Oops. It seems I inadvertantly mis-represented Kevin Bourassa. My apologies. It turns out the article I was quoting was older than initially thought. Here's a helpful clarification from Mike.
1. The Ottawa Citizen is VERY Conservative paper (and yes, I meant that big 'C').
2. This story appeared on the front page of the Sunday paper over 3 weeks ago. So it's not a case of Kevin Bourassa being a 'sore winner'. These statements were made at least 3 weeks to a month before the vote, probably longer.
3. What you have is the ONLY attribution to Mr. Bourassa in the whole story. No context is given. it doesn't say WHEN he made these comments, it doesn't say WHERE he made them, it doesn't say to WHOM the comments were made. For all we know, he made these comments 3 years ago in a fit of frustration after a court hearing. I was not able to find this story in any other news source (on the internet or broadcast) at the time
4. This claim is in the first two paragraphs of the story. The entire rest of the story, speading to A2 and covering a quartre page on the front and a fifth of a page on A2, talks about how this was a legally impossibility (at least in the way Bourassa was implying), unless the churches knowingly violated the rules of charitable status (which apply to ALL charities, not just churches) of Revenue Canada. They could do this by promoting or politically backing a particular candidate of party.
So I'm not sure why you have only noticed this now, but I'm kind of suspicious. A little Bit Left had a post today about some churches in London Ontario threatening to side with particular candiates (namely Pat O'Brien) and spread the word in church sermons - in direct violation of Revenue Canada rules for Charitable status. This is starting to sound like a self-fufilling prophesy.
I'll keep my eye on this weekends Citizen (I live in Ottawa and I'm a subscriber) to see if it comes up again. I understand why you would be upset by this, but I think you should be a little skeptical. this sounds like a fear...
Thanks for the correction.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Kevin Bourassa, your rhetoric is NOT helping
From the Ottawa Citizen,
Churches that oppose same-sex marriage legislation have good reason to fear for their charitable status, a leading gay-rights advocate is warning.
"If you are at the public trough, if you are collecting taxpayers' money, you should be following taxpayers' laws. And that means adhering to the Charter," says Kevin Bourassa, who in 2001 married Joe Varnell in one of Canada's first gay weddings, and is behind www.equalmarriage.ca.
Kevin Bourassa wants to go after the charitable status of churches that oppose SSM. As a secular issue, I do believe in the free exercise of religion and free speech. As a theological issue, I don’t think religious rights were high on Jesus’ agenda, even though many Christians spend an inordinate amount of time talking about them.
Is Bourassa wanting to punish folks whom he deems as enemy? Is he simply being a sore winner?
I wonder if Bourassa’s rhetoric will jump up and bite him in the butt. The gay community has many friends in the churches, even the conservative churches. Such statements by prominent gay activists will only galvanize religious extremists who are already feeling battle weary after Tuesday’s Commons vote, drawing many others to their cause, and will terrify the smaller, struggling churches that are trying to do God’s work in the world.
If gay rights are being attacked, then the gay community has a right to fight back. If this is an example of shooting the enemy when he’s wounded, then it’s NOT helping.
Bourassa needs to take his win, celebrate it, and remember that the best way to treat a bully is to ignore him.
Churches that oppose same-sex marriage legislation have good reason to fear for their charitable status, a leading gay-rights advocate is warning.
"If you are at the public trough, if you are collecting taxpayers' money, you should be following taxpayers' laws. And that means adhering to the Charter," says Kevin Bourassa, who in 2001 married Joe Varnell in one of Canada's first gay weddings, and is behind www.equalmarriage.ca.
Kevin Bourassa wants to go after the charitable status of churches that oppose SSM. As a secular issue, I do believe in the free exercise of religion and free speech. As a theological issue, I don’t think religious rights were high on Jesus’ agenda, even though many Christians spend an inordinate amount of time talking about them.
Is Bourassa wanting to punish folks whom he deems as enemy? Is he simply being a sore winner?
I wonder if Bourassa’s rhetoric will jump up and bite him in the butt. The gay community has many friends in the churches, even the conservative churches. Such statements by prominent gay activists will only galvanize religious extremists who are already feeling battle weary after Tuesday’s Commons vote, drawing many others to their cause, and will terrify the smaller, struggling churches that are trying to do God’s work in the world.
If gay rights are being attacked, then the gay community has a right to fight back. If this is an example of shooting the enemy when he’s wounded, then it’s NOT helping.
Bourassa needs to take his win, celebrate it, and remember that the best way to treat a bully is to ignore him.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Conservative Christians vs the Religious Right
With so much noise coming from south of the border, and many loud Christians condemning Same-Sex Marriage, we need to distinguish between conservative Christians and the Religious Right.
At first glance, the Religious Right and Conservative Christians look distressingly similar. They vote for the same parties. They read the same bible. They sometimes worship in the same churches.
But there are differences between the two. BIG differences.
The Religious Right are extremists. They believe the church is at war with the culture. They can’t distinguish between opposition and enemy. They have a persecution complex and fantasize about martyrdom. Their narrow political agenda looks more like a Republican playbook than the Gospel of Luke or the Letter of James.
Conservative Christians, on the other hand, are the first ones to open their wallet when a homeless person comes knocking on the church door looking for food. They’re the ones praying with the grieving strangers who come looking for words of comfort. They’re the ones who have deep–rooted convictions and moral lines clearly drawn, but also recognize that a moral life lived without love for neighbour is a tyranny that besmirches the name of Jesus.
Conservative Christians know that being pro-life means more than harassing terrified 15-year-olds who are trying to reverse a bad decision. It means helping people take responsibility for their behaviour and their lives. It means letting young girls weep on their shoulder after the operation. It means volunteering for groups like BirthRight. It means throwing a baby shower in the basement of the church when the young woman decides to keep the baby.
Being a conservative Christian means believing that churches can do a better job at dispensing charity and social services than government. This is not some nutty anti-government ideology because conservative Christians are the first ones to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. Conservative Christians put their money and their labour where their mouths are. They believe in people working together to help other people.
The Religious Right demands that government adopt their narrow agenda. Conservative Christians are servants. The Religious Right speak with anger and hate. Conservative Christians speak truth tempered by love. The Religious Right is moralistic. Conservative Christians are moral.
The Religious Right draws attention to itself. Like my three-year-old, it doesn't care if its good or bad attention. Conservative Christians work hard, but quietly and devotionally, because the gospel is something that is lived graciously as its witness. They know the gospel is not a soap-box for a partisan political agenda.
So, don’t confuse conservative Christians with the Religious Right. The two are not the same animal. Not by a long shot. Conservative Christians put “Christian” before “conservative.”
I should know. I have a congregation full of them.
At first glance, the Religious Right and Conservative Christians look distressingly similar. They vote for the same parties. They read the same bible. They sometimes worship in the same churches.
But there are differences between the two. BIG differences.
The Religious Right are extremists. They believe the church is at war with the culture. They can’t distinguish between opposition and enemy. They have a persecution complex and fantasize about martyrdom. Their narrow political agenda looks more like a Republican playbook than the Gospel of Luke or the Letter of James.
Conservative Christians, on the other hand, are the first ones to open their wallet when a homeless person comes knocking on the church door looking for food. They’re the ones praying with the grieving strangers who come looking for words of comfort. They’re the ones who have deep–rooted convictions and moral lines clearly drawn, but also recognize that a moral life lived without love for neighbour is a tyranny that besmirches the name of Jesus.
Conservative Christians know that being pro-life means more than harassing terrified 15-year-olds who are trying to reverse a bad decision. It means helping people take responsibility for their behaviour and their lives. It means letting young girls weep on their shoulder after the operation. It means volunteering for groups like BirthRight. It means throwing a baby shower in the basement of the church when the young woman decides to keep the baby.
Being a conservative Christian means believing that churches can do a better job at dispensing charity and social services than government. This is not some nutty anti-government ideology because conservative Christians are the first ones to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. Conservative Christians put their money and their labour where their mouths are. They believe in people working together to help other people.
The Religious Right demands that government adopt their narrow agenda. Conservative Christians are servants. The Religious Right speak with anger and hate. Conservative Christians speak truth tempered by love. The Religious Right is moralistic. Conservative Christians are moral.
The Religious Right draws attention to itself. Like my three-year-old, it doesn't care if its good or bad attention. Conservative Christians work hard, but quietly and devotionally, because the gospel is something that is lived graciously as its witness. They know the gospel is not a soap-box for a partisan political agenda.
So, don’t confuse conservative Christians with the Religious Right. The two are not the same animal. Not by a long shot. Conservative Christians put “Christian” before “conservative.”
I should know. I have a congregation full of them.
Alberta out of the marriage biz?
Do Ralph and I agree!?
Maybe. We’ll see.
Ralph Klein says that the government may get out of the marriage business altogether - because of the passage of Bill C-38 allowing same gendered folks to get married - leaving marriage to the churches.
I couldn’t agree more.
I like the European model where the happy couple goes to city hall and gets a civil servant to perform a civil union ceremony. Then the couple heads to the church, if they desire, to have their union blessed. Church and state remain at a comfortable distance.
If Ralph is saying that he’d leave marriage up to the churches, meaning that he’d leave civil unions in the government domain, and the blessing of civil unions to the faith communities, I vote a hearty “yeah!”
But, if he’s saying that he’d like to see Alberta get out of the civil union/marriage business altogether, leaving marriage to the churches, I vote a horrified “yikes!”
But, I really doubt that’s what he’s saying.
I think leaving civil unions to the government and the blessing those civil unions, if such a blessing is desired, to the religious communities help churches, mosques, temples, synagogues, etc, retain their religious freedom. Some faith groups will choose to bless same-sex unions. Others will not. That’s okay.
It’s called free exercise of religion.
Maybe. We’ll see.
Ralph Klein says that the government may get out of the marriage business altogether - because of the passage of Bill C-38 allowing same gendered folks to get married - leaving marriage to the churches.
I couldn’t agree more.
I like the European model where the happy couple goes to city hall and gets a civil servant to perform a civil union ceremony. Then the couple heads to the church, if they desire, to have their union blessed. Church and state remain at a comfortable distance.
If Ralph is saying that he’d leave marriage up to the churches, meaning that he’d leave civil unions in the government domain, and the blessing of civil unions to the faith communities, I vote a hearty “yeah!”
But, if he’s saying that he’d like to see Alberta get out of the civil union/marriage business altogether, leaving marriage to the churches, I vote a horrified “yikes!”
But, I really doubt that’s what he’s saying.
I think leaving civil unions to the government and the blessing those civil unions, if such a blessing is desired, to the religious communities help churches, mosques, temples, synagogues, etc, retain their religious freedom. Some faith groups will choose to bless same-sex unions. Others will not. That’s okay.
It’s called free exercise of religion.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Christian Activists
Political Cycles has a thought-provoking post on Christian activism and the religious right. (he also gives me a plug:). Check it out.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Ignoring the Backdrop
When I was in university, the government was legislating gay bashing as a hate crime. The editor of the university newspaper wrote an editorial praising this initiative.
His opinion was met with death threats.
I studied music at Wilfrid Laurier University; a discipline where gays and lesbians were well represented. A classmate of mine shared with me that he carried a hard stick to fight back against those who would attack him because he’s gay. It happened once. It WILL happen again. He wasn’t going down so easily.
On October 6, 1998, Aaron McKinney and Russell A. Henderson entered a Laramie Wyoming bar which was known as a place where homosexuals often hung out.
The two men left the bar with the company of Matthew Shepherd, who they drove to an open field. After being tied to a fence and beaten within an inch of his life, he was left for dead in the near freezing temperatures.
The two men had also stolen his wallet and shoes. Eighteen hours later, he was found by two passing motorcyclists who thought at first that Shepherd was a scarecrow because of the way he was positioned on the fence.
Shepherd was flown via helicopter to Poudre Valley Hospital (approximately a ninety mile drive in Fort Collins, Colorado) where he remained in critical condition for several days before he died.
Baptist preacher Tony Campolo tells a story about a boy in high school who was thrown in the shower after gym class and then urinated on by his classmates. Because he way gay.
He went home that night, went off to bed as usual, then woke up in the middle of the night, went down to his basement, then hung himself.
Every gay person I’ve met tells a similar story.
These stories should provide a backdrop to the debates on same-sex marriages in the political arena and the blessing of same-sex unions in the faith communities. But they don’t. It’s as if the church has stopped hearing the pain of the oppressed.
It’s not enough to say that the bible condemns homosexuality. The way some Christians have been talking about homosexuality you’d think it was the ONE unforgivable sin.
SSM advocates are not asking folks to embrace gay/lesbian behaviour. They are simply asking folks to stop beating on them legislatively, legally, and, in far too many cases, physically.
I get why many Christian oppose SSM. But, as a Christian, I have found much of the rhetoric coming from Christian leaders on this issue, appalling. Many folk in my church who are conservative on this issue feel much the same way. Hurtful language coming from prominent Christian leaders against a marginalized, and abused group, does not further the cause of Christ.
I wonder if the best way to witness to gays and lesbians is to love them first, nursing their wounds, tending their hurts, simply loving them as Christ loves them: unconditionally. I’m not suggesting that folks betray their conscience and condone homosexual behavior. But when is it Christian to heap judgment upon judgment?
Grace, mercy, and peace. Self-giving, suffering love. These are the marks of the kingdom of God. Jesus actively sought out those who were despised, outcast, and broken. Why can’t we, who bear the name of Christ, do the same, without the condemnation?
His opinion was met with death threats.
I studied music at Wilfrid Laurier University; a discipline where gays and lesbians were well represented. A classmate of mine shared with me that he carried a hard stick to fight back against those who would attack him because he’s gay. It happened once. It WILL happen again. He wasn’t going down so easily.
On October 6, 1998, Aaron McKinney and Russell A. Henderson entered a Laramie Wyoming bar which was known as a place where homosexuals often hung out.
The two men left the bar with the company of Matthew Shepherd, who they drove to an open field. After being tied to a fence and beaten within an inch of his life, he was left for dead in the near freezing temperatures.
The two men had also stolen his wallet and shoes. Eighteen hours later, he was found by two passing motorcyclists who thought at first that Shepherd was a scarecrow because of the way he was positioned on the fence.
Shepherd was flown via helicopter to Poudre Valley Hospital (approximately a ninety mile drive in Fort Collins, Colorado) where he remained in critical condition for several days before he died.
Baptist preacher Tony Campolo tells a story about a boy in high school who was thrown in the shower after gym class and then urinated on by his classmates. Because he way gay.
He went home that night, went off to bed as usual, then woke up in the middle of the night, went down to his basement, then hung himself.
Every gay person I’ve met tells a similar story.
These stories should provide a backdrop to the debates on same-sex marriages in the political arena and the blessing of same-sex unions in the faith communities. But they don’t. It’s as if the church has stopped hearing the pain of the oppressed.
It’s not enough to say that the bible condemns homosexuality. The way some Christians have been talking about homosexuality you’d think it was the ONE unforgivable sin.
SSM advocates are not asking folks to embrace gay/lesbian behaviour. They are simply asking folks to stop beating on them legislatively, legally, and, in far too many cases, physically.
I get why many Christian oppose SSM. But, as a Christian, I have found much of the rhetoric coming from Christian leaders on this issue, appalling. Many folk in my church who are conservative on this issue feel much the same way. Hurtful language coming from prominent Christian leaders against a marginalized, and abused group, does not further the cause of Christ.
I wonder if the best way to witness to gays and lesbians is to love them first, nursing their wounds, tending their hurts, simply loving them as Christ loves them: unconditionally. I’m not suggesting that folks betray their conscience and condone homosexual behavior. But when is it Christian to heap judgment upon judgment?
Grace, mercy, and peace. Self-giving, suffering love. These are the marks of the kingdom of God. Jesus actively sought out those who were despised, outcast, and broken. Why can’t we, who bear the name of Christ, do the same, without the condemnation?
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Romania's Orthodox church disowns priest after nun was crucified
Warsaw (ENI). Romania's Orthodox church has disowned a monk
after he allegedly crucified a trainee nun during an exorcism
ceremony that was said to have taken place, and it has closed down
the convent where the killing occurred.
"The church condemns this deviant act by this strange person of low education," said Costel Stoica, spokesperson for the country's Bucharest patriarchate.
"It has nothing whatever to do with Orthodoxy, and nothing
of the kind has ever occurred in the history of Romanian
monasticism."
I'm glad that the patriarchate has condemned this bizarre act of religious nuttery, calling it a "deviant act by this strange person of low education."
However, they DID ordain the guy and put him in charge of a monastery. Maybe the Romanian Orthodox church needs to re-visit their formation process.
See the orginal story here.
after he allegedly crucified a trainee nun during an exorcism
ceremony that was said to have taken place, and it has closed down
the convent where the killing occurred.
"The church condemns this deviant act by this strange person of low education," said Costel Stoica, spokesperson for the country's Bucharest patriarchate.
"It has nothing whatever to do with Orthodoxy, and nothing
of the kind has ever occurred in the history of Romanian
monasticism."
I'm glad that the patriarchate has condemned this bizarre act of religious nuttery, calling it a "deviant act by this strange person of low education."
However, they DID ordain the guy and put him in charge of a monastery. Maybe the Romanian Orthodox church needs to re-visit their formation process.
See the orginal story here.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Rick Mercer has a blog!
Rick Mercer has joined the blogosphere. Check it out. Funny, funny, stuff.
Thanks to Monte Solberg for pointing this out.
Thanks to Monte Solberg for pointing this out.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Is the Reformation Over?
Well...if you have to ask...Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom muddy the waters with a great article. Mark Noll is always a great read.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Children's Message: Pentecost Year A
Jason was standing at his locker at recess when a book dropped out of his knapsack.
“What’s this?” asked Sam picking up the book, as he happened to be walking by Jason’s locker.
“That’s my...(the rest here)
“What’s this?” asked Sam picking up the book, as he happened to be walking by Jason’s locker.
“That’s my...(the rest here)
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