The Hidden Religion Shaping Politics (Even When Nobody Mentions God)

A live discussion with Dr. André Gagné on how religious frameworks continue to shape political movements — even under secular language.
About this Event

Event description

Even in politics that presents itself as secular, religious ideas often keep doing quiet but powerful work. They shape what people fear, what they hope for, what they treat as sacred, and what they believe cannot be negotiated.

In this talk, André Gagné explores how religious narratives, symbols, and apocalyptic frameworks continue to influence political language, media conflict, and culture-war flashpoints. He shows how to spot these signals in speeches, headlines, and public debates, and why missing them leads to shallow or distorted political analysis.

This is a conversation for anyone trying to make sense of politics beyond the obvious surface layer. Expect a sharper lens for reading political rhetoric, a better understanding of how religion still shapes public life, and a more useful framework for decoding what looks secular but often isn’t.

What the audience will walk away with

• A clearer way to spot religious signals in political speeches, headlines, and culture-war debates
• A better understanding of how end-times and evangelical narratives still shape public life
• A more useful framework for interpreting politics that presents itself as secular but is not value-neutral
• A stronger lens for understanding why missing the religion angle often leads to bad political analysis

About the speaker

André Gagné is Full Professor and Chair of the Department of Theological Studies at Concordia University. His teaching and scholarship focus on religion and politics, evangelicalism, global Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity, and the public life of biblical interpretation. He has published multiple books and academic articles, served on Public Safety Canada’s National Expert Committee on Countering Radicalization to Violence, and is widely sought out by major media outlets for his analysis of religion’s role in contemporary politics. He brings both deep subject expertise and a rare ability to connect scholarship to the political world people are actually watching unfold.