Post 200--Canada's Quasi-Judicial Courts

Christian Roots Canada's Lynette's heart is bleeding. She sees Canada's Liberal Federal Government in the hands of extremists. And while the Liberals are pushing their agenda unrelentingly, the church is asleep, she complains.  Well, that's been my view of the  Canadian church since a long time ago. Even when I was still in Nigeria during the 1970s through most of the 1990s, I observed the same from reading the magazine Mclean's. Of course, it is true not only for the national scene, but also for the provincial. Here in BC a few years ago the government passed a new family law and the churches were silent. Not a sound; not a peep. Was it good or was it bad?  The church slept through this entire procedure--as if it did not even know about it!  The government fiddling around with the family, the basics of society and the church has nothing to say?  Incredible.  You don't know how embarrassed I increasingly am about such a gutless church!  No wonder so many people are leaving the church. What does it have to offer in terms of important social issues? 

The rest of this post amounts to Lynette's lament. Read it. Follow her links and take whatever action you can. The next post is a short letter from Nick Loenen, a friend of mine and an ex-MLA here in BC, also calling for action.

OK, here's Lynette's lament:

===============

Friend, My Heart Hurts… for Canada Twenty-eight years ago, I was a new immigrant to Canada. I lived in Toronto and got to know my husband through the church we both attended at the time. He was passionate about how to live life in such a way that it did not just intersect with ‘church’ on Sunday, but in such a way that he could live a life of ‘applied theology’. He introduced me to his vision of impacting the culture for Christ. He saw how the culture of the day was beginning to be swayed by political correctness and sexual immorality. At that time, religious people depended on the ‘abstinence’ message to be a unifying force against the onslaught of sex ed in public school classrooms. But that was hardly enough. By 1992, the notion of sexual ‘orientation’ was already taking root in the classroom with the advent of books like, ‘Heather has Two Mommies’. Teachers were given ‘sensitivity training’, as were members of the local government, provincial government and the emergency services. This was to force employees to accept those who practiced alternate lifestyles, as equally worthy of legal recognition similar to the legal recognition given to a family consisting of one man, one woman, and children.   By about 1996, liberal politicians rammed through a bill to read ‘sexual orientation’ into the Human Rights Code. The ‘Church’ was caught sleeping at the wheel, and by the time we roused ourselves, the horse was out of the stable before we could shut the gate. And the Church went back to its slumber...  until the next time. The progression of an apathetic willingness by the Church corporate to accept the mores of a decadent culture, has now led to a Liberal Prime Minister forcing Christians, and anyone who does not believe abortion is wrong, to put his/her conscience in a tiny box, seal it well, and throw it out, if they want to receive some of the $200 million of Government Grants. These Grants are applied for by NGOs and other faith-based organizations, to pay high school and college students a fair wage over the summer, so that they could save some money to defray some of their college education costs. The kids got work experience, the employer hired more kids with a lower overhead cost and everybody won. Para-church organizations benefited from that. Will the Church corporate stand against this legislation of conscience by a corrupt government?  Even if the Church doesn't, you can.  Keep reading to learn what YOU can do. There is another far-reaching issue looming ahead, and it would be wise to rouse yourself and do something about it NOW.  Scripture says that the wise man sees the danger coming and avoids it, but the foolish pass on and are destroyed (Prov. 22:3). Next on the Liberal agenda is a consideration to reinstate Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) which was repealed by Parliament in 2013. See the article here This article states, ‘Instead of proceeding through the criminal courts, complaints made under Section 13 were dealt with in the quasi-judicial Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which hears complaints made under the Act. If a Section 13 complaint was upheld, the tribunal could levy fines of up to $10,000 and issue cease-and-desist orders.' First, remember that this a 'court' made up of 'quasi-judicial' persons (aka untrained laymen practicing law on the basis of feelings of perceived hurt).  Why is this important? Ask Connie and Mark Fournier. Their case of freedom of speech went all the way to the Supreme Court.  Internet companies thought it was important enough to get involved. If you think that Christians fared terribly with rogue Human Rights Courts under a Conservative Government, think what evil can be unleashed by this God-hating Liberal Government. They are up to no good, and the 'money for your conscience' issue will pale in comparison to what is to come.  Friends, this hate crimes legislation which masquerades as freedom of speech will encompass so-called ‘internet crimes’ which, most assuredly can be used by our wicked leaders and Human Rights Tribunals, to take aim at the Church. Make no mistake about it. Why is the progressive slide of the country into a stinky, messy, manure-pond, of any importance to ChristianRoots Canada right now? Friends, this generation of Christians, WE (collectively) have failed to raise an army of defenders of the faith. Thankfully, organizations like ARPA and others are doing double duty in galvanizing efforts to hold back the onslaught. So WHAT can YOU do about it? Please go to ARPA’s website here  And get your kids signed up for programs that educate and equip them for action. Read their Lesson Plans on how to teach against the post modern, degrading, issues here Take action using their formatted letters to your politicians here.   STAND UP FOR CANADA!!! And may I ask a favour of you? Before you go, hop over to our latest blog here, and leave us a comment. OR, Learn  a little more about the crew behind ChristianRoots Canada at our Facebook Live video, and join the discussion in our Facebook Group here. If you would like copies of The Biblical Legacy of Canada's Parliament Buildings, you can order them here.  These booklets can be used to encourage your brothers and sisters with the fact that Canada had such a Christian ethos at one time, that the architects who built the Peace Tower were more conversant with the Old and New Testament than we are today. Check out the Scripture verses!! The booklet is proof and we can get there again.

Post 199--Sexless Marriage Experiment

Jim Denison once again shared an "interesting" story with us today that I am passing on to you. I put "interesting" in quotation marks, for when you think it through it is a pretty sad story and a pretty devastating picture of North American culture.  All bets are off; anything, and I mean anything or, more accurately, everything goes in terms of what Christians call "creation order," a term that includes marriage. 

 Jim published it under the title:

Tiffany Trump's friends enter an                            "unconventional" marriage

Quentin Esme Brown is a well-known socialite, formerly from New York City but now living in Los Angeles. Peter Cary Peterson was once featured in a show about wealthy teenagers living in Manhattan. The two have been close friends since they were kids. Last weekend, they were married in Las Vegas. The event made national headlines because Tiffany Trump was a flower girl. Is this a case of two friends who fell in love and got married out of romantic passion? Not at all. Yahoo reported: "Tiffany Trump's friends just entered a sexless marriage, which isn't a terrible idea." Esme called her marriage "unconventional" and explained: "Peter and I are not romantically involved—in fact we are still dating others and will continue to seek love in all its forms—we are just each other's hearts and wish to begin our journey towards evolution, because the more we face reality, the more we can see that there is no right or wrong." A licensed therapist affirmed their decision: "We don't need to get married for any of the reasons we used to. Once you've got everything else in place, it is like the cherry on top." Another psychologist explained: "A lot of these sorts of marriages are in response to society getting increasingly isolated, and people want to create a kinship model." Brown's response to her wedding is the mantra of our age: "We have one life. Free yourself!" "Keep moving forward with God's strength and guidance" God created marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman built on unconditional love (Genesis 2:18–24; Ephesians 5:21–33). When he gave the first man and woman to each other, he told them to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Genesis 1:28). However, our culture's definition of marriage has obviously departed drastically from God's design in recent years. Prior to Roe v. Wade, unborn children were protected by law; Americans now abort more than 650,000 babies each year. We once valued the sanctity of life until natural death; today, 73 percent of Americans support legalized euthanasia. This percentage has more than doubled since 1951. The news is not all negative by any means. As Janet Denison noted in her latest blog, Christians can still influence society in significant ways. The continuing response to Target's dressing room policy illustrates the power of Christians who coalesce around a moral issue. The popularity of Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby show that companies can take strong Christian stands in our culture. But as Janet noted, there is also much work to be done, so we must "keep moving forward with God's strength and guidance." To that end, consider a biblical event that serves as a parable for cultural engagement today. A brick in one hand and a sword in the other Nehemiah 4 finds the people of Israel at work rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. In a day without national armies or police forces, a city's walls were essential to its security. Without such walls, Jerusalem could not be repopulated. However, the project faced enormous opposition from Israel's enemies who understood the strategic significance of this construction project. As a result, half of the people worked on the wall, while half "held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail" (v. 16). In addition, "Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other" (v. 17). This metaphor seems powerful to me: rebuilding the nation with a brick in one hand and a sword in the other. We are to work for the best while preparing for the worst. If you're traveling by air and worried about the flu, you should pray for God's protection. But you should also clean common surfaces on the airplane and avoid crowds wherever you can. If you're a parent, you should pray for your children to be protected from the devastation of pornography. But you should also use resources such as Covenant Eyes to provide real-time accountability and other support. If you're concerned about the moral direction of our culture, you should pray for spiritual awakening each day. But you should also look for ways to impact the lives you touch today. "He did what he could" On Wednesday, a drone flew to two distressed swimmers off the coast of Australia and dropped a self-inflating rescue pod into the water, saving their lives. Scientists have now developed a blood test that can detect early signs of eight kinds of cancer. But neither the drone nor the blood test can help people unless they are taken to those who need them. A brick in one hand and a sword in the other is an image for rebuilding the spiritual walls of our culture. We should be positive and proactive in sharing God's love with our world (Matthew 22:39). But we should also be ready to "contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Know that God has given you all you need to fulfill your Kingdom assignment. Your brick is the right size for the wall you are called to build. Your sword is sharp enough for the battle you are called to wage. In Bread for the Journey, Henri Nouwen notes: "We are good enough to do what we are called to do."

Post 198--Leftist Intolerance

Happy new year!  I was hoping to share with you some thoughts about Christmas, but I could not get around to it.  Then I thought, "Oh, well, I'll get something for new year."  Didn't do that either. And now we're already January 10.  A "happy new year" wish too late for you?  In Nigeria, even in April, if I meet up with a friend I had not yet seen that year, I would still wish him a happy new year.  (Now anytime you say anything about Nigeria, you have to specify the ethnic group or geographical location, for you cannot ever generalize about a nation of 180 million people. About the only two things you can say about the country is (1) everyone is Black, though of various shades; (2) everyone loves soccer or football. As I read this over, I confess to a bit of exaggeration, but Nigerians don't mind that--at least some don't!

Today I am passing on to you a sad, if not infuriating Alberta story about leftist intolerance of Christian schooling and the Bible. It comes to us from that revel Ezra Levant. I'm just going to let him loose and sock it to you without any further interference from me. It is about:

A left-wing bureaucrat attacked a Christian school for teaching the Bible. But now the school is fighting back in court!

EL

Last year we told you about the Cornerstone Christian Academy in Alberta. A bureaucrat at the Battle River School Division, Lauri Skori, literally ordered the school to stop teaching passages in the Bible that she personally disagreed with. For example, Skori ordered the school to stop teaching a passage from 1 Corinthians, because she finds it “offensive”. Not just that, but the bureaucrats tried to put a gag order on the school, to forbid them from talking to anyone about what the school board was trying to do! Things have gone from bad to worse. Rather than respect the Cornerstone Christian Academy’s religious freedom, the school board has served the school notice that it will be officially kicked out next year — so the school won’t get any funding. It’s effectively being shut down, because a left-wing, anti-Christian activist doesn’t like the Bible. But I’ve got good news: Canada’s best (and only?) civil liberties lawyer, John Carpay, is taking the school board to court, to stop the Battle River School Division from banning the Cornerstone Christian Academy. Here’s my interview with John, where he describes the situation, and what he’s doing about it: Last year we raised more than $5,000 for John his team to help the school — they tried to reason with the school board, and negotiate an amicable solution. That failed, so unfortunately, they have to sue. Let’s help them out. I’ve promised to help him raise another $2,000 to help pay for his team of lawyers to fight for the school’s freedom of religion, against government censors. You can read John’s lawsuit for yourself, here. If you agree that this anti-Christian bigotry is unacceptable, please join with me in helping to chip in to support the school by clicking here. Yours truly, Ezra Levant P.S. When I first heard that a bureaucrat was literally banning passages from the Bible, I thought it was a joke. Unfortunately not. Please click here to help fund the only civil liberties lawyer in Canada who seems to care. P.P.S. The mainstream media doesn’t care — they actually support Lauri Skori and the bigoted school board. So it’s up to us to spread the word about this. Please forward this e-mail to friends and family, and make www.TheRealBigots.com your Facebook status. Because the real bigots here are the anti-Christian extremists at the school board, don’t you think?

Post 197--This Confusing World

The heading of the article I draw to your attention today is CNN.  So, I start with them. I was amazed when I saw the heading of this article and when I read its contents. Here we have CNN praising and defending Israel.  They praise Israel for the many Nobel and other awards its citizens have won, far more than any other nation in proportion to its tiny population, certainly far more than the nations that would like nothing better than to see its people erased from the face of the earth. I am not used to such sounds from CNN. Highly unusual.

I agree with CNN on this one. My response to these facts is that I would love Canada to invite the entire Jewish nation to move over to Canada, live where they themselves please and bless Canada with their amazing talents. I cannot imagine how far they would take Canada into the stratosphere of the arts and sciences. Our country would be transformed totally. And the Jews would finally have peace--no one to molest them anymore.

Not only did CNN praise Israel for their accomplishments, but they also criticized the nations that continually criticize Israel; it criticizes the critics. Now, we all know that Israel is not a perfect nation and deserves critique, but what of the nations that major in this critique within the halls of the UN?  The article asks pointed questions about a number of them. Is Israel really worse than those others?  This is a list of rhetorical questions the answers to which are so obvious, they don't need to be spelled out. Why are those nations not taken to task?  What right do they have to critique Israel? Do they have any sort of higher ground from which to expressed their holier-than-thou hypocrisy? 

What amazes me still more is that  Jake Tapper, the anchor of the above CNN programme, expressed all the above in the context of President Trump's declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Ordinarily, one would expect CNN to castigate the President for this action.  After all, the network specializes in berating Trump. That's about all I hear them do, the reason I am tired of them and no longer listen to them.  For once they were able to restrain themselves with respect to their President. Another highly unusual event.  I can hardly imagine such restraint on their part!  Is this the same CNN I know?  If you do not believe in miracles, perhaps you ought to do a rethink! Can you blame me for being confused?

That said, I now provide you with the opportunity to hear it from the horse's mouth as it comes to us from the Algemeiner of December 22, 2017.  As our own CBC likes to put it, "Have a listen."


Top CNN Host Calls Out Human Rights-Abusing UN Member-States for Hypocrisy on Israel

Jake Tapper. Photo: Screenshot.

CNN news host Jake Tapper on Thursday called out human rights-abusing UN member-states for their hypocritical focus on Israel.

On his “The Lead” program, hours after the UN General Assembly passed— by a 128-9 margin, with 35 abstentions — a resolution calling for the United States to drop its recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Tapper noted, “The United Nations General Assembly, from 2012 to 2015, has adopted 97 resolutions specifically criticizing an individual country, and of those 97, 83 have focused on Israel. That is 86 percent.”

Tapper continued: “Now certainly Israel is not above criticism, but considering the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar, the lack of basic human rights in North Korea, the children starving in the streets of Venezuela, the citizens of Syria targeted for murder by their own leader using the most grotesque and painful of weapons, you have to ask is Israel truly deserving of 86 percent of the world’s condemnation? Or possibly is something else afoot at the United Nations, something that allows the representative of the Assad government to lecture the United States for moving its embassy?”

Watch the segment below:

T

Post 196--First Coming--by Madeleine L'Engle

I do not know much about Madeleine L'Engle, but I do know whose "First Coming" she's talking about in her  poem.  I'll give you a chance to beat me to it.  Say it!........  Yes, you're right: Jesus's. I found this poem in a church bulletin last night. I immediately changed my plan for this post and decided to let you in on Madeleine's poetic musing.  A fine one it is. Simple, eloquent, true. 

Here it is. Make this pre-Christmas day of Friday worthwhile by doing your own musing on Jesus' birth--the Incarnation, as we call it in proper theological term.  The core of that word is the Latin "Carnus" or some such form, which means "flesh" or "meat. You come across it in words like "carnal" and "carnivore." So guess what "incarnation" refers to--Jesus coming into our flesh and blood, taking on our body.  But let me not digress....


                                                     First Coming

                                He did not wait till the world was ready,
                                till men and nations were at peace.
                                He came when the heavens were unsteady
                                and prisoners cried out for release.   

                                He did not wait for the perfect time.                                     
                                He came when the need was deep and great.
                                He died with sinners in all their grime,
                                turned water into wine.

                                He did not wait till hearts were pure.
                                In joy He came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
                                To a world like ours, of anguished shame
                                He came, and His Light would not go out.

                                He came to a world which did not mesh,
                                to heal its tangles, shield its scorn
                                In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
                                The Maker of the stars was born.

                                 We cannot wait till the world is sane
                                 To raise our songs with joyful voice,
                                 For to share our grief, to touch our pain,
                                 He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

                                 

Post 195--Refugees: An upside-down poem

                                      REFUGEES

                                                      by Brian Bilston 

                              They have no need of our help
                              So do not tell me
                              These haggard faces could belong to you or me
                              We need to see them for who they really are
                                      Chancers and scroungers
                                       Layabouts and loungers
                                      With bombs up their sleeves
                                      Cut-throats and thieves
                              They are not
                                      Welcome here
                              We should make them
                              Go back to where they came from
                              They cannot
                                    Share our food
                                    Share our homes
                                    Share our countries
                               Instead let us
                               Build a wall to keep them out
                               It is not okay to say
                                     These are people just like us
                                     A place should only belong to those who are born there
                               Do not be so stupid to think that
                               The world can be looked at another way.

                                                                          (now read from bottom to top)

                                Christian Courier,  December 19, 2017     

                                You can expect a more Christmasy post within the next day or so.  In the                                                meantime, enjoy these days of preparation for the Feast of the Incarnation. For                                      those not familiar with this sort of Christian terminology, "incarnation" refers to
                                Christ coming to the world in human form. "Carnus" refers to "the flesh" as in                                      "carnivore," --eater of flesh or meat.



You can expect

Post 194--Meditation by Labyrinth

Like most other cities on North America's west coast, Vancouver is a chillingly secular city. Nevertheless, we live in its central West End and are quite surrounded by churches that range from outright liberal to  Evangelical that in turn range from the classical to the mushroom variety that meets behind various facades, though nothing like store fronts. They are peopled by highly educated  and relatively well-to-do young people.  One of the more liberal is St. Paul's Anglican just two blocks down the street from us, one that we pass on average twice a week.  

It's an unusual church. For one thing, its over-a-century-old building is designated a heritage building by the city. Its exterior consists of maroon-painted cedar shingles, not a facade still common in the city. It is well maintained with its gracious appearance and, unlike the recently razed  modern United Church just a couple of blocks away, it appears well attended and is under no threat of coming down. Typical of our liberal churches here, it plays an active part in our downtown culture. 

Example:  More than twenty years ago, before we arrived here, our West End was inundated by pimps and prostitutes that so dominated the streets and traffic that the residents complained enough for the city to install all kinds of traffic calmers and other obstacles such as one-way streets, unexpected diversions, dead ends and cul-de-sacs. The police moved in and hassled prostitutes as well as their clients that eventually they moved out of the area to go who knows where, probably the Down Town East Side, known as the country's poorest postal code just a couple of clicks away. Sanity returned and the people were happy.  

Twenty years later, the dominant spiritual and social attitude had changed. Forces within the community instilled a sense of guilt for driving away that trade. Its practitioners were now seen as victims of circumstances not of their choosing and they should have been protected, not driven out. They were no longer regarded as unwanted; the traditionally negative attitude towards prostitution had given way to acceptance. Well, no surprise. Secularism has little in the way of moral standards. 

Last year, 2016, St. Paul's, along with a segment of the local population and reps of the City Council, established a memorial statue right in front of the church, to remember the victims of that "shameful" cleansing of decades ago.  Now that prostitution era was romanticised and its practitioners practically awarded a sort of sainthood!  The atmosphere had done a complete topsy-turvy. Next time you are in the area, you really must come and take some pics, for this is really something to see. Right there in front of a church! I suspect it is the world's first and only memorial to prostitution, unless New York or San Francisco beat us to the honour!

Now years ago I wrote a blog about a hymn-singing prostitute in the south of Nigeria. I showed plenty of sympathy for her terrible situation that led her into that trade. I was fully aware that this was hardly by choice and that she had few other options. In other words, I did not condemn but understood and sympathized. I am as aware of the terrible dynamics as anyone. 

But understanding and sympathizing is one thing, but to elevate the "profession" to hero status or even sainthood is another.  From all the reading I've done on the subject, most practitioners have descended into its horrible depth because of earlier negative choices that inexorably led them into this pit. It was not their destination of choice, but they landed up against a brick wall that would not budge. They had burnt too many bridges behind them and felt they had nowhere else to turn. 

So, what of that memorial in front of St. Paul's?  I sympathize with prostitution's victims and therefore join the community in its sympathy. A case of sympathy on top of sympathy!  But now to turn its practitioners into saints and ignore all the warnings in the Bible against it or to pretend it has no serious social and physical consequences, enough to turn it into a vice, is another. I have no answer really, but this has gone too far. Sin turned into virtue!  The spiritual atmosphere in the community has changed that much--unbelievable. If the trade were to make a come-back in this area, I doubt that the police would have the balls to counter it or, for that matter, the public--until it once again turns into the terrible nuisance it had become. It might be bound to happen.  

Now, you would never expect this subject from the title above this post. I did not either. the main subject was intended to drive me to that subject. Instead, it became the main subject. So, I'll let that title stand but treat that subject in Post 195. That way you won't be turned off by what became today's unexpected main subject!