2022-07-01: Eternal Hell for Voting Against Canada in 1867 rak ================================================================ Today is Canada Day, the day on which Canadians nominally celebrate the Canadian Confederation. I just learned about the enormous impact the Catholic Church had on Quebec 1867 referendum on joining the confederation. The Catholic Church wanted the provice (then Lower Canada) to join confederation because of the powers it would grant the provincial government, namely, control over education. It is important to remember that the government allowed the Church to effectively control education in Quebec until the 1960s, and the Church used this control to ensure its continued influence^Wdominance over all spheres of society. To influence the (public) vote, the Church issued six pastoral letters (read weekly at mass) commanding its members to vote for confederation. More importantly, the Church decreed that voting against confederation would be a *mortal sin*, i.e., that it would lead to eternal damnation, and it prohibited its priests from granting absolutions for voting the wrong way. Amusingly, priests were still allowed to forgive other mortal sins, including murder. Just not voting against joining Canada. Source: https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/chroniques/729105/chronique-les-racines-empoisonnees-du-1er-juillet