Appeal filed in Grenville Christian College abuse case

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A class action suit against the Anglican school by alleged abuse victims was denied certification earlier this year; the judge declared that individual actions would be more productive.

The claim against the Diocese of Ontario was also dismissed. This is good news for the Diocese of Ontario, since even paying lawyers to defend against a class action suit would probably bankrupt it. The diocese could still be in trouble if individuals pursue litigation individually or the appeal is successful.

It doesn’t sound as if the abuse victims would be pacified by Truth and Reconciliation, the Anglican Church of Canada’s recipe for promoting “healing and reconciliation” – without it costing too much.

From here:

TORONTO — A group of former students of a Christian college in eastern Ontario claiming abuse do not have the emotional strength to pursue individual lawsuits, their lawyer is arguing.

A judge denied certification earlier this year for their proposed $200-million class-action lawsuit against Grenville Christian College and its two former headmasters and the Anglican Diocese of Ontario, saying it isn’t the preferable procedure.

But Loretta Merritt, one of the three lawyers for the plaintiffs, said that individuals would struggle to move forward with the case on their own and a class-action suit is the best way for them to be heard.

“If this decision were to stand then each individual survivor would have to come forward and say ‘I want to pursue an individual action,”‘ she said.

[…..]

The plaintiffs in the case are former students at the college, which operated both as a junior school and residential high school, and they alleged in the lawsuit that they were subjected to years of abuse.

The suit claimed the school was run as a mind-control cult that left the former students traumatized.

 

Reverend Bob Horrocks, Church of England vicar and part time nudist

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From here:

Mr Horrocks, from the Seven Saints Rectory in Farnworth, Bolton, is set to bare all for a TV documentary in a bid to change attitudes towards the naked human body.

The 55-year-old says the Bible celebrates nudity and the sexualisation of bodies is a modern phenomenon which has been manufactured by advertising.

[….]

“I went away and researched the Bible and I found there was a lot of positive stuff – there is nothing condemning simple nakedness. It was part of life at the time of Jesus. It’s something I would’ve loved to have discovered when I was a lot younger.’

At a time when it is tearing itself apart over same-sex marriage, homosexual clergy and women bishops, this is just what the Church of England needs to lend a little sober perspective to its travails: nude vicars.

There is some good news in all this: Rev, Horrocks, you don’t need to worry about anyone sexualising your body; really.

The Diocese of Niagara considers what to do with the three ANiC properties it acquired

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From here (page 1):

The future mission for all three parishes is being worked out.

A sign outside the Church of the Good Shepherd in St. Catherines states that “Transfiguration Anglican is coming soon.”

Bishop Michael Bird visited St. George’s Lowville on July 22, the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. He thanked the congregation for their faithfulness during the difficult time they experienced during the period of litigation with ANiC. He drew a parallel with St. Mary Magdalene, who was the faithful first witness to the resurrection, when the other disciples had not yet come to believe.

The Diocese is discerning and reflecting upon different ministry opportunities appropriate for St. Hilda’s Oakville.

The “ministry opportunity” currently being explored, discerned and reflected upon at St. Hilda’s is how to further the “future mission” of the Diocese by blocking the entrance to churches with lumps of concrete.

If Bishop Michael Bird were to visit St. Hilda’s – a calamity that was averted the whole time I was there – he could draw a parallel between the stone that was rolled away from the tomb at Jesus’ resurrection allowing disciples to enter, and the concrete barriers that were erected by the Diocese, preventing disciples from entering.

ELCIC and ACoC welcome new United Church Moderator

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From here:

The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada has given the election of the United Church of Canada’s (UCC) first openly gay moderator a resounding two thumbs up.

[…..]

Although Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, could not be reached for comment, the Anglican Church of Canada was represented at the Ottawa meeting by Archdeacon Bruce Myers of the diocese of Quebec. Myers said he spoke with Dr. Paterson following his installation, informally extending the hand of fellowship and congratulations on behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada. The primate will offer more formal greetings when he returns from his travels, said Myers.

Having been beaten to the punch by a Lutheran, Fred Hiltz privately expressed his regret at not being Canada’s first homosexual Anglican Primate; Hiltz has promised to work harder on his inner gayness.

 

Man is reeling after being rejected as group leader for breastfeeding organisation

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I expect his son will be reeling too once he is old enough to understand how he was fed as a baby.

Trevor, the transgender breast-feeding enthusiast has a blog called – what else – Milk Junkies to encourage other men with breast envy, ex-women with artificially withered breasts, ex-men with yet to be implanted breasts – and, in fact, just about anybody afflicted by an inability to lactate unaided by tubes, not to give up.

Gender equality demands that you too should breast feed: you are entitled to it.

From here:

Transgender father Trevor MacDonald, who breastfeeds his son with the help of a supplemental feeding tube, is reeling after a rejection from the motherhood support group that helped him overcome his challenges.

La Leche League Canada (LLLC) told the Winnipeg man that he cannot become a group leader because he identifies as a father, quelling his ambitions to guide other transgender members and mothers who do not produce enough milk.

Dancing with the bishops

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Anglican Primate Fred Hiltz and Lutheran Bishop Susan Johnson attest that the Anglican Church of Canada and the  Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada are simpatico  by giving a demonstration of ballroom dancing during the Eucharist.

I don’t know about you, but I find this Anglican-Lutheran mating ritual very moving – although, if Fred must clap, I do wish he’d learn to clap off the beat..

Psychiatrists for the propagation of mental illness

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I read R. D. Laing’s book, The Politics of Experience and The Bird of Paradise in the late ‘60s. I was amused by Laing’s contention that psychosis is merely a psychedelic voyage of discovery, a view that was undoubtedly fortified by his imbibing of LSD. As such, he mused that madness is an invention of psychiatry – an insight with which I still enjoy irritating any psychiatrist I am unfortunate enough to encounter – and, insofar as it exists at all, is largely a creation of psychiatrists.

Little did he know that his book was prophetic: the current trend of psychiatry is to label just about any  human emotion that isn’t sunnily positive a Mental Disorder. The notable exception is same-sex attraction, a human experience which, in spite of its generally leading to inner conflict, unhappiness, instability and physical illness has been deemed Perfectly Normal by the politically correct wusses in the American Psychiatric Association.

From here:

Once again the armies of psychiatry are on the move, marching like imperial legions into unconquered territories of the human spirit. Psychiatrists do excellent work as individuals but when they join international bureaucracies they can cause trouble and look foolish.

The evidence is the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as DSM-5. It’s now in final draft, scheduled for release during the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting next May.

Authors of the various DSM editions appear anxious to demonstrate that just about every trace of emotional discomfort deserves professional attention. Sadness is being reclassified as sickness. The medicalization of everyday life is progressing with astonishing speed.

People not directly involved may view this with a light heart, as fresh intellectual confusion created by pretentious, over-confident experts. It’s more serious for patients. A medical label that’s invented by an ambitious theorist and carelessly applied by an untrained doctor can erode self-confidence. A diagnosis takes on a life of its own.

Habitually, the DSM volumes lead to over-diagnosing and over-prescribing. Grief, for instance, receives special DSM attention. Humanity traditionally regards sorrow as a part of life but in the DSM it indicates depression. In DSM-5, reactions to grief lasting longer than two weeks may be diagnosed as depression, perhaps requiring antidepressants.

United Church of Canada passes boycott of Israeli goods

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The United Church of Canada has distinguished itself: it is now Canada’s official anti-Semitic denomination.

Why anti-Semitic? Because the United Church is ignoring Egypt’s persecution of Christian Copts, China’s repression of its minorities and its forced abortions, Pakistan’s persecution of anyone identifying themselves as Christian, the Islamist massacre of Christians in Sudan, the mayhem in Syria and, instead, has singled out the one moderately tolerant democracy in a sea of disintegrating, tyrannical banana republics run by demented Arab goons.

What else could it possibly be other than antiSemitism?

From here:

Canada’s largest Protestant church has approved a controversial boycott of products made or linked to Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian territory.

The United Church of Canada’s decision is intended to signal to the Israeli government that it considers Israel’s continued occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal, and to contribute to a long-term Middle East peace.

Some also hoped it would send a signal to the Harper government, a staunch ally of Israel that has come out strong against such boycotts in the past while refusing to condemn the settlements.

United Church of Canada elects homosexual moderator

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From here:

A Vancouver-based minister who describes himself as a passionate preacher and poet, the Rev. Dr. Gary Paterson was elected Moderator of The United Church of Canada by the 41st General Council on August 16, 2012.

Paterson becomes the first openly gay leader of a major Christian denomination. At a news conference following his election, he rejoiced that his sexual orientation has been a non-issue.

Of course his “sexual orientation” (was there ever a more meaningless euphemism) is a “non-issue”: the United Church of Canada is a non-issue. No-one particularly cares what it thinks and no-one particularly cares who moderates its vacuous blatherings.

Congratulations, Rev. Dr. Gary Paterson; I trust you plan on going down with the ship.
h/t A Reasonable Faith

Rev. Logan McMenamie: saving the salmon

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There was a time – I’m almost old enough to remember it – when the pulpit of the Anglican church was used to preach on the salvation of souls; progress marches ever on, so now the message is the salvation of salmon.

Rev. Logan McMenamie thinks the Northern Gateway pipeline is a bad idea because it doesn’t respect the “interconnectedness of living things”, the “sanctity of the earth” – and it would disturb spawning salmon.

I will make the bold assumption that the worthy Reverend has not taken to heart Henry David Thoreau’s advice found in Walden: he doesn’t travel everywhere on foot. In which case he must fill his automobile with petroleum distillate – from Saudi Arabia, presumably, since he has no use for Canadian oil. Saudi Arabia, home of “interconnectedness of living things” pipelines, not to mention oppression of women, homosexuals and anyone who doesn’t like Islam – but then, who cares about them, they are people not salmon.

All of which makes Rev. Logan McMenamie, Dean of Columbia and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral – yes, you’ve guessed it – a hypocrite.

From here:

Churches take pipeline views into the pulpit

Rev. Logan McMenamie is speaking out against the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, saying it doesn’t respect the interconnectedness of living things.

McMenamie, of Christ Church Cathedral on Burdett Avenue, is one of many religious leaders across Canada focusing on the pipeline – something McMenamie says concerns “the sanctity of the Earth.”

“What I preached on was my own perspective,” he said of his Sunday sermon, adding that he doesn’t speak on behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada. “I think [the sermon] resonated with many in the congregation.”

He’s not alone in bringing the debate to a religious forum. On Tuesday, the United Church of Canada decided to publicly oppose the project.

The pipeline proposed by Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. would do severe environmental damage, traversing waterways where salmon spawn, said Ray Jones, the chair of the church’s aboriginal ministries council. And the potential for an oil spill in the port of Kitimat is very real, he said.