News round-up

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Stories about Ottawa's new exorcists:

Archbishop appoints two exorcists
Ottawa's Catholic archbishop has appointed at least two new exorcists, one each for the English and French communities, replacing the region's last exorcist who retired five years ago. The archdiocese will not name the priests, or say how many exorcists there are for fear of a flood of phone calls. Msgr. Kevin Beach says all the men are experienced clergy with overseas experience, some in areas of the world where belief in demons is more robust than it is in North America.
Ottawa Citizen, April 5

Analysis sessions can be devilish
I don't know if Ottawa's Roman Catholic archdiocese has a job posting policy similar to that at the Star -- vacancies flagged internally, notices tacked onto the bulletin board. Although, by the time these positions are publicly proclaimed, 'round One Yonge, the job has sometimes been putatively filled already. Anyway, it appears the archdiocese that encompasses Canada's capital didn't open the job-interview floodgates when it recently went looking for a couple of staff exorcists -- one French, one English -- to fill posts that had been vacant since retirement of the last demon-be-gone specialist five years ago.
Rosie DiManno, Toronto Star, April 7

Stories about Tom Lukiwski and homosexuality:

Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski speaking in Parliament

Homophobic slur hurts Tory attempts at image makeover
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has worked hard to immunize his Conservative party against the racist, sexist and homophobic outbursts that thwarted the growth potential of its Reform and Canadian Alliance predecessors. Tory MPs have been essentially silenced. They've been warned repeatedly about the dangers of speaking to the media or otherwise pronouncing on sensitive social issues like abortion or gay marriage. And they've been lectured on the need for strict discipline in presenting a tolerant, mainstream face to Canadian voters. But even Harper's iron control over his MPs can't erase the past, which periodically comes back to haunt the party.
Canadian Press, April 3

Tory MP apologizes for gay slurs
NDP Leader Jack Layton suggested Harper follow the "precedent" he set in ejecting Lukiwski's predecessor in the riding. Harper, then leader of the Canadian Alliance, ousted MP Larry Spencer from the caucus in 2003 when Spencer suggested homosexuality should be made illegal again.
Toronto Star, April 4

MP's anti-gay remarks spark outrage
Mr. Layton was referring to the Conservative Party's treatment of Larry Spencer, the incumbent in Mr. Lukiwski's riding. Mr. Spencer was a member of the Canadian Alliance caucus but was dropped by the party after he told a reporter in 2003 that homosexuality should be outlawed and that a conspiracy is responsible for the successes of the gay rights movement. When the new Conservative Party was formed by the merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties, Mr. Spencer was barred from running for the Tories.
Globe and Mail, April 4

Harper slammed for refusing to discipline MP over homophobic slur
Privately, Tories bristled at opposition charges that Harper is condoning bigotry. They pointed out that Harper booted Lukiwski's predecessor, Larry Spencer, from the Conservative caucus after he said homosexuality should be outlawed. They argued that discipline was warranted in that case because, unlike Lukiwski, Spencer was a sitting MP when he made the remarks and refused to withdraw them.
Canadian Press, April 4

Tory MP feared gay marriage would mean 'adverse' social change, polygamy
Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski says the toxic anti-gay comments he made 17 years ago weren't really his views, but he warned less than three years ago that same-sex marriage could lead to polygamy and social decline. "I firmly believe that by passing this legislation, we start on a very slippery slope which could affect societal change in a very adverse way," he told the House of Commons on June 28, 2005.
Canadian Press, April 4

Can we forgive 'sorry' MP?
At the Living Links Center at Atlanta's Emory University, primatologist Frans De Waal believes he may have discovered something interesting about the roots of the phenomenon we call "forgiveness." The concept, whose popularity is widely given credit to 2,000-year-old Christian philosophies, may have even deeper roots -- about 25 million years deeper. In observing communities of chimpanzees, Mr. De Waal has observed that apes retain memories of past conflicts. They hold grudges. And indeed, they don't quite forgive, per se. They "make up when necessary" for the good of the group, he once told Time magazine. It may not exactly be forgiveness, but it is, he believes, something close to it.
National Post, April 5

Gay or straight, sexual orientation is in your blood
I say all this not to make fun of religious types. (This being Canada, they get enough of that from the other side of the political spectrum, not to mention the media.) But speaking selfishly as a secularized conservative, I do find their line of free-will argumentation to be slightly embarrassing. It furthers the unfortunate stereotype of conservatives as being out-of-touch with anyone outside society's mainstream (narrowly defined). It also bespeaks a mind that privileges ideological necessity above empirical observation, an accusation more usually reserved for the left.
Jonathan Kay, Full Comment, National Post, April 7

Activists rally in Regina to demand redress from Tory MP over anti-gay slur
Chanting 'homophobia has got to go,' members of Regina's gay community rallied Tuesday at the constituency office of a Conservative MP who made homophobic comments on an old video. About 60 placard-carrying protesters demanded redress from Tom Lukiwski over anti-gay slurs he made on the 16-year-old video that surfaced last week.
Canadian Press, April 8

Homosexual desire and original sin: "Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ sets the captives free"
In Jonathan Kay's April 8 article, "Gay or Straight," he critiqued the views of those social conservatives who believe homosexuality to be a choice as opposed to an innate state of being. He sees them as "embarrassing" and "out-of-touch." I am an evangelical Christian, and I believe that homosexuality is sin, but I sympathize with Kay's concerns.
Rev. Jacob Brinkman Reaume, Full Comment, National Post, April 8

Earlier: Authority and anointing in perspective

Stories about the Anglican schism:

B.C. Supreme Court judge orders Anglican diocese to let parishioners use church
Parishioners at an Anglican church in Victoria are back in the church after an order from a B.C. Supreme Court judge. They say the court ordered the Diocese of B.C. to allow worshippers to attend Sunday services at the St. Mary of the Incarnation church.
Canadian Press, April 6

Rebels regain church after Victoria skirmish
Rebellious Anglican parishioners in Victoria won a court order on Saturday allowing them into their church for worship yesterday, a day after British Columbia's Anglican bishop changed the locks on the St. Mary of the Incarnation church.
National Post, April 7

Earlier: Stories about the Anglican schism

Stories from the Vancouver Sun's series on civility:

What does it mean to be civil? 10 rules
Making a difference for the good of all is no easy task. It takes courage and determination, but many extraordinary and ordinary people do it. The real achievers have been compassionate and respectful -- but not always polite
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, April 4

Virtues and values in sports and religion
One teaches marketplace values about how to win; the other can contribute to our capacity for compassion
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, April 5

Stories about the polygamist cult at Bountiful:

Officials checking welfare of children at Texas retreat of polygamist sect
Most members of the FLDS church live in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.. The church also has a colony in Bountiful, B.C.
Associated Press, April 4

B.C. town feels sting of Texas polygamy raids
As more than 200 people were bused from a Texas polygamist compound over the weekend after a raid by police, the procession reverberated in the British Columbia town of Bountiful, a polygamous community with ties to the Texas stronghold. "There are relatives of people in B.C. that would be part of that group down there," said Linda Price, a retiree from Creston, B.C., who has spent years lobbying against polygamy at Bountiful, a community of about 700 people in southeastern British Columbia, near the United States border.
Globe and Mail, April 7

Test polygamy in court first, A-G told
Lawyer advises there's no point charging Bountiful polygamists until constitutionality of the law has been determined
Vancouver Sun, April 8

Challenge polygamy law in court, province urged
Charging members of Bountiful colony would take longer than going to Court of Appeal, latest legal opinion concludes
Canadian Press, April 8

Ex-sect member urges charges
The Attorney-General of British Columbia should stop wasting time and start prosecuting individuals in the fundamentalist Mormon community of Bountiful, a former member of the polygamous sect said yesterday. Debbie Palmer, who was married off at the age of 15 to a 55-year-old man, said she does not understand why the province keeps studying the constitutionality of the federal law that forbids polygamy rather than testing it by enforcement.
National Post, April 9

Court documents: Girls at polygamist compound required to have sex in temple
Young teenage girls at a polygamist compound in West Texas were required to have sex in a soaring white temple after they were married in sect-recognized unions, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday.
Associated Press, April 9

Polygamy Blues
You'd think the polygamy issue would be simple, since it's against the law to have multiple wives or husbands in Canada and the U.S. But the law is next-to-useless and hasn't been upheld. That's why there are still Mormon fundamentalists in B.C., Arizona, Texas and elsewhere who have multiple wives and get away with it. That's why the few Muslim immigrants to Canada who might practise polygamy aren't fretting too much about getting caught.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, April 9

Earlier: Stories about the polygamous cult at Bountiful

Continue article >>

Stories about Islam and the West:

Canada named in plot
Terrorists plotted to blow up Canada-bound passenger planes over the mid-Atlantic in 2006, according to allegations that surfaced in a British courtroom yesterday at the start of what police are calling the world's biggest terrorism trial. Two Air Canada flights -- one bound for Montreal and the other destined for Toronto -- were allegedly among the targets of the Britain-based cell, whose members said in recorded videos they were angry about the "war against Muslims" in Afghanistan and Iraq.
National Post, April 3

Court sees 'martyr videos'
In chilling videos shown to a jury today, men accused of plotting to bring down Canadian and U.S. jetliners over the Atlantic called for revenge for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and praised Osama bin Laden. Six of the eight defendants videotaped messages denouncing the West for what they said was its suppression of Muslims, prosecutor Peter Wright said as he outlined his case to jurors at a London court.
Associated Press, April 4

With Canada's help, UN workers do 'holy job' of clearing mines in Afghanistan
A de-miner for nearly 15 years, Baryali - like so many of the people on his 10-person team and other teams like it across the country - believes the work he is doing makes him a good Muslim. "It is holy work, and if it was not holy, I would not do it. There is no doubt it is a holy job."
Canadian Press, April 6

Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West

Other stories from the past week:

Artistic controversy reaches tipping point
Vancouver's parks commissioners vote to send a sculpture of an upside-down chapel into artistic purgatory
Globe and Mail, April 3
Earlier: Device to root out all evil?

Tories delay healing as wait drags on for native truth-telling panel: critics
Critics say the federal Conservatives are taking too long to officially apologize and launch a truth-and-reconciliation commission on native residential schools. A chairperson and two commissioners for the $60-million, five-year panel were to be named early this year to lead hearings across Canada. Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl now says the much anticipated healing effort will begin sometime "later this spring."
Canadian Press, April 3
Earlier: Stories about Native issues and the Easter protest

Dr. King's forgotten legacy
The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. died 40 years ago tomorrow, and even though I was born after he was assassinated, he had a great influence on my thinking about the relation of the civil law to truth, the limits on state power, and the role of religious faith in politics. I was introduced to his speeches when in junior high school, and my first major high school presentation was on his life and thought. So when Anansi Press brought out The Lost Massey Lectures recently, I was keen to read King's 1967 lectures, delivered just months before he died. My disappointment then was acute when I discovered that the King of 1967 was significantly different from the King of 1963 -- the year of the March on Washington and the sublime Letter from a Birmingham City Jail.
Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, April 3

Metal made into music
Church members are taking a leap of faith that garbage can be made into music.
Langley Advance, April 4

Canada Revenue lifts synagogue's status
A small Montreal synagogue is feeling the wrath of federal tax officials for offering congregants a steep discount on the price of a burial plot in the synagogue's graveyard. The Canada Revenue Agency has suspended the charitable status of the Adath Israel Poale Zedek Anshei Ozeroff congregation for one year. It has also slapped the synagogue with a $500,000 penalty, alleging the plot discount program was "not conducive with the concept of a gift" for tax purposes.
Globe and Mail, April 4

Jews can't use chalets as synagogue, school
The Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of a Laurentian town that wants to stop a Hasidic Jewish community from using two chalets as a synagogue and school. But the Congregation of the Followers of the Rabbis of Belz to Strengthen Torah says it is not giving up and will apply to have the case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Montreal Gazette, April 5

Thinking about fundamentalism
A relatively young movement, fundamentalism has already raced through three eras. It began as a grubby tent-show sect, kept alive by part-time preachers scratching out a living. The 1950s version of it became popular and affluent when Billy Graham, its grandest human embodiment, appeared on magazine covers and led prayer breakfasts for presidents. But his success was dwarfed by the third period, when American preachers grew rich soliciting money on TV while making deals with Republican politicians.
Robert Fulford, National Post, April 5

Nightmarish history feels all too real
Josef Stalin banished millions of Mennonite Christians and other "anti-Soviet elements" to Siberia during his long reign of state terror. His victims lived and died in the Gulag, an acronym for bleak labour camps and prisons, but some managed to smuggle letters to relatives and friends out of the country. A house in Saskatchewan was the destination for 463 of them.
Glenn Bohn, Vancouver Sun, April 5

William F. Buckley Jr. -- a splendid soul
We came first to pray for William F. Buckley, Jr., and then to praise him. He would have wanted it that way, for he was first a Christian disciple, and only secondarily, very much secondarily, well, everything else -- journalist, novelist, belletrist, harpsichordist, sailor, skier, and, above all, godfather to the American conservative movement.
Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, April 5

Catholic school quiz sparks controversy
Toronto's Catholic board will be testing the faith of its Grade 4 students -- or at least their knowledge of it -- in a controversial new religious exam. The unique "religious knowledge test" was piloted in five schools last year and was to be rolled out in all Grade 4 classrooms this May, although half of the board's 12 trustees have already opted out. The test asks students to fill in the missing words to the Lord's Prayer or explain why "Jesus is the light of the world," among other things.
Toronto Star, April 7

Chaplain next door reached out to man in home where three B.C. children slain
The day before his neighbour's three children were found slain in their home, Clint Heigh chatted over the fence with a man who had recently joined the family. Heigh, a prison chaplain in Merritt, B.C., said the woman and her three children had lived alone in the mobile home for the four or five months since they'd arrived.
Canadian Press, April 7

Heston was onscreen 'Voice Of God'
Charlton Heston was square of jaw, square of politics and square of acting style: a bold and heroic performer from the old school of epic movie stars. He played characters ranging from Moses to Michelangelo with a muscular bravado that led to his lasting reputation as Hollywood's voice of God, a role he actually played in The Ten Commandments.
CanWest News Service, April 7
Earlier: Charlton Heston has a way with Bible stories

Church knew about abuse: victims
The Roman Catholic Church was aware of the sexual abuse of young boys by Monsignor Bernard Prince, pictured, more than three decades ago, but allowed it to continue, according to lawsuits filed by nearly a dozen victims of the pedophile priest.
CanWest News Service, April 8

Rabbi, wanted in child abuses, hiding in Canada
Israel to seek extradition for radical, so-called spiritual mentor of a group involved in systematic torture of children
Globe and Mail, April 8

Israel seeks extradition from Canada of rabbi in connection with child abuse
Israeli authorities have started extradition proceedings against an Israeli rabbi who went to Canada after being suspected in a case involving harsh abuse of the children of one of his followers, a police spokesman said Monday.
Associated Press, April 8

Immigration bill will not bar people because of race, religion, nationality
Federal government officials say new immigration reforms could prevent some otherwise eligible immigrants from coming to Canada - but not because of discrimination based on race, religion or nationality. After weeks of controversy over the Conservatives' immigration reforms, senior officials from Citizenship and Immigration held a briefing Tuesday to explain them.
Canadian Press, April 8

Hug the Earth, kill the humans
Yesterday, Post readers were moved by the image of our Prime Minister, in Poland on April 5, kneeling at the Death Wall of Auschwitz, the worst of the Holocaust extermination camps. In the museum guest book he wrote, "Lord, bless the souls of those who suffered and perished here, and deliver us from evil." Stephen Harper's prayerful posture and traditional words of commemoration for the lost souls of a barbaric era reveal a sensibility noticeably out of sync with the religion of environmentalism that presently dominates our culture.
Barbara Kay, National Post, April 8

Jewish group reports fourfold rise in anti-Semitic incidents since 1998
A major Jewish group says anti-Semitic incidents in Canada have increased more than fourfold since 1998. In its annual audit, the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada says there were 1,042 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2007, 11.4 per cent more than in 2006.
Canadian Press, April 9

Conduct unbecoming a free society
I mention these anecdotes, because some people are convinced that I am "homophobic." They believe this because I publicly express opinions consistent with socially conservative views of sexual behaviour. I have been suspended, without pay, twice from my job as a school teacher -- once for one month, and once for three months. It was hard on my family. Yet I maintain that people can hold, and express such views but still treat those who practise different values with decency. I do, and so does my son.
Chris Kempling, National Post, April 9
Earlier: Free speech and mirror images

There but for the meanness of God go I
As part of our celebration of the seven deadlies, Heather O'Neill, the winner of CBC's Canada Reads 2007 for her novel Lullabies for Little Criminals, is examining a sin each Wednesday. Today, envy.
Heather O'Neill, National Post, April 9

April 10/2008

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