lent

[progress of human rights in canada]

It's easy to see the shortcomings of others, and to ignore one's own failings.

This is noticeable, for example, in the American focus on commemorating the Nazi holocaust while ignoring its own holocaust.

This is noticeable in my life as I thought that Canada - my country - has been doing okay while our neighbour to the south has been pretty messed up. And then on the weekend, I came across the Canadian Human Rights Commission website and read through our own history.... which is pretty horrible.

For a sobering starting point, read this summary of what things were like in Canada in the early 1900's.

While the CHRC site also covers the negative aspects in our history, the highlights which I summarize here show how many of the human rights we take for granted in Canada have become a reality only semi-recently.

1918: Women received the right to voted federally (Caucasian women only)
1922: Married Women's Property Act (married women are allowed to own property)
1929: Women are legally considered persons.

giving up chocolate for lent

Giving up chocolate for Lent is hard if you are a chocolate lover. Other people choose to give up eating meat, or Facebook, or an activity of some sort or other. The idea is to remove something which distracts us from God and from preparing for Easter.

What about the deeper things which are often so much a part of us that we hardly are conscious of their existence? Or those things we are aware of and should give up, yet have no idea how?


Check out the top 100 things people are giving up for Lent.

new "welcome" statues to reflect canada's history

Canada opens its arms wide
Gov't Sees New Role for Our Country as Asylum for the Oppressed

The Canadian government announced today that it will be actively opening its doors to those in other countries who are experiencing discrimination, and expediting their entry into Canada. Officials at Immigration Canada say that the plans had been discussed for some time, and were finalized earlier this week.

"It's time that Canada, a pioneer in human rights, sets an example for the world by embracing those who are unwelcome in their countries of origin, and who are in many cases oppressed. We are not just talking about those seeking political asylum, but also and specifically about men and women from sexual minorities whose lives are in danger," said Prime Minister Harper. He emphasized that rather than just talk, this initiative provides real support and help to individuals and families.

Along with getting the word out worldwide about our welcome and the new immigration procedures, the government plans to erect large statues at key points along each of our borders. The statues will face towards the border, with their arms open to the world, and will feature key Canadians.

Welcome Statues

As Canada is already a diverse country, the proposed welcome statues will be the most visible part of this new initiative for most Canadians.

According to sources, the concept is to show the diversity of Canada while also connecting to real Canadians and to key points in our history. Final decisions have not been made, but some of the people said to be on the shortlist include Viola Desmond, Lily Shinde, Louis Riel and k.d. lang.

Viola Desmond, a black Canadian living in Halifax, was arrested in November of 1946 for sitting in the whites-only section of a theatre. She was subsequently charged and convicted of tax evasion (as the whites-only section cost more, she had not paid the additional sales tax!) This took place nine years before the more well-known bus incident with Rosa Parks in the U.S.. Ms. Desmond was posthumously pardoned in 2010.

arizona

As anti-discrimination  legislation is slowing making its way across the U.S., the backlash often takes the form of claiming that such things infringe on one's religious freedom.

Several cases have gotten into the news: a wedding photographer who was sued after refusing to take photos at a same-sex wedding, a Christian baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, and Christian bed and breakfast owners who did not want a gay couple staying at their B&B and ended up in court.

So there are demands for exceptions to the non-discrimination laws, so that a person of faith is not obliged to do things against their conscience and faith.

I get this, sort of.

jesus vermin

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did to me.’

 (Matt 25:40 NIV/robg)

---

Background, from Reuters:

Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh on Tuesday (Feb. 18, 2014) called homosexuals "vermin" and said his government would tackle them in the same way it fights malaria-causing mosquitoes.

The latest comments from Jammeh, who last year branded gays a threat to humanity, coincide with a renewed crackdown on same-sex relationships in Africa, where homosexuality is taboo and illegal in 37 countries.

In recent months, Nigeria has outlawed same-sex relationships and Uganda has voted for life imprisonment for some homosexual acts.

"We will fight these vermins called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes, if not more aggressively," Jammeh said in a speech on state television to mark the 49th anniversary of Gambia's independence from Britain.

....

Can you imagine Jesus saying such things? Or treating another person like that?

I can't. Not for one moment.

f bomb

As our priest said in the sermon this past Sunday, quoting C.S. Lewis:

Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.

but for the grace...

 

"There but for the grace of God go I...." How often have you heard someone say this, when seeing or hearing of someone less fortunate, someone in trouble, someone who's messed up their life?

What does it mean? It means that I could easily be there where they are, except for God's grace which has kept me out of that situation.

And what follows from this, is the unspoken conclusion: God's grace hasn't been there to keep them out of the situation.

Does this mean that His grace is selective -- it chooses some and not others? He gives grace to some and leaves others in the dirt? That He might be everywhere, but doesn't always take a supply of grace along? Spelled out like that, what do you think? Is this what you believe?

How about this idea instead:

[hold on to the center]

Miroslav Volf, speaking about I Peter, says it sums up "the New Testament teaching about how a marginalized group of Christians ought to be situated in the world"

Here's an excerpt from the part where he talks about the sectarian character of the church:

Often people think in terms of sect, or church, of someone who's really close to the power or to the margins of the power.

...

What I found interesting in 1 Peter is how it cuts across -- how it completely muddles these distinctions. I think it muddles these around the central commitment to Jesus Christ.

And so it's not that I orient myself over and against the social groups by drawing boundaries, but rather, I am oriented around the center and boundaries fall as they might, as they will.
And the difference ends up being much softer then, as I don't have to shore up the boundaries to be distinct; I can hold on to the center and it guarantees sufficiently my distinctness.

Wouldn't that make a big difference? Wouldn't that help us move away from the dominant view of the church and Christians as being against rather than being for something?

View the entire 8 minute video: Honor Everyone, which includes discussion of differences, being on the margins, honoring everyone, and clashes between religions and between the sacreds, etc.

See also Adam Ericksen's article about being secure in oneself rather than one's identity being found in hostility toward the other.

[a more personal look at prisoners]

Two interesting projects which help us to see prisoners as real people, and which present them with dignity and respect.

REFLECT: Convicts' Letters to Their Younger Selves

Boston-based photographer Trent Bell, whose work is well-known in the architectural and interior design realms, got involved in a more personal project after a childhood friend -- a man with a family and a successful career -- was convicted of a crime and sentenced to 36 years in jail.

The project involves large-scale portraits of prisoners with the words of letters they would write to "their younger selves" superimposed on the portrait.

To read the words, click on the photo for a larger version.
Read an article with four of the twelve portraits.

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Parting Words: The Visual Story Of Death Row Prisoners' Last Words

California-based photographer Amy Elkins' project came out of corresponding with prisoners on death row. When one of these men was executed, she did more research online and came across extensive information about executions in Texas (which carries out over 1/3 of the executions in the U.S.) and about the prisoners who were executed.

Her project involves taking the mug shot and portions of their last words, and incorporating them into unique photographs.

To read the words, click on the photo at the right for a larger version.
View more photographs online.
Read more about this project and about the conditions of prisoners.
Read the Huffington Post article about her project.

close to my heart

dots and stars

We spend much of our time giving gold stars to people of whom we approve, who are doing the right thing and wearing the right clothes and believing the right beliefs. And we give grey dots to people who don't fit in, who are different, who make mistakes, who aren't as talented as everyone else.

God, on the other hand, is occupied with better things:

For a cool story book related to this, check out Max Lucado's book You are Special. (pics and summary).

[global morality gap]

A global morality gap.

I'd never heard of the term until I read a recent article in the Spectator. It suggests that there is a significant gap in morality between two parts of our world, and that this distinction may be as or more important than other distinctions (such as First World / Third World, developed / developing, etc.) that are more commonly talked about.

This gap is between the part of the world that has been enlightened, that believes in human rights and all that we can be, and the part that maintains strict moral codes, where men are not equal to men and women are definitely less, where might is right and non-heterosexual is wrong. The part of the world where police are not your friends, where citizens are ten to one hundred times more likely to be murdered than citizens of Europe, and other nightmares are commonplace.

The author suggests that the gap is only going to get wider. Whether that is true, I don't know. On one hand, many countries in Africa are currently enacting extreme laws especially in regard to gay people. On the other hand, Nigerian author Binyavanga Wainaina, who came out recently, is hopeful that though there will be a difficult time ahead, lgbt rights "have traction". And while the western world is very keen on human rights, there are extreme elements within it which would be happy to see many of those rights removed and a more fundamentalist control re-established.

Read the whole article and give it some thought.

Update: In late January 2014, thousands of French citizens marched in the streets of Paris yelling, "Jews get out of France" while giving Nazi salutes. (source). Around the same time, there were also extensive anti-gay protests related to the government legalizing same-sex marriage. Perhaps the gap is not as clear-cut as some think...

western decadence

Of course, it's not that simple, is it. The context of the cartoon, if you are not familiar with it, is the objection to "western decadence" that the Russian government has and which it is reacting against with its anti-gay laws.

While we might think of decadence as rich desserts or luxury handbags, Google defines decadence as "moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury." Moral decline is the operative part of this definition, and that is what is being objected to.

(The other context, for those who don't live in Canada or near shops selling President's Choice products, is that the President's Choice brand has an entire line of "Decadent" products, such as the Decadent Chocolate Chip cookies Obama is eating above).

two for one deal

As the Olympics approach and the torch is being carried across the country on the way to Sochi, Vladimir Putin is getting desperate...