an emerging scholar ... It tackles an important subject with sophistication that has, perhaps surprisingly, a parsimonious historiography for English Canada." American Catholic Studies