"John Howard Pew conflated faith and oil with freedom, stating, 'Without Christian freedom, no freedom is possible.' He viewed oil sands as a divine gift."
"Premier Ernest Manning saw both spiritual progress and redemption in Albertaâs oil sands, emphasizing that oil generates a light through Godâs Word to lead people to Jesus."
In 1967, John Howard Pew and Alberta Premier Ernest Manning inaugurated a bitumen upgrading plant, viewing the oil sands as a divine blessing tied to their evangelical beliefs. Pew, an influential figure in Christianity Today, believed in a symbiosis between faith and oil, asserting that true freedom is rooted in Christian values. Manning echoed similar sentiments, presenting the oil sands as a means of spiritual illumination, linking economic progress to religious redemption. The onset of the 1973 oil crisis further transformed Calgary's socio-political landscape amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
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