Author Archives: David

BLM

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Babies’ Lives Matter

Around 100,000 babies are murdered in the womb each year in Canada.

Since 1988, Canada has had no law protecting the unborn. None. That means a baby can be killed at any time from the moment of conception to the moment of birth.

To my knowledge, no bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada has voiced any objection to this.

Silence is complicity.

Anglican Church of Canada bishops, no matter how much hand-wringing you do over racism, you still have blood on your hands.

All of you:

Anne Germond,
Annie Ittoshat,
Barbara Andrews,
David Edwards,
David Irving,
David Parsons,
Donald Phillips,
Fraser Lawton,
Geoff Peddle,
Greg Kerr-Wilson,
Jane Alexander,
Jenny Andison,
John Chapman,
John Organ,
John Privett,
John Watton,
Joseph Royal,
Kevin Robertson,
Larry Robertson,
Linda Nicholls,
Logan McMenamie,
Lucy Netser,
Lydia Mamakwa,
Mary Irwin-Gibson,
Melissa Skelton,
Michael Hawkins,
Michael Oulton,
Nigel Shaw,
Riscylla Shaw,
Robert Hardwick,
Ron Cutler,
Susan Bell,
Todd Townshend,
Tom Corston,
William Cliff,

Meet the new racism: Environmental Racism

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If apologising on behalf of your ancestors for being slavers and racists, if self-flagellation over your inherited white-supremacist theft of Indigenous land, if the fear of being an unwitting participant in Systemic Racism hasn’t driven you into a nervous breakdown yet, never fear, this will aid you in your journey into gibbering incoherence.

You can now admit to being an Environmental Racist. Justin Welby has set a good example by doing so. Along with dozens of other lesser, if equally barmy, bishops.

Hurry! Before it’s too late! Don’t miss your chance to admit to Environmental Racism by signing this document today. Every signatory will receive a free plank with which to castigate himself. .

ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM – WHEN  #BLACKLIVES DON’T MATTER

(Dear Bishop , if you would like to sign please send your Name and Title to Canon Rachel Mash at rmash@mweb.co.za)

Black lives are disproportionately affected by police brutality; COVID-19 sweeps through crowded vulnerable communities unable to  socially distance; toxic dump sites are placed next to poor communities of Black people; indigenous people are forced off their land.

The world is slow to respond to climate change, hanging on to an increasingly precarious and unjust economic system. It is predominantly  Black lives that are being impacted by drought, flooding, storms and sea level rise. The delayed global response to climate injustice gives the impression that #blacklivesdontmatter. Without urgent action Black lives will continue to be the most impacted, being dispossessed from their lands and becoming climate refugees.

We stand at a Kairos moment – in order to fight environmental injustice , we must also fight racial injustice.

In the words of Archbishop Tutu  “If you are neutral in times of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

The Anglican Communion Environmental Network (ACEN)  calls attention to environmental racism. We issue this urgent statement today, June 19 2020, a day known as Juneteenth in the United States, marking and remembering the official end of slavery in that country in 1865.

Anglicans acquire a new faction: Black Anglicans of Canada

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There are so many lobby groups within the Anglican Church of Canada, it’s difficult to keep up. We have the Indigenous, LGBTs, Green Anglicans, Proud Anglicans, Conservatives (consisting of three people, assuming no one has died), Marxists (containing most of the rest) and now Black Anglicans of Canada. And they all seem to be in competition for attention. Black Anglicans of Canada, for example, is envious of the recognition of racism directed towards Indigenous people. Abject confessions of clerical racism are not inclusive enough:

I have observed and have been fascinated by the fact that when Canadians acknowledge racism at all, it is only to acknowledge the history of the dehumanization and destruction of Indigenous people. All other racialized groups are excluded from the narrative of racism in Canada. This narrative allows Canadians to ignore and dismiss the intricate web of racism that has systemically and institutionally shaped the development of the Canadian version of multiculturalism.

Canada, we are told, has a pernicious history of slavery of which it should be ashamed. So does just about any other civilization that has ever existed, including African blacks enslaving each other. But we mustn’t let facts intrude on our liturgy of self-flagellation. Besides, as Linda Nicholls has helpfully pointed out, if you are white, you are a racist no matter what you say, do, think or believe. You could spend the rest of your life comatose in a cave in the Himalayas and you’d still be a racist.

I’m pinkish-white so I’m not entitled to an opinion on this. I have one, nevertheless. The idea of racism, that one race is intrinsically inferior to another or deserving of contempt, is so discredited that it is believed by no one other than madmen or those so near the fringe of humanity they are the next best thing to madmen. Yet, somehow, we are all racists.

Our flawed, fallen human nature does nurse an instinctive suspicion or dislike of the other, though: protestants for Catholics; technicians for salesmen; the Welsh for the English; me for Anglican bishops. I have a Chinese friend who dislikes Chinese women drivers. Are any of these racist? By today’s standard of viewing everything through the lens of racism, all of them.

As far as I can see, Black Anglicans of Canada has only existed as an organisation since the beginning of June, 2020. Like so much of what is happening at the moment, it’s as if it spontaneously popped out of the Zeitgeist like a particle from a quantum vacuum.

As an aside, the photo at the top of this article (also in the Anglican Journal article) shows someone holding a sign demanding justice for George Floyd. We all like justice to be visited on others and the policeman who was instrumental in Floyd’s death will, no doubt, experience divine justice at some point. Human justice in North America, however, demands a number of things: a fair trial for the accused and a presumption of innocence. Has anyone anywhere in the media mentioned presumption of innocence – if so, I have not seen it? Do those holding up signs really want the justice our legal system provides? I doubt it.

Ontario Anglican churches will reopen in stages

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The Anglican Church of Canada’s Ontario parishes will be reopening in colour coded phases.

Red: Buildings shut for congregational worship. This will be the case until September.
Amber: Open with masks encouraged, no congregational singing, continued physical distancing, Communion with bread only.
Green: Back to normal – more or less.
Black: Parish closes due to lack of interest. OK, I admit I made that one up.

Read the whole thing here:

Toronto bishop laments the lack of Pride Parade

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Bishop Andrew Asbil has sent a Letter to the Diocese expressing his dismay at the absence of a Toronto Pride Parade this year. No bright costumes! No joyful music! No naked men without bright costumes! How will Anglicans cope with this severe deprivation?

Consolation can be found in the new Marriage Policy which promises to marry anyone to anyone no matter what your self-identified gender, choice of pronouns or chromosome arrangement.

From here:

Dear Friends in Christ,

At the beginning of each summer, millions of people gather on the streets of Toronto and other cities and towns across our great Diocese to celebrate Pride. With bright costumes, joyful music and lots of glitter, members of the LGBTQ2S+ community and their allies celebrate the beautiful diversity of God’s creation. For many years, Proud Anglicans have been an important part of this celebration.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the public Pride celebrations have been cancelled or moved online this year. This is a tremendous source of grief for members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, who look forward to being together for mutual support and solidarity. This year is particularly difficult for young people who are isolated at home and also in the closet. We must be vigilant in creating safe spaces for them wherever possible.

With the support of the College of Bishops, I have recently issued a new Marriage Policy for the Diocese of Toronto. In the life of our Church, we are now celebrating the marriage of two people, regardless of gender. In the same spirit of diversity, the College of Bishops wishes a very Happy Pride to all Anglicans across our Diocese who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, two-spirited, queer and questioning, and also to their families and allies. We stand with you.

Warlord of Chaz to be new Archbishop of Canterbury

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After a great deal of soul searching, Justin Welby has decided that black lives matter so much that a pasty white-supremacist ex oil executive should not be the first among equals in the Anglican Communion.

He is resigning.

Raz Simone, rapper, self-appointed warlord of the independent nation of Chaz (in desperate need of vegan food, incidentally), is a natural for the job because Raz doesn’t care about white-supremacist equality tripe: he is first among equals because he has a large supply of every variety of automatic weapon at his disposal. That’s diversity, baby.

As Justin says:

“I come back to the fact that, in the New Testament, Jesus says be angry about injustice”

Raz is angry all the time. A true follower of Jesus.

Anyhow, you only have to do is look at these two photo-ops of Raz and Justin to see who is really in charge, cool and relevant.

Archbishop Raz:

Archbishop Justin:

Need I say more.

When questioned about the Church of England’s financial situation and the difficulty of collecting, diocesan assessments, Raz said, “No problem, man. Like, it’s the same as the stores in Free Chaz: they pay us and we don’t smash their windows. And you know, like, stained glass windows are so expensive.”

Good riddance Michael Coren

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Michael Coren is a newly minted priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. He is supporting the current fad of tearing down statues of people who did not live up to contemporary standards of what is acceptable or not acceptable. I’m not using “right” or “wrong” in case it triggers someone.

Naturally, this amounts to whether the person was a racist or a slave trader. Hence we have Coren’s article applauding the casting of Edward Colston’s effigy into the the sea. I confess, although I am indifferent as to whether Edward Colston spends quality time with the fishes, I am uneasy of the impulse to expunge the parts of history that don’t live up to the expectations of contemporary mores.

Still, back to the headline. The Anglican Church of Canada has admitted that it is riddled with systemic racism. Michal Coren has joined the ACoC. That means he is, at the very least, drawn to a racist organisation; he is simpatico with it – it’s no good, I can’t bring myself to call it a church.

And to think he might have joined ANiC. Good riddance Michael Coren

From here:

Good riddance Edward Colston

Bristol, Liverpool and London were the three main slave ports of Britain in the 18th and early 19th century. It was an inconceivably lucrative business, and financial failure was virtually impossible. Ships sailed off to Africa, loaded up on human cargo, exchanged men, women and children in the West Indies for sugar or in America for cash and goods, and then returned home to sell what they had. Countless people made fortunes, and if slaves died on the voyage—and many did—there were plenty more to steal. And rape, beat and torture.

One of those profiteers was Bristol’s Edward Colston, who in the late 1600s as a prominent member of the Royal African Company transported more than 80,000 people, making what today would be tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. He was also a moneylender. When he died in 1721 he left a substantial amount to local charities, perhaps out of a guilty conscience. There were oceans of blood on his hands.

It was the statue of this man that was torn down and thrown into the harbour last week in Bristol, and became a pulsating image throughout the world as those protesting against racial inequality had their long overdue say. Ten thousand people demonstrated in the western city of Bristol in a peaceful show of defiance, and when they disposed of the repugnant Colston the local police not only refused to intervene but also explained that they understood.

The Anglican Church of Canada confesses it is systemically racist

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The bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada want to make sure that we know they are “horrified by the public murder of George Floyd.” They’ve issued an Episcopal Statement to that effect. If they hadn’t, we might all have assumed they were pleased about it.

They are not horrified by the murder of David Dorn, though, a black, retired policeman, shot by Black Lives Matter rioters. We must assume the bishops’ horror is, if not entirely absent, at the very least somewhat muted because David Dorn doesn’t rate a mention in the Episcopal Statement.

The statement goes on to lament that “Systemic racism exists in every part of Canada” and in the church.

Merriam defines “systemic” in this context as something that is:

fundamental to a predominant social, economic, or political practice

In other words, the ACoC believes Canadian society, economy, and politics and, indeed the church itself, have racism built into them; it is fundamental to their existence. Much as, say, South Africa did during the years of apartheid. That must be why people of every race, creed, and complexion from all over the world are so eager to immigrate to Canada: it is a hotbed of racism.

What is to be done? The bishops have no idea: they are still looking for the racism on/off switch.

Most bishops in the Anglican Church of Canada have signed the Statement. Since they have only just noticed this rampant, long-standing racism and have admitted to being complicit in its thriving, the only honourable thing for them to do is resign en masse.

Read it all here:

The Anglican Church of Canada has committed itself to confronting racism in its own life and to acknowledging the place of racism and colonialism in our own nation. That commitment needs to be renewed daily.We have been horrified by the public murder of George Floyd. We are deeply distressed and profoundly disturbed by the images, rhetoric, violence, division, and chaos that has followed. We offer our prayerful support and solidarity with our sister church, the Episcopal Church, as it prays and guides its people while it simultaneously repents of, and protests the sin of racism. Our own house is not in order. Systemic racism exists in every part of Canada. The words of the Anglican Church of Canada’s 2004 Charter for Justice remind us:
“The assumption of racial difference and inequality was the basis of much of Canada’s social legislation. For example, as a result of the Indian Act, First Nations people were confined to their reserves and their lands, and made susceptible to exploitation and take over. Immigration policies restricted Black, Asian and Jewish immigrants. Canadians of Japanese and Ukrainian descent were rounded up and interned during World War Two. Labour legislation dictated who could and couldn’t work for whom, and who could do what kind of work.”
We repent of our complicity in the continuing structures of racism and oppression in our church and in our culture, for racism is not of Christ. It is sin.