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Stories about the Anglican schism:
Second church set to split
Members of an Anglican church in Abbotsford are expected to become the second local congregation in a week to split from Vancouver-area Bishop Michael Ingham over his support for same-sex blessings. And two more Anglican churches -- St. Matthias/ St. Luke and The Church of the Good Shepherd -- in Vancouver are poised to fill out similar ballots later this month as orthodox followers openly challenge Ingham's liberal vision for the church.
Vancouver Sun, February 15
Also: National Post
Churches could separate over same-sex unions
As many as 15 Anglican congregations in Canada will decide over the next few weeks on whether to follow the lead of St. John's Shaughnessy Church in Vancouver and put themselves under the authority of a South American archbishop. The conservative congregations in Canada are in conflict with their diocese and the Anglican Church of Canada over theological issues that include the blessing of same-sex unions.
Globe and Mail, February 16
Five Anglican parishes set to separate from Church
At least five more Anglican churches -- three in British Columbia and two in Ontario -- are likely to separate from the national Church over the divisive issue of same-sex blessings by the end of the month. Another four will also vote on similar motions this month.
National Post, February 17
Anglican rift growing deeper
An Abbotsford Anglican congregation on Sunday became the second Lower Mainland congregation in a week to split from the diocese of Vancouver-area Bishop Michael Ingham as part of a nationwide pattern reflecting fundamental rifts in the church. And on Vancouver Island, another congregation voted 86 per cent on Sunday to separate from their national body over the issue of same-sex blessings.
Vancouver Sun, February 18
Parish exodus accelerates Anglican rift
Six more parishes voted to officially separate from the Anglican Church of Canada this weekend, widening a rupture that opened in June after the national church decided to support same-sex blessings. In Ontario, St. Hilda's in Oakville and St. George's in Lowville voted decidedly to leave over the issue. In a much closer vote, the small Toronto parish of St. Chad's also voted to break off. Two parishes in Abbots-ford, B.C., voted to leave: the small Holy Cross parish and the larger St. Matthews. On Saturday, St Alban's Ottawa parish also voted to separate.
National Post, February 18
More Anglican parishes to leave the fold
Bishop's prediction follows on the heels of seven new congregations joining breakaway traditionalist movement
Globe and Mail, February 19
Anglican split could spread worldwide
The battle taking place inside the Anglican Church of Canada is a microcosm of a larger problem that could see the worldwide Anglican Communion end in division, said the South American archbishop who has been taking dissident churches under his wing.
National Post, February 20
It's time to return to the fold
Last week, Vancouver's St. John's Shaughnessy, the largest Anglican congregation in the country, overwhelmingly voted to separate itself from the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC). Since then, seven congregations across Canada have followed its lead. Another 10 opted out long ago and are considering their options. For many others, the "what to do" conversations are just beginning.
Susan Martinuk, National Post, February 20
A 30-year-old problem
Was the episode with St. Peter the first example of cafeteria-style Christianity? The current furor over same-sex blessings in the global Canterbury Anglican Communion is being characterized as a debate between orthodox Anglicans who oppose same-sex blessings and those who do not. But how orthodox are those Anglicans who are now considering leaving the Canterbury Communion to preserve their opposition to same-sex unions?
Reverend Carl Reid, National Post, February 20
Earlier: Major church vote widens Anglican rift
Stories about Sikhs, Sikhism, and helmet laws:
Devout Sikh motorcyclist in court to fight 'discriminatory' helmet law
A hearing for a Sikh man who received a ticket for riding a motorcycle without a helmet, and is fighting the fine on religious grounds, is hearing from Crown prosecutors. Baljinder Badesha was charged in 2005 while riding his motorcycle in Brampton, Ont., just northwest of Toronto.
Canadian Press, February 15
Watchdog backs motorcyclist in turban battle
The Ontario Human Rights Commission has ridden to the defence of a Brampton man who says being forced to wear a motorcycle helmet instead of his turban runs counter to his religious faith.
Toronto Star, February 15
He did laps at 110 km/h to prove turban held tight
A devout Sikh all his life, Baljinder Badesha never imagined that his religious devotion would compel him to race a motorcycle around an Ontario speedway to test whether turbans unravel at high speeds. The bizarre image of Mr. Badesha's experiment last year - conducted under the auspices of the Ontario Human Rights Commission - was evoked during a constitutional challenge to a law that forces motorcycle riders to wear a helmet.
National Post, February 15
Sikhs have worn helmets 'throughout their history'
A Sikh who is challenging Ontario's motorcycle helmet law as a violation of his rights has several options that would not violate his religious beliefs, which require him to wear a turban instead of a helmet, lawyers for the province told a judge yesterday.
National Post, February 16
Sikh leader solicits support
Dabinderjit Singh is promoting a 'Sikh Agenda' lobby group
Vancouver Sun, February 18
Helmet-less motorcycling for all
Sikhs shouldn't have to wear helmets -- and neither should the rest of us
Marni Soupcoff, National Post, February 19
Earlier: Stories about religion and multiculturalism
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Stories about Islam, shariah law, and the West:
It's possible that shariah courts have a place here
The trouble with Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is he may be too smart for his own good. The titular head of the 70-million-member Anglican communion is an intellectual, more thoughtful than many of his far-flung flock, and more perceptive than most outside it. The trouble with being smart, informed and a touch courageous is you can get far ahead of the cultural curve. And that's where Williams, a Welsh theologian, has found himself on the fiery issue of shariah law.
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, February 16
Reading between the freely spoken lines
David Naylor knows which side his fatwa is buttered on
by George Jonas, National Post, February 16
Witchcraft
Shariah, as the learned (Anglican) Archbishop of Canterbury was instructing us recently, in the course of advocating the formal introduction of some form of it into Britain, is not a fixed system of law. There is no written code. It is something that is interpreted by Islamic scholars, in light of any one of five schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence, alone. Yet all descend from the Koran, and commonly accepted Hadiths, so there is a family resemblance between Shariah as practised in Saudi Arabia and in, say, Indonesia. Still, there is no guessing what form may be introduced into a modern Western country. Many Islamic scholars agree that Shariah should recognize the customs of the locality; others insist the whole point of Shariah is to change those customs until they are made to resemble those of desert Arabia in the 7th century A.D.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, February 17
More exposure for Little Mosque
CBC's hit sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie will begin airing in the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland later this year, the show's producer said Tuesday.
Canadian Press, February 19
Earlier: Stories about Islam, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the West
Other stories from the past week:
Spirituality a key factor for overall happiness of children: study
According to a new study from the University of British Columbia, spirituality is a major contributor to children's overall happiness. Mark Holder, associate professor of psychology, said the study measured which factors make significant contributions to a child's happiness. Spirituality -- or an "inner belief system," in other words -- accounted for 6.5% to 16.5% of the average child's sense of contentment, he said.
CanWest News Service, February 11
Klassen has no memory of icy river plunge
Sister of famed speed skater feels the hand of God kept her safe after her Jeep crashed into the frozen Red River
Globe and Mail, February 15
Earlier: Stories about Lisa Klassen's accident
Pious, flirtatious Putin says he's met all his goals
Power can be a like a tempting drug, he said. "But I've never been addicted to anything. I have already received one gift, even two gifts, from the Russian people, from God perhaps. The law is formulated in such a way that this term expires." The President added that he has always had a close relationship with God.
Globe and Mail, February 15
Evangelicals object to 'Republican' pigeonhole
The notion white American evangelicals are mainly hard-core Republican voters is a myth perpetuated by skewed polling, a U.S. interfaith public policy group says. "The reaction I have heard from evangelical Christians is a sense of frustration," said Katie Barge of Faith In Public Life. "Among evangelical Democrats it's, 'Count me too, I should be represented as well.' And all evangelical Christians -- progressive and conservative -- say, 'Stop pigeonholing us, we are not a monolithic voting bloc.'"
National Post, February 16
Former Nazi prison guard kicked out of Canada
Michael Seifert extradited after living in Vancouver since 1951
CanWest News Service, February 16
Earlier: Stories about Nazi war criminal Michael Seifert
Like a rolling tome
Geraldine Brooks tells the tale of a historic Jewish book
National Post, February 18
The fight's still on, abortion rights lawyer says
Sarah Weddington, who won Roe vs. Wade, warns the next U.S. president could stack the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling
Vancouver Sun, February 19
Earlier: Stories about abortion
Palestinian Christians live in constant fear
Here with an item from last week's news that you might not have heard about: Unidentified gunmen blew up the YMCA library in the Gaza Strip on Friday morning. While no one was hurt, two guards were temporarily kidnapped while the offices were looted, a vehicle stolen and all 8,000 books destroyed. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, although Fatah accused Hamas of being behind it. Hamas, for its part, strongly denied any responsibility and condemned the attack. Meanwhile, confidential sources in Gaza told the Jerusalem Post that the attack was in response to the reprinting of the Muhammad cartoons in Danish newspapers last week. The supposed motivation for the attack, and the fact that it was not big news, illustrates the dire situation faced by many Christians living in the Palestinian territories.
Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, February 19
Arson attack survivor faces robbery charges
Ebolingo Etibako, the only survivor of the arson attack against his family's East Vancouver home that killed his mother, three siblings and his girlfriend in 2006, is in custody facing three charges of bank robbery.
Vancouver Sun, February 20
Earlier: Stories about Bolingo Etibako, arson survivor
The CJC's disingenuous stance
Yesterday, Bernie Farber and Len Rudner, two officials of the Canadian Jewish Congress, were given space in these pages to defend Canadian human rights law from the frequent criticisms it has received from National Post editorialists and contributors. Why would a newspaper do such a thing? Because unlike Messrs. Farber and Rudner, it believes that a wide-open marketplace of competing ideas is the best guarantee a liberal democracy has against the spread of noxious and nonsensical doctrines. I suppose that after the authors' naked pandering to fears of violence and vandalism, and their hilariously revealing hints at possessing some special expertise in the super-sciency-sounding field of "antihate," one could say, "Q.E.D., gentlemen," and be done with the subject.
Colby Cosh, National Post, February 20
Earlier: Stories about anti-Semitism and hate speech
One Christian in Bethlehem
It must be wearying for those who live here, in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, always explaining themselves and the situation to a never-ending flow of visitors. They tell their stories, and those in the business of tourism, pilgrimage or politics do so with great polish. Perhaps no other place has, per capita, so many spokesmen, sources and spin doctors. Yet sometimes one life can illustrate more than a hundred briefings. So I came to Bethlehem on a private visit, to seek out an ordinary man and learn a little about his life. In particular, I was interested to learn about the life of an ordinary Christian in this, the place where Jesus was born.
Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, February 20
February 20/2008
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