Earlier this month two Coptic Egyptian boys — nine and ten years old — were arrested under anti-blasphemy laws for “insulting Islam.” They were accused of tearing up pages of the Qur’an, but in a public statement their father claims the children can’t read and were unaware of the papers’ significance. He says they found […]
Canadian government cancels part-time contracts of minority-faith prison chaplains
In a move that has drawn considerable anger from political and religious leaders across Canada, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews recently mandated the cancellation of all part-time prison chaplains who, incidentally, happen to make up the majority of non-Christian prison chaplains. The cancellations, which include a total of 49 part-time contracts made up of 18 […]
A Gentle Answer has cosmic implications
In this age of instant bestsellers, it is difficult to comprehend the historical and cosmic scope of this book project. It is the next stage in a discussion that is measured, not in months or years, but in centuries. And the issues involved are as far-reaching as they are timeless. That is the nature of […]
Muslim prayer time under fire at Toronto public school
By S.K. Lawrence Valley Park Middle School in Toronto has become the subject of an ongoing controversy because of the school’s accommodation of religion within their public institution. Reports have shown that 80-90 per cent of students attending Valley Middle Park are Muslim. That seems to be the justification for allowing a Muslim students to […]
Respect and love Muslims, and share the good news
Christians need to offer a “correct biblical response” to Muslims, said Randy Hoffmann. And that response is not to burn copies of the Koran as Florida pastor Terry Jones threatened to do. Jones’s militant attitude is “inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the spirit of Christian ministry”, said a September 10 statement by […]
Canada’s connection to 420 million
There was a Canadian in the mix, last week, as a string of Christian and political luminaries eventually persuaded Terry Jones, a Florida pastor, not to burn 200 copies of the Qur’an, on September 11. Geoff Tunnicliffe, the CEO and secretary-general of the 420 million strong World Evangelical Fellowship (WEA), talked to Jones by phone […]
Free speech and diversified mosquitos
Some discussion on a list serve of which I recently became a part has concerned freedom of speech and of the press. The focal point was a complaint which has been laid with several Canadian human rights commissions, against Maclean’s magazine, for a Mark Steyn excerpt they ran from his recent book, America Alone: The […]
Quebec struggles with accommodation of minorities
A widespread debate on the “reasonable accommodation” of minorities has convulsed Quebec society and could set precedents that impact all of Canada. Some observers have even suggested the debate could lead to “serious persecution of minorities,” particularly religious minorities. The debate began with a series of somewhat minor incidents over the past two years. A […]