Marci McDonald has unwittingly done a big favour for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

If you haven't heard, McDonald is the author of the much-talked about book, The Armageddon Factor, which suggests Harper is plotting to hand control of Canada over to a cabal of evangelical Christians.

This idea, of course, is the stuff of nightmares for Canada's trendy, urban, secular left. Never mind Islamic terrorists, never mind the distressing global financial situation, no, the real threat to our way of life according to this crowd are overzealous, politically active bible thumpers.

This is why they detest the Harper government with such vehemence. They earnestly believe Harper has a "hidden agenda" that includes, among other things, imposing a Christian-style theocracy on Canada. To their minds, McDonald's book simply confirms what they knew all along.

It's great propaganda, except for one tiny little detail: McDondald's thesis is pure and utter nonsense. Take it from me: I know the man.

For one thing, Harper is by no means an evangelical Christian; he's not even a social conservative.

I worked with Harper for five years (1997-2002) at the National Citizens Coalition. During all the time I knew him, he never displayed an ounce of zealotry. He never even talked about religion. He did, however, talk a lot about the intersection of religion and politics. And his views in those days would probably shock Marci McDonald.

Harper did not have much affinity for social conservatives. He viewed them as "culturally isolated" and a dwindling political force in Canada. That's why he also believed a conservative political party would be successful only if it talked less about social and moral issues, and more about economic and fiscal issues. In other words, he was a libertarian.

For their part, social conservatives didn't like Harper much, either. Recall that during the 2002 Canadian Alliance leadership race, they overwhelmingly supported Harper's main rival, Stockwell Day.

Mind you, that was then; this is now. And now Harper heads a minority government, meaning he needs all the support he can get to solidify his hold on power. A clever political strategist, Harper realizes he needs to keep social conservatives in his camp.

But he also realizes that if he is seen pandering to the Christian right it will frighten more secular-minded Canadians and give lethal ammunition to his opponents on the left.

So what to do?

Harper's strategy has been pretty simple. To keep social conservatives happy, he likes to make symbolic moves. These please religious types, but doesn't set off alarm bells in the rest of the country.

A couple of years ago, for instance, he denied tax credits to films and television shows deemed to be offensive. More recent was his decision not to fund abortions as part of a G-8 initiative. Also falling into this category is his tough-on-drugs stance.

Overall, for the Christian right, it's pretty thin gruel. Indeed, many social conservatives I have talked to have expressed frustration at Harper's failure to promote their agenda.

Such unrest could have potentially caused the Prime Minister some trouble. And that's why he should thank McDonald for her book. With her over-the-top hyperbole, she has cast Harper as a social conservative hero, a champion who will recast Canada as some sort of social conservative utopia.

This will only serve to drive social conservatives into Harper's camp. And he won't even have to lift a finger.

It's a like a political miracle. If Harper really were an Evangelical zealot, he might even raise his arms and shout "Hallelujah!"

National Post

Gerry Nicholls is the author of the book, Loyal the Core; Harper, Me and the NCC. He is currently living in self-imposed exile in the United States.