News round-up

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Stories about the Anglican schism:

Anglican clergy told to declare loyalties
In what could be the start of real schism in the Anglican Church, a Newfoundland bishop is demanding clergy come to the provincial capital to declare whether their loyalties lie with him or his predecessor, the leader of a breakaway conservative movement.
Toronto Star, January 10

Bishop to issue new licences to diocese clergy
An Anglican bishop will issue new licences to all the clergy in his diocese -- an "unprecedented" move that appears to be a pre-emptive attack on any priests who may be thinking of joining a breakaway faction that opposes same-sex blessings. Cyrus Pitman, the Bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, sent a letter on Dec. 18 to all clergy demanding they attend a service on Jan. 21 in which they would all have to renew their vows and also have their Church licences reissued. The situation is especially charged because Bishop Pitman's predecessor, Donald Harvey, who retired more than three years ago, formally left the Anglican Church of Canada in the fall to lead a new Canadian church that reports to a conservative bishop in South America. But Bishop Harvey said yesterday not a single Newfoundland priest has approached the new Church about defecting and Bishop Pitman is questioning the loyalty of those who have yet to show disloyalty.
National Post, January 11

Earlier: Stories about the Anglican schism

Stories about Islam and the West:

Muhammad's Tribe
Today's religious map of the Middle East traces to the unification of the Arabian tribes under the banner of Islam in the 7th century, and their subsequent conquest of much of the known world. Muhammad's genius was in finding a way to unite the myriad of fissiparous, feuding Bedouin tribes of northern Arabia into a cohesive polity. Just as he had provided a constitution of rules under which the people of Medina could live together, so he provided a constitution for all Arabs, but this one had the imprimatur not just of Muhammad, but of God. Submission -- Islam -- to God and His rules, spelled out in the Koran, bound Arabian tribesmen into the community of believers, the umma.
Philip Carl Salzman, National Post, January 10

'How to Behead' poem posted online draws fire
Two Canadian Jewish groups are inviting a Muslim counterpart to stand with them against a shocking poem featured on the website IslamOnline. The poem is called: "How to Behead." Graphically describing how to decapitate a captive, the verse is the work of Samina Malik, 23, the self-styled "lyrical terrorist" who two months ago became the first Muslim woman in Britain convicted on terrorism charges.
Toronto Star, January 11

Why Arabs suffer
What lies at the root of the Middle East's culture of violence? Philip Carl Salzman explains how Bedouin politics became embedded in modern Islamic sociology
Philip Carl Salzman, National Post, January 11

'Little Mosque' creator talks about racism
"As Muslims, we have a right to be racist and sexist," says Zarqa Nawaz, creator of the hit Canadian TV comedy, Little Mosque on the Prairie. The Muslim comedian was making a joke with serious intent in Vancouver Friday as she talked about the hypocritical reactions many in the West have to Muslims' misdeeds and foibles.
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, January 14

Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West

Stories about free speech versus human rights commissions:

The right not to be offended
Do you remember a cover story Maclean's ran on Oct. 23, 2006? No? Me neither, and I wrote it. Such is life in the weekly mag biz. But it was an excerpt on various geopolitical and demographic trends from my then brand new tome, America Alone: The End of the World as we Know It. I don't know whether my bestselling book is still available in Canadian bookstores, but it's coming soon to a Canadian "courtroom" near you! The Canadian Islamic Congress and a handful of Osgoode Hall law students have complained about the article in Maclean's to (at last count) three of Canada's many "human rights" commissions, two of which have agreed to hear the "case." It would be nice to report that the third sent the plaintiffs away with a flea in their ears saying that in a free society it's no business of the state to regulate the content of privately owned magazines. Alas, I gather it's only bureaucratic torpor that has temporarily delayed the province of Ontario's enthusiastic leap upon the bandwagon. These students are not cited in the offending article. Canadian Muslims are not the subject of the piece. Indeed, Canada is not mentioned at all, except en passant. Yet Canada's "human rights" commissions have accepted the premise of the Canadian Islamic Congress - that the article potentially breaches these students' "human rights."
Mark Steyn, Maclean's, January

Defiant Levant republishes cartoons
A controversial conservative commentator was unrepentant going into a Human Rights and Citizenship Commission hearing yesterday, using his Web site to republish the same cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that got him into trouble in the first place.
Keith Bonnell, Canwest News Service, January 12

An object lesson in free speech and democracy
I have long appreciated Balwant Singh Gill's honesty -- even though it's now landed him in trouble. As one of the most prominent "moderate" Sikh leaders in Canada, Gill has been interviewed by the mainstream media hundreds of times. He always bravely speaks his mind, even in the face of threats from "fundamentalist" Sikhs. In late November, I again appreciated Gill's forthrightness when he agreed to be interviewed for The Vancouver Sun's five-page package, "Canada's Changing Moral Landscape," based on an Angus Reid poll. Gill, who says he speaks for 39 Sikh temples, responded frankly when I asked him (and a variety of other Canadians) about hot-button moral issues -- including prostitution, abortion, sex outside marriage, illegal drug use, and, of course, homosexuality. . . . In a free country, we have to live with how some of the 40 per cent of Canadians who find homosexuality morally unacceptable might "hate homosexuality." We can't legislate what people feel. Canadians have the right to hold offensive views about minorities -- so long as they don't actively discriminate against them. Other Canadians, meanwhile, have the right to tell people with harsh beliefs exactly why they believe they're wrong. It's called democracy. I also reject the accusation from some minority-group activists that The Sun was being racist by highlighting Gill's remarks and citing data suggesting rapid immigration, particularly from Asia, might be causing British Columbians to lose their reputation as laid-back, freedom-loving liberals.
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, January 12

Alberta's gauntlet of bias
Ezra Levant is a courageous man. On Friday, he flipped the bird at the Alberta Human Rights Commission. The AHRC, and the rest of the country's human rights witch hunts, have long needed the bird flipped at them.
Lorne Gunter, National Post, January 14

Cartoons and Islam
A couple of conservative bloggers have said they want to know my opinion about Ezra Levant's efforts to defend those infamous anti-Islam cartoons. (I'm not interested in re-hashing Ezra's personal approach to limitations on the speech.) So here goes.
Warren Kinsella, Full Comment, National Post, January 14

'Human Rights' Vs. Magna Carta
What follows is excerpted from a transcript of remarks delivered by former Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant before the Alberta Human Rights Commission in Calgary on Jan. 11.
Ezra Levant, National Post, January 15

Kafka's Canada
At the moment, a number of "interesting" cases are coming before Canada's inaptly-named "human rights commissions." I have mentioned in this space before the case being brought against Maclean's magazine, for publishing an excerpt from a book by Mark Steyn, by the Canadian Islamic Congress. Ezra Levant has just gone on "trial" before an Alberta "human rights" tribunal, for what he had published in the (now defunct) Western Standard newsmagazine two years ago. He ran examples of the Danish cartoons on the Prophet Mohammed -- to show readers that the fuss over them was overblown. His right to publish is being contested.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, January 16

Too many rights make a wrong
It was one of those rare, particularly sunny days in Vancouver in September when, addressing an audience at the University of British Columbia, I suggested that multiculturalism and its partner in crime, moral relativism, were leading to the demise of Western values. "But you must understand," implored a well-intentioned woman in the audience, "multiculturalism is Canada's gift to the world." If Australia is set to follow Canada, then thanks, but no thanks. Call me ungrateful, but we should have returned the gift to Canada long ago. I say that as someone who has long adored Canada. Its politics may be as dripping wet as Vancouver, but the people are warm and funny, and there is something sweet about the US's insecure, slightly wimpy northern neighbour. Yet there comes a point when weakness morphs into a reckless death wish. That point is about now. I'm back in Canada and the distinct chill is not just in the air. Last Friday, conservative commentator Ezra Levant was hauled before Alberta's Human Rights and Citizenship Commission for publishing the infamous Danish Mohammed cartoons two years ago in the Western Standard.
Janet Albrechtsen, The Australian, January 16

Earlier: Bishop Henry calls for overhaul of human rights commissions

Stories about the Pope's cancelled speech:

Protests prompt Vatican to axe university speech
In the latest of a growing number of showdowns in Italy between church and state, academics and students prevent address by Pope
Globe and Mail, January 16

Continue article >>

Shunning a truth-seeker
It's a combustible combustion, the pope and the university. The serene priest-scholar provokes the most frenzied reactions. Today, Pope Benedict XVI was scheduled to give a magisterial address at Rome's most venerable university, La Sapienza. It promised to be one of the set-piece academic masterpieces for which Benedict is renowned. The Holy Father was to explore the relationship of faith and reason in the search for truth, the purpose for which universities exist. . . . Yet the papal visit brought an outbreak of ugliness. Sixty-seven science professors wrote to the university's rector, asking him to withdraw the invitation, as Benedict was a man "hostile to science." Some 100 leftist students occupied the rector's office earlier this week, demanding the same, and threatening disruptive protests when the Holy Father arrived. On Tuesday, the Vatican announced that Benedict would "postpone" his visit in light of the controversy.
Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, January 17

Stories about the Sikh sanctuary claimant:

Paralyzed refugee can travel, doctor says
Believes man who found sanctuary in Sikh temple needs better medical care than volunteers can provide
Globe and Mail, January 11

Sikh temple no sanctuary, minister says
Stockwell Day calls on Laibar Singh's supporters to end 'defiance of rule of law'
Vancouver Sun, January 12

Sanctuary immigrant backs disabled Sikh
Still joyous over his permanent acceptance in Canada, Iranian-born Amir Kazemian has proclaimed his support for a disabled Sikh desperate to stay in Canada. "I am supporting your case, because you deserve to stay in Canada and I pray for you to stay in Canada," Amir said on a bleak, rainy Monday morning after receiving his landed immigrant status in Canada. Kazemian, 42, said he hoped Laibar Singh, who has taken sanctuary in a Sikh temple, would be also accepted in Canada.
Vancouver Sun, January 15

Earlier: Stories about the Sikh sanctuary claimant

Other stories from the past week:

Human wreckage in the ring
Not all books should be read. Last fall, while two former prime ministers issued duelling memoirs, I picked up the memoir that beat them both on the bestseller lists, Bret Hart's Hitman:My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. At some 550+ pages, it is rather more than a typical sports book, telling an excruciatingly detailed tale of the pro wrestler's life and that of his famous family, the Harts of Calgary. It is a profoundly disillusioning book, even for those who have long since outgrown their boyhood illusions about wrestling.
Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, January 10

Pastor guilty of sexual assault
A pastor has been convicted of sexually assaulting a parishioner to whom he gave healing baths and naked rubdowns to rid her of evil spirits. At the same time, a jury of nine men and three women acquitted Rev. Frank Seeko Lawrence of separate counts of assaulting and threatening to kill the woman, now 29, by whom he fathered a child. They also found him not guilty of sexually assaulting a second woman, now 45, who also had his baby.
Toronto Star, January 11

'Don't make it painful,' passenger prays
As Air Canada flight 190 swayed, dipped, and plunged, passenger Jayne Harvey said her own personal prayer. "Make this fast. Don't make it painful and take good care of my family," the mother of three said to herself.
National Post, January 11

Lifetime of care earns highest honour
Nurse, former nun Margaret Vickers named to Order of Canada
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, January 11
Earlier: Sister receives Order of Canada

Doc delivers message of tolerance
As it starts an election year, the United States remains a deeply divided nation, still largely riven by religious differences, still a country where an atheistic Christopher Hitchens rides high on the bestseller list even as the evangelical Mike Huckabee moves to the front of the Republican leadership race. Daniel Karslake's debut documentary, For the Bible Tells Me So, is a film that seeks to bridge this gap by examining one very specific aspect of this ideological rupture: how devout Christian families deal with their children's homosexuality. It's a film as welcome for its moving message of tolerance as for its evocative and elegant design.
Jason McBride, Globe and Mail, January 11
Earlier: VIFF films explore cults, homosexuality and forgiveness

Keep the faith or pull the plug?
He's been called the diocesan hit man. As a joke, of course. Not a great joke. People with the skills of Simon Bell have become necessary in Canada's major Christian churches. He determines which congregations can survive, and why, and which ones have slid so far into the abyss of decline that they need to be put out of their misery. His title is congregational development consultant with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, the largest Anglican jurisdiction in Canada. Churches call him in when they realize they're in trouble. He acquired the hit-man sobriquet after his involvement in the protracted -- it's still going on -- and unpopular closing of one of Toronto's most historic and architecturally significant Anglican churches, St. Stephen-in-the-Field at College Street and Bellevue Avenue. This is what is going on as Canada completes its emergence from Christendom, the cultural hegemony of Christianity that had defined the country since the onset of European settlement.
Globe and Mail, January 12

Canadian artist's sexual statues enrage U.K. religious groups
Terrence Koh's aroused Jesus 'blasphemous'
CanWest News Service, January 12

Stuck on Hampstead Heath without a prayer - Oh my God!
What if the Greek gods lived among 21st-century mortals, sharing a dilapidated house in north London and exercising their age-old powers in an indifferent modern world? It's such a clever idea for a novel it's a wonder nobody thought of it before.
Rebecca Wigod, Vancouver Sun, January 12

'I did really well'
On Labour Day weekend of 1988, Vicki Mansell was an almost-six-yearold girl who stumbled out of a blackberry-tangled gully, scratched and smelling of gasoline, to tell two unsuspecting berry pickers: "My mommy poured gasoline on us, my brothers are on fire." . . . Why did Vicki's life work out? Her mother doesn't have a simple answer. "She wasn't treated any different [from the other children]" she says, and cites several reasons for the young woman's success: Vicki's personality, a strong Christian upbringing, a structured environment that included lots of activities and being accepted. Then, she adds finally: "Loving her. She knew she was wanted."
CanWest News Service, January 15

Survivor recalls van crash that killed 7 friends
A fellow student was praying, he said: 'I just called his name, reached over my hand and told him I loved him'
Globe and Mail, January 16

Pope won't attend Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebrations: archbishop
The Archdiocese of Quebec says Pope Benedict XVI will not attend celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. Marc Cardinal Ouellet said in a statement today the Pope would send a papal official to represent him at the 49th International Eucharistic Congress. The June 15-22 congress is expected to attract thousands of Roman Catholics.
Canadian Press, January 17

Bible teacher convicted of sexual assault
A former pastor who taught Bible classes at a private religious school in Mississauga has been convicted of sexual assaulting a 13-year-old female student. In convicting Paul Tuck, 45, yesterday, Justice James Blacklock said the Brampton man had "deluded" himself into thinking none of his actions, including sexually explicit online chats, were sexually motivated.
Toronto Star, January 17

Top court refuses to review extradition of convicted war criminal
A Vancouver man convicted for crimes committed at an Italian prison camp during the Second World War may have lost his last chance to stay in Canada on Thursday when the country's highest court refused to intervene in his case. Michael Seifert's lawyer conceded he is out of ideas to prevent his removal from Canada. "I'm thinking about what I can do," his lawyer, Doug Christie, said from Nanaimo, B.C. "I'm not sure what I can do."
Canadian Press, January 17
Earlier: Stories about Nazi war criminal Michael Seifert

Somehow, Tom Cruise managed to make Scientology even weirder
Cruise is the most prominent movie-star Scientologist (a new book by Andrew Morton claims he is the #2 in the organization's heirarchy). But there are dozens more like him. As early as the 1950s, LRH targeted celebrities whom he thought would spread his message to the rest of America. . . . In Cruise, though, I'm wondering whether the celebrity strategy hasn't backfired. . . . Scientology is still a going concern -- if not as a serious faith, then at least as a business model. And apparently, many of its adherents find it genuinely inspiring and life-changing. These include Cruise himself, who appeared this week in an internal Scientology video that someone leaked to Youtube. (It has since been taken down on the church's request. But Google around, and you should find it.) The video provides a fascinating insight into the mind of a true zealot. . . . These claims are so loony, they may help definitively sink Cruise's career: The next time I see him on the big screen, I doubt I'll be able to think about anything else than that disturbing cackle. This is Hubbard's plan in reverse: Rather than redeem Scientology according to LRH's blueprint, Cruise has merely drawn attention to the religion's weirdness -- and his besides. Jonathan Kay, National Post, January 17

Alfred North Whitehead goes to China
In a remarkable display of East meets West, the leaders of China's 1.4-billion population have discovered the Harvard philosopher-mathematician, Alfred North Whitehead.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, January 17

January 17/2008