Dave
Gay Rights at the Border: New Directions Rebukes Exodus International
In a recent post, Benediction Blogs On explored two issues of great interest to this site: anti-gay religious groups, and cross-border connections with religious right groups in America. In February, a Canadian organization called New Directions decided to publicly separate itself from the Focus on the Family-linked U.S. anti-gay group, Exodus International. Exodus wasn’t happy [...]
The Anglican Right and the Cramner Foundation of Canada
Cross-posted at Terrible Depths. As someone who defected to the Anglican church from my Baptist roots a few years ago, I have watched with interest as the Canadian and American provinces of that church gradually tear themselves apart over gay marriage and the ordination of women. That process took a large step forward recently when [...]
Albertan “Parental Rights” on Sexuality, Religion, and Evolution
From Terrible Depths, used with permission: Religious Right Alert and Slap Upside the Head have in the past couple weeks been covering some surprisingly petty social conservative policies of Ed Stelmach’s government, like the official statement that the government is not going to recognize public-sector employees’ same-sex spouses as legally married because it believes gay [...]
Daily Roundup for April 30, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI has issued a statement of “sorrow” but not an apology, after meeting with First Nations leaders to discuss the residential school system. (h/t Dammit Janet!, Unrepentant Old Hippie) David MacDonald and 4 My Canada director Faytene Kryskow have presented a 18 222-signature petition to the Governor-General, demanding she revoke Henry Morgentaler’s Order [...]
The Development and Peace “Scandal”: The Catholic Church and Women’s Rights
In late March, several religious right organizations – including Priests for Life Canada, LifeSiteNews, and Social Conservatives United – broke the story that the official international aid agency of the Canadian Catholic church, Development and Peace, was funding NGOs in developing countries which were, among other things, pro-choice. The resulting outcry was enough that the [...]
New Horizons for Seniors Funds Chuck Strahl’s Church
I was a little bit disturbed when I made my daily patrol of the news sites and discovered Lloyd Mackey of CanadianChristianity.com suggesting that there was “a compassionate and entrepreneurial iceberg” of government funding (interesting metaphor) hidden behind a March 18 announcement by Conservative seniors minister Marjory LeBreton, and that the intentions behind these projects [...]
Daily Roundup April 24, 2009
Slap Upside the Head continues to cover the Albertan gay benefits policy. Premier Ed Stelmach has now defended his minister and Treasury Board president Lloyd Snelgrove, by declaring in Question Period that the government will continue its policy of recognizing same-sex spouses as “benefit partners” rather than as “spouses”: “the benefits are the same… and [...]
B’nai Brith and the Christian Right
Largely due to their disproportionate size, in our society, the Christian right tends to occupy a space seemingly synonymous with the “religious right” in general. This is not, however, necessarily accurate or fair. An article in last year’s summer edition of the Jewish progressive magazine Outlook, written by Concordia historian Stephen Scheinberg, explores the relationships [...]
Daily Roundup for April 23
There are signs that the religious right hopes to play a role in the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership competition. Frank Klees, Bene Diction wrote weeks ago, is connected to Charles McVety. Randy Hillier also has religious right connections. His campaign is run by Tristan Emmanuel (h/t Buckets at Bouquets of Gray), former director of Equipping [...]
Daily Roundup for April 22
The government of Alberta is refusing to permit employees to list their same-sex spouses as, well, spouses – they must be registered in the more limited category of “benefit partner.” Treasury Board president Lloyd Snelgrove says his government has “no intention of changing the definition of spouse to include people in same-sex marriages.” (h/t Slap [...]
