Religious Traditions in America and Canada

Madeline, your comments about underdogs are insightful. Here is why. In America, we encourage entrepreneurship, risk taking. The reason we do this is because in our culture to sin and to be saved from sin provides a cultural matrix in which failure does not permanently doom us. This is part of our religious revivalism that has spilled over into our secular culture. In fact, we admire the "sinner" (underdog) who has been "saved" (successful).

America and Canada share a common history of religious revivalism. However, in Canada, the estalishment churches have been Anglican and Catholic, which are not given to revival meetings. Therefore, it could be argued that Canada lacks a cultural matrix for vibrant or virulent entrepreneurship in comparison with America. However, the dominant church in Canada is the United Church of Canada in terms of numbers, and it has its roots in mainline Protestant traditions.

This writer in fact has attended open-air tent revival meetings in Ontario, Canada when he lived there. In this tradition, being a sinner and being saved mirrors the classic revivalism in America. Although the establishment churches have dominated the history of Canada, and helped to shape its culture, of course, there is ample evidence to suggest that Canada, like America, has also benefited from religious revivalism that gives failures another chance to succeed - to be entrepreneurs again.