Paging “Dr.” McVety…

Is it possible that the would-be spiritual advisor to Stephen Harper and the “Conservative” Party of Canada, the self-appointed moral crusader for “Judeo-Christian family values” in this country and, as some have described him, “one of the most powerful leaders of the Christian Right,” is nothing more than a big, fat phony?

Well, in some respects, he most certainly is, but I’m not referring to his nutty and thoroughly dishonest efforts to promote Creationism in public schools by utterly misrepresenting evolutionary science as being an embodiment of the “last vestiges of the horrible scourge of racism”… No, I’m talking about something more questionable that seems to have been hiding in plain sight for many years — his credentials.

Thanks to the intrepid efforts of a number of bloggers, it would appear that “Doctor” McVety’s degree from the highly dubious California State Christian University (CSCU) may be nothing more than a “cheap Korean knock off.” Pictured above, by the way, is the university campus as shown on the contact page of the CSCU’s amateurish website and next to it, the satellite version of the same location. Clearly, there’s no “campus” in the considerable area highlighted (which is just north of the Orange County airport) and street views appear to confirm its absence, unless it’s disguised as a series of commercial warehouses and nondescript suburban office buildings.

Bill Kinnon at Achievable Ends seems to have quite conclusively demonstrated that the CSCU isn’t actually an accredited Christian University or Seminary. No point in re-inventing a well-crafted wheel, so I encourage you to read the whole thing — it’s quite amusing to say the least. ToujoursDan at Culture Choc likewise does some stellar investigative work chasing down the same rabbit holes in pursuit of “Dr.” McVety’s credentials, along the way calling into question his “honorary D.Litt degree” from the apparently non-existent Saint-Petersburg State University.

So, let me add my voice to what might eventually become a growing chorus of bloggers calling on the mainstream press to start doing some serious digging into the qualifications of this man who presumes to speak for the “moral majority” in this country and who is regularly cited in major newspapers and on television as an authoritative spokesman of the Christian Right. Is he a “Dr.” and, for that matter, is he even a “Reverend”? Answering these questions and putting our doubts to rest should be an easy matter if his credentials are authentic. If however they turn out not to be, then perhaps his veracity regarding other matters of public interest such as his high-profile fundraising and lobbying activities should also be subject to a little more curious scrutiny.