Ray Pennings
Ray Pennings co-founded Cardus in 2000 and currently serves as Executive Vice President, working out of the Ottawa office. Ray has a vast amount of experience in Canadian industrial relations and has been involved in public policy discussions and as a political activist at all levels of government. Ray is a respected voice in Canadian politics, contributing as a commentator, pundit and critic in many of Canada’s leading news outlets and as an advisor and strategist on political campaign teams.
Bio last updated February 19th, 2022.
Articles by Ray Pennings
Church Meetings Matter
By Ray Pennings
June 13, 2012
The world is a different place as a result of such meetings and impacts many, including those who would prefer to have no regard for church life Still, the continued existence of an institution existing not for the benefit of her members but in order to provide a tangible witness to the reality of a God who is real, active, and cares about what goes on in the world is in itself a public statement
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The Loudest Exclamation: Humility
Ray Pennings
May 30, 2012
Christian public theology rejects the hubris of worldly wisdom which implies that if God should only be listened to if his input fits into our existing frameworks of solutions There is much good work that is taking place today of first-rate Christian scholarship—and, I might add, also in public theo...
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Is Canadian Politics Becoming an Extreme Sport?
Ray Pennings
May 15, 2012
There is, however, a common thread which binds these events into a broader story about the changing face of Canadian politics ...
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A Convivial Culture
Ray Pennings
May 9, 2012
And just like a zinger at the supper table that makes a point, I don't think the occasional article of this sort negates Cardus' credibility as an organization dedicated to convivial conversation in the public square The second issue of Cardus's newest publication enterprise, Convivium, is off the p...
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Watch out for those Charitable Types!
Ray Pennings
May 1, 2012
Charitable receipting privileges in Canada are available to organizations that seek to advance religion, promote education, and alleviate poverty He finds it problematic to see tax subsidies going to charities whose views he doesn’t endorse and so he would rather have government provide grants to or...
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150 Years of Faith
Ray Pennings
May 1, 2012
When Canadians celebrate the country's 150th birthday, Ray Pennings asks, whom will we thank?
Whether one accounts for the constitutional protection for religious education, the contribution of the social gospel in developing both State and civil society social programs, or the ethos that sustained immigrant communities in an often harsh climate, one cannot account for 150 years of Canadian ...
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The NY Times on Chapter and Verse
Ray Pennings
April 13, 2012
The March 26th edition of the New York Times included a column by Stanley Fish which cogently captured a core issue which makes public discourse so difficult in our day ...
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Holy Week and Public Theology
Ray Pennings
April 5, 2012
The events surrounding the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are fundamental to our task of Christian public theology Those of us involved in public life, when explicitly appealing to our Christian motivation for these actions, are often quick to cite the Christian obligation of ...
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Socialists and so-cons in same boat now
Ray Pennings
March 28, 2012
The party needs them and their commitment, so will do its best to find ways to throw a bone or three their way, but if the agenda is getting power, socialists are to the NDP what so-cons are to the Conservatives—"scary agenda" baggage that does not sell well publicly Was it a choice between power ov...
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In Praise of Deliberation
Ray Pennings
March 21, 2012
Apart from political junkies, I doubt many people lament the decline of significance of the political convention Until a decade ago, Canadian political parties typically chose their leaders through delegated conventions where the decisions were truly made on the convention floor ...
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Understanding the Fringe
Ray Pennings
March 14, 2012
She kindly approached me, made a few complimentary remarks, and concluded, "You make a good point, but how do we protect ourselves against fringe religion?" There were others wanting to speak with me and not seeing the point of continued conversation in this setting, I offered a short polite rebutta...
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Watching the Frog Boil
Ray Pennings
March 6, 2012
The political dirty trick stories making Canadian political headlines may prompt comments on how the frog of political ethics, not the most attractive part of any democracy, is looking very unhealthy today The results will be unsatisfying because we have created systems and standards that narrow the...
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Personal, not private
Ray Pennings
February 23, 2012
What was overlooked in much of the coverage, however, was what the policy demonstrated about our understanding (or lack thereof) of the connection between religion and the public good—and how that connection is often expressed through institutions ...
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Religion, and the CRTC's Paternalistic Leftover
Ray Pennings
February 21, 2012
For almost fifty years, the CRTC denied any licenses to religious broadcasters to spare the airwaves of speech in which one group was unduly critical of another To suggest, as does the CRTC decision, that public discussion of religion is so sensitive that it requires carefully crafted guidelines (wh...
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A Gift for Canada
Ray Pennings
February 15, 2012
I must confess that starting to plan a party and thinking about a gift more than five years in advance is something I had never done before, but as someone reminded us in the conversation, perhaps the greatest gift we can bring to the party are not noble statements of what we intend to do, but rathe...
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Change the record
Ray Pennings
February 8, 2012
Last night, the City of Calgary convened a meeting with the city's faith communities In the past few years, Cardus has convened meetings, consulted with stakeholders, commissioned research reports, contributed to the editorial pages and other media all with a view to stimulating a public conversatio...
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The Virtue of Small Charities
Ray Pennings
February 1, 2012
As the Finance Committee considers how best to incentivize charities, they need to be particularly attentive to small charities, given the trends that are putting them at a particular disadvantage With each focusing on the needs of their local communities, a particularly charity may be less diverse ...
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Canada's Political Game a-Changin'
Ray Pennings
January 11, 2012
The federal decision to unilaterally announce the extension of health care funding through 2018-19 and leave it to the provinces to sort out how to use it is more significant for what it signals about the Harper approach to federalism than what it says about health care ...
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Beyond the Predictable
Ray Pennings
January 4, 2012
Reflecting on some of Edwards' text, I was struck how different his approach to public theology was from much of what is practiced today I noticed the book on a shelf and picked it up, wondering how the National Energy Policy of the 1980s was rationalized ...
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Living the Paradox
Ray Pennings
December 21, 2011
Where do I see the created purpose and normative law of God in the world? Beneath everything, we are a bunch of idealists who are trying to make the world in which we live a better place, contributing the wisdom gleaned from two thousand years of Christian social thought to the challenges we face to...
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Veiled Interference in Freedom of Religion
Ray Pennings
December 14, 2011
Recognizing that freedom of religion is a greatly attacked freedom these days, I am usually inclined to bend over backwards to protect it, but here—in matters as basic to our citizenship as swearing public oaths, establishing identity, or witnessing at a trial—I think the state has a more reasonable...
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Giving Drunk Driving Laws a Breathalyzer
Ray Pennings
December 7, 2011
His concern is that the new law incents police to focus on the administrative penalties which are easier to process and do not require court time, rather than pursuing criminal code charges for those who are at or over the 0.08% blood alcohol limit ...
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In Favour of Marriage or Afraid of Divorce?
Ray Pennings
November 30, 2011
Macleans may have overstated Canadians' "high value in the traditional definition of marriage"; definitional debates are still likely to get you into a bit of hot water and I fear the traditional team whose colours I prefer to wear may still be on the losing side ...
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Educating Without Families
Ray Pennings
November 23, 2011
In a world where the individual and the government are the two dominant institutions in the social architecture, the contribution of families is unmeasured and ignored ...