Author Archives: David

Bishops distressed by Bill 62

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When I applied for a visa to visit China, before my photograph was taken I had to remove my glasses because they are photosensitive and were darkened from being in bright light. My wife had to make sure her ears were not obscured by her hair: the Chinese don’t want unidentified ears entering their country.

When we arrived in China, bleary-eyed and crotchety, we were photographed again by Chinese immigration. None of this was particularly distressing, although, admittedly, wearing glasses is more of a practical consideration than a religious observance.

Quebec’s Bill 62 requires people to uncover their faces while giving and receiving state services. Clearly, this affects niqab wearing Muslim women – or men, I suppose since gender is now fluid – more than anyone else. Showing one’s face to identify oneself before receiving a state service doesn’t seem to me to be a particularly unreasonable requirement. But it has distressed some Anglican bishops whose priority, having largely abandoned Christianity, is now one of defending Islam; when not marrying people of the same sex to each other, that is.

Here is the wail of distress by our Anglislamic bishops:

As leaders of minority faith communities in Quebec we feel compelled to express our deep distress at the manner in which the religious neutrality law passed by the National Assembly implicitly targets another minority religious group in this province.

Although veiled as a question of identification and security , Bill 62’s provisions regarding face coverings will most directly impact a small minority of Muslim women in Quebec, whose freedom to express their religious beliefs is enshrined in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For Christians, these human rights are grounded in the dignity accorded each human being by virtue of having been made in the image and likeness of their Creator.

The January 29 shooting massacre at Quebec City’s Grand Mosque — and other acts of violence before and since — demonstrate that our Muslim neighbours live in a climate of suspicion and fear that threatens their safety. Bill 62 helps foster that climate at a time when we are turning to our governments and public institutions to protect vulnerable minorities in our midst.

We recognize and support the desire for Quebec to be a secular society. However, to be secular means to be pluralistic, allowing freedom of belief both in one’s private and public life. The provisions of Bill 62, however they are applied, unnecessarily put that fundamental freedom —  and potentially people’s security — at risk.

We invite our elected leaders, and all Quebecers, to join us in trying to foster a safe and welcoming environment for all who make Quebec their home, whatever their culture or religion.

The Rt. Rev. Mary Irwin-Gibson, Bishop of Montreal, Anglican Church of Canada

The Rt. Rev. Bruce Myers, Bishop of Quebec, Anglican Church of Canada

The Rev. Michael Pryse, Bishop of the Eastern Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Diocese of Huron Bishop and clergy protest anti-Islam rally

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From the Huron Church News:

Clergy and laity from the Diocese of Huron, led by Bishop Linda Nicholls, joined 500 counter-protes­tors in London, Ontario, August 26, in response to an anti-Islamic rally led by the Patriots of Canada Against the Islamization of the West (Pegida), a group that says it opposes “the Islamization of the West.” The collective Anglican re­sponse was organized within a day’s notice as word spread of the counter-demonstra­tion. Nicholls led the group of 40 Anglicans from the parking lot at Huron Church House, where they prayed, to London’s City Hall. Pegida members, who numbered about 20, arrived at City Hall at noon, and were met by the counter-demonstrators. Those involved in the counter-rally carried signs, listened to speeches, and sang 1960s protest songs. The counter-protest ended with a march, led by drum­mers, around nearby Victoria Park.

I’m sure the bishop and her clergy rarely feel more at home than when singing 1960’s protest songs. I used to sing them too in the 60’s; then I grew up.

The gentle, mellifluous tones of We Will Overcome were not the only sounds to waft over the anti-protest protest: as you can see in the video below, there was a lot of screaming, some violence and a few arrests. Mostly from those holding signs proclaiming love and tolerance for all.

I don’t see the bishop thumping anyone with pious punches but the cameraman can’t be expected to catch everything.

One of the attendees filming the event described the fracas this way:

I was there filming. Most of the counter protesters were elderly hippies and lqbtq people.

China thoughts

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I’ve just spent a couple of weeks in China, mostly exploring sanitized tourist locations, although there were occasional glimpses of raw police state reality peeking through for those willing to see it.

First, of course, there was the delight of experiencing the wonderful history of such things as the Great Wall and Terracotta warriors, sights not to be missed if you do travel to mainland China.

Then there was the smog, the slums, the all-pervasive superstition, the grinding poverty, made all the more poignant by an accompanying avarice, the lashings of conspicuous state-sponsored irony with no outlet for mockery – mass murderer Mao’s grinning visage decorating the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Tiananmen square, for example.

All of what follows is anecdotal and my personal experience so, although I think it accurately represents what is going on, others may differ.

When we arrived, I was surprised by the fact that the motorcycles and scooters were all electric: there were no gasoline powered motorbikes. The reason, I was told, is that the government is eliminating pollution by banning gas powered motorbikes. The batteries in these green machines are charged with electricity produced from smog spewing coal-fired generating stations. And the roads are clogged with cars – gasoline powered cars – if you can see them through the smog, that is.

The good news is Chinese citizens are now allowed to purchase their very own condominiums, costing, in the city, around $50,000 per square metre. The only problem is the land the condominium sits on is leased from the government and, in 70 years, will be reclaimed, along with the condominium, by the government. The ultimate inheritance tax.

I saw  some of the grinding poverty I mentioned above, but not, I suspect, the worst of it. The Chinese middle class (and you thought communism was classless – remember, some animals are more equal than others) live in what we would regard as slums. Multiple families crammed into a unit, communal toilets, minimal privacy, dirt, the pervasive smell of urine, noisy, damp and cold – but each entitled to a green electric scooter.

One person I talked to mentioned that he was shocked that Europeans and North Americans take delight in ridiculing their governments; “we trust our government”, he declared proudly. I assume this was for the benefit of a hidden microphone. Another person – a mother – told a story of a school class where the children were expected to take school trips, something for which the teachers were paid extra. A mother whose children took frequent trips because she was a travel agent declined the offer and was told by the teacher – whose income would be reduced by the absence of the child – that the child would “be treated meanly” if she did not come on the trip.

The omnipresent superstition was both irritating and oppressive. Although Christianity is growing in strength, Buddhism is the still prevailing religion. I visited a number of Buddhist temples and was greeted with the sight of people bowing down before idols. I had a cursory acquaintance with Buddhist beliefs before I arrived in China but, after being accosted by the image of literal idol worship, I decided to look into it a little further. One of the convincing things about Christianity is that once you accept a few basic tenets, the whole edifice hangs together logically. Not so for Buddhism: it is utterly incoherent The goal is to divest oneself of desire thereby removing suffering, reach nirvana, cancelling the cycle of rebirth – Buddhists believe in reincarnation (since the population is increasing, where do all the  new  people come from?) – and enter a state of non self-awareness: become nothing. No transcendent God, no transcendence at all, no Creator, no gift of salvation, no explanation of why the universe exists or why we are here, no hope really, just ancestor worship, a desire for obliteration and – Karma. Karma plays a large role in everyday life: what you do comes back to haunt you and that determines your luck. Much store is placed in the concept of luck, particularly financial luck. Rub a Buddha statue’s belly, to bring good luck and prosperity; a dragon statue typically has an open mouth to attract money, so place it in your window to become wealthy. This is a place where fortune cookies are taken seriously. Were I not a Christian, I would have come away with the impression that Buddhism makes a compelling case for atheism.

China has embraced capitalism. Or, more accurately, I think, it has adopted all the worst aspects of capitalism and purged any of its roots or benefits. I am tempted to call it  capitalism lite but it is actually capitalism dark.

This photo of an advertisement in a shopping mall sums up the prevailing attitude in China, another failed utopia, whose unfortunate inhabitants pine for this for their children:

An Anglican Season of Intentional Drollery

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A number of years ago, the Anglican Church of Canada launched something called “The Decade of Evangelism”. I remember it well. Unfortunately.

After ten years of groping for the real meaning of “evangelism”, we came to the conclusion that – lacking access to even the most basic dictionaries in Canada –  we had no idea what it means but we were absolutely certain it did not mean that Christianity is objectively true and we should tell people that it is.

Here we go again. This time it is the Season of Intentional Discipleship – SID, more appositely known as Sudden Infant Death syndrome – another ten years of pretending we are functionally illiterate. This time we are doing it Intentionally, through.

It would be hilarious if those who should know better were not such willing participants in the chicanery.

From Fed Hiltz’s myopic version of the alarums and excursions from the recent Primates’ Meeting,  here:

Accordingly we welcomed a conversation about evangelism.  We were glad to hear of the call for a Season of Intentional Discipleship across the Communion (2016-2025)

Crucify him!

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Australia is voting on whether to permit same-sex marriage.

As a result, some of those among us who self-identify as tolerant, inclusive, caring and loving have decorated a few churches with the epithet, “crucify No voters”, a salutary reminder that, in 2000 years nothing much has changed or, as Ecclesiastes puts it: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

From here:

At least two churches in Australia have been spray-painted over the weekend with graffiti that says “crucify No voters,” referring to those who vote against gay marriage in the country’s postal vote survey.

Anglican bishops and human rights

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Bishop John Chapman is campaigning to reduce poverty because not being poor is, apparently, a “right”.

The sad thing about this, it seems to me, is that “human rights” are a man-made construct devised to fill the vacuum left when a civilisation ceases to believe in God and his requirements for right living as laid out in the ten commandments and Gospels. We have no inherent “rights”, rather we have commandments, standards to aim for set by a holy God. To insist on our “rights” is entirely alien to a Christian view of the world. Unless you are an Anglican bishop.

From here:

An Anglican bishop, along with a coalition of leading anti-poverty and housing advocates, has urged the federal government to adopt a “rights-based” approach in its upcoming National Housing Strategy and poverty reduction strategies.

“We come together today to send a clear and consistent message to the federal government regarding the need for a rights-based approach to addressing housing, food and justice for all, particularly among the First Peoples of this great nation,” said Bishop John Chapman, who took part in a press conference on Parliament Hill October 16, the eve of the United Nations’ International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

“This is not just the work of charity,” said Chapman. “We are discussing human dignity, the beauty and wonder of every human being, the unique gift a person brings to our civil society.”

A human rights approach is the most effective framework if Canada expects to address the socio-economic disadvantage suffered by millions who are homeless, inadequately housed and living in poverty, said Leilani Farha, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing and the executive director of Canada Without Poverty, who was also present at the press conference. “It would also ensure people could exercise their rights through new accountability mechanisms for all levels of government—a feature missing from current policies on poverty and housing.”

Xi’an – Terracotta Warriors

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These statues are around 2,200 years old and were supposed to protect the dead Emperor Qin Shi Huang in his tomb.


And, after searching high and low, I found, to my great excitement, a copy of Mao’s Little Red Book for sale. I bought several copies to distribute to my Canadian friends.

Diocese of Calgary votes to bless same-sex couples

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It wasn’t that long ago that the Diocese of Niagara was spluttering unconvincingly about how their intention to bless same-sex couples had nothing whatsoever to do with marrying same-sex couples. Now they are doing just that.

It goes to show that there really is a wedge with a thin end and the Diocese of Calgary has just reached it.

From the Anglican Communion Alliance:

Synod has passed the following Motion in the Diocese of Calgary: “This synod requests the Bishop to grant permission to any Clergy who may wish to bless the unions of faithful, committed, Christian same sex couples. In requesting such permission clergy and lay people of the Diocese of Calgary shall be entrusted to follow their consciences.” With regard to what he might be willing to give permission for, in a pastoral letter earlier this week, Abp. Greg Kerr-Wilson said it is possible that “some intercessory prayers” could possibly be devised “for use in the context of a Eucharistic celebration.”