"For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice...." - Psalm 11:7
Everybody treasures freedom and wants justice. But what standard should be used to define justice? What limits must be set on our freedoms? Increasingly our courts are trying to make decisions apart form morality - resulting in a society that is tolerant of all things except objective standards of right and wrong. True freedom does not come from ignoring the objective truths that God set, but in living in accordance with them.
Canadian and American media have been covering a confrontation in a Toronto street in which neighbours gathered together to get rid of a group of Christians who were preaching on their street. They claimed that they were standing in defence of a homosexual who lived there and who they claimed the Christians were targeting. In the days following this altercation, it became clear that the Christians were not targeting anyone in particular and even the homosexual resident spoke up in defense of the right of the Christians to be there.
But what is telling about this whole debacle is not the minor skirmish but the comments from the public in response.
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June 28, 2010, EFC Identifies Municipal Government Challenges Facing Faith Groups - OTTAWA –The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) has released a 20-page report entitled Zoned Out: Religious Freedom in the Municipality. It is an introductory guide that seeks to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the religious freedoms of faith groups and the process of engaging with local government when they encounter zoning challenges from municipal government.
ARPA Note: After reading the interview below, check out some of the resources from the Middle East Reformed Fellowship, an organization that is devoted to bringing Christ to the Middle East.
Maclean’s talks to writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali about living under a fatwa: (May 21 2010) - Born Muslim in Somalia, Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, fleeing to the Netherlands at the age of 22 to escape an arranged marriage. Ten years later, she was elected to the Dutch parliament. A prominent feminist and critic of Islam, she received numerous death threats when she renounced her faith following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. [Read the interview, including her thoughts on how Christians and "liberals" are responding to Islam in the West here.]
OTTAWA - In December 2009, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) appeared before the Superior Court of Ontario, Divisional Court, in the landmark religious freedom case, Heintz v. Christian Horizons. The court, which heard an appeal of the decision of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (OHRT), released its decision late Friday afternoon.
Christian Horizons, a faith-based ministry, employs over 2,500 people to provide housing, care and support to over 1,400 developmentally disabled individuals, and has done so for more than 40 years. This Christian ministry, which requires its employees to sign a Statement of Faith and a Lifestyle and Morality Policy, was the subject of a human rights complaint when a staff member resigned after she felt she could no longer live according to the commitment she made when she signed the policy.
Angela Hall, Canwest News Service Published: Friday, April 16, 2010: The Saskatchewan government may scrap its Human Rights Tribunal in favour of having rights cases heard by the courts, the province's justice minister said yesterday. Justice Minister Don Morgan said the province could dissolve the tribunal and turn its cases over to the Court of Queen's Bench -- something that has been suggested by David Arnot, chief commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. [Read the whole story here.]
Stephen Boissoin, the former pastor from Alberta who fought for 9 years against the charges from the Alberta Human Rights Commission, has just learned that his court victory over the commission is being appealed. Click here to read the context of Boissoin's case and why the December victory (in a real court) over the Alberta HRC ruling was so significant. The appeal means not only a challenge to this important court ruling, it also means a further strain on Boissoin and his family as the previous nine years of huge legal bills and stress have exacted a great toll. Stay tuned for developments.
Update: According to one source, our optimism over the closed CHRC offices is ill-founded. The Examiner notes that the human rights commission beurocracy is actually set to grow in the coming year: "While the union sees this as part of the Conservative government’s attempts to undermine human rights groups, documents filed with Parliament show the CHRC is set to grow, not shrink. Despite the looming office closures the CHRC’s budget is expected to grow from $21.5 million in the current fiscal year to just under $23 million in 2011-2012 fiscal year. The number of employees is set to rise as well from 197 full-time equivalencies to 203." Read this report here
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Nothing fosters hatred more than favoritism, real or perceived. If you have siblings, you’ve probably experienced some measure of this yourself during your childhood. On a larger scale, wars have often erupted over perceived unfair advantages of one identifiable group over another. The caste system in India, apartheid in South Africa, and the Muslim practice of jizya (a tax on unbelievers), are several modern examples of organized discrimination.
"For the LORD is righteous, 
June 28, 2010, EFC Identifies Municipal Government Challenges Facing Faith Groups - OTTAWA – The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) has released a 20-page report entitled Zoned Out: Religious Freedom in the Municipality. It is an introductory guide that seeks to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the religious freedoms of faith groups and the process of engaging with local government when they encounter zoning challenges from municipal government.
Maclean’s talks to writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali about living under a fatwa: (May 21 2010) - Born Muslim in Somalia, Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, fleeing to the Netherlands at the age of 22 to escape an arranged marriage. Ten years later, she was elected to the Dutch parliament. A prominent feminist and critic of Islam, she received numerous death threats when she renounced her faith following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. [Read the interview, including her thoughts on how Christians and "liberals" are responding to Islam in the West 
OTTAWA - In December 2009, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) appeared before the Superior Court of Ontario, Divisional Court, in the landmark religious freedom case, Heintz v. Christian Horizons. The court, which heard an appeal of the decision of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (OHRT), released its decision late Friday afternoon.
Stephen Boissoin, the former pastor from Alberta who fought for 9 years against the charges from the Alberta Human Rights Commission, has just learned that his court victory over the commission is being appealed. 
Nothing fosters hatred more than favoritism, real or perceived. If you have siblings, you’ve probably experienced some measure of this yourself during your childhood. On a larger scale, wars have often erupted over perceived unfair advantages of one identifiable group over another. The caste system in India, apartheid in South Africa, and the Muslim practice of jizya (a tax on unbelievers), are several modern examples of organized discrimination.