a w a k e : t o : d r e a m

For the past several years in my church, people have been warily looking to parliament to see how the passing of bill C-250 would affect the rights of people of faith as pertains to the marriage of same-gender couples. Originally a bill called An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda), this bill was meant to add sexual orientation to the list of differences that we are protected from discrimination on the basis of. I support it completely. But when people in my church got nervous and felt that our rights as people of faith would conflict with the rights of same-gender couples to be protected from discrimination (ie married if they want to be), I scoffed. I felt that since the amendment had also called for protections for religious people so that they would not be compelled to go outside their beliefs because of this, I believed them.

Yesterday, in BC:

VANCOUVER - A B.C. lesbian couple, who accuse a Catholic men’s group of discriminating against them by refusing to rent them a hall for their wedding reception, took their case to a human rights tribunal Monday.

“The hearing is sure to further inflame passions over the issue, given that the Supreme Court of Canada ruled last month that religious officials opposed to same-sex marriages do not have to perform them.
CBC News”

The back story is that the couple tried to rent a hall owned by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men’s service club. When the group found out that it was a same-gender marriage, they cancelled the booking and refunded the money.

Let me clarify by saying that I support bill C-250 100%. I support human rights for all people.

Tonight my dad, brother and I spent more than two hours debating discussing the issue of evolution and intelligent design.

It wasn’t as bad as it sounds.

My brother is an atheist. And not just a regular, “I’m-to-cool-for-religion” kind of atheist, the hostile kind who just lives to find a way to argue his way through any objection. I’m pretty sure he would agree with this assessment. Anyway, somehow we got into a discussion about ID vs. evolution and whether ID was a legitimate science or a theological philosophy hijacked by conservative religious leaders to protect their own scientific legitimacy. It’s a worthy argument, and one we’ve never made it into, much less through.

Needless to say, I really wasn’t sure what would happen.

I hate it when I read an article that makes me feel like I have to defend brothers and sisters in the faith to myself. I find it so offensive when I read about the “religious right” in the US “targeting” another group of people as somehow unclean and punishing those who have any affiliation with them. In the 70’s, it was people who were divorced or divorcing. Back in the 80’s, it was people with AIDS, no matter how they got it. And from the 90’s until now, it has been Liberals and homosexuals - and God save you if you are a Liberal homosexual! Sometimes it’s the homeless, sometimes drug addicts… sometimes even Canadians - for our “liberal” ways….

This article describes a boycott on the Ford Motor Company from a group called the American Family Association “because of Ford’s support for the homosexual agenda and homosexual marriage .” The Jaguar and Land Rover brands had been caught advertising in Gay and Lesbian media.

I’m sick of this.

Here’s my soapbox issue of the day:

Can we PLEASE, please get rid of the phrase, “the war on…” no matter what conflict it refers to? Can we just say, “the challenge to…” or “the disagreement about”? Can we please, please stop turning every hot-button issue into a slogan-machine so that more people can stick a bumper sticker on their car (or for that matter, around their wrist) and so that the backers of the issue can politicize it ever more?

The reason I rant about this is the recent release of a book, The War On Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday is Worse Than You Thought by John Gibson of FoxNews. First of all, how does Christmas have anything to do with making America hate liberals, I ask you?? Where is there room for polarized sabre-rattling like that at Christmastime? I agree that sometimes the PC machine goes too far and people try far too hard to “not offend” anybody by saying Christmas (gasp) when not everyone is a Christian, but come on.

It’s a sad day for the faith blogosphere. The Bruderhof (”place of brothers”) is a group of Christian believers living in communities across the eastern US, England, Europe and Australia. I have been a devoted reader of their on-line Daily Dig, a thoughtful digest of philosophical, religious and ethical musings, which linked to their website which contained e-books, essays, feedback and more. I really admired the Bruderhof for their ethical and conscientious online presence, and their coura+ge to question their society, their government, and even their own policies in an honest and respectful way.

Yesterday subscribers to the Daily Dig received, without warning, our last Daily Dig:

“The work is more important than the talking and the writing about the work.” - Dorothy Day

“There have been enough words, enough sermons and books. What matters now is deeds.” - Emmy Arnold

Dear Reader:

We will no longer be publishing online, so this will be your last Daily Dig. This is only the beginning, not the end. We want to thank you for your friendship over the years, and look forward to meeting you face to face. Now the real contact can begin. We welcome you to drop by any of our communities any time to join us in our daily life and work.

Unlike all of the previous Daily Digs, it was lacking in its customary link to the Bruderhof website (usually a link to a relevant article in their collection based on the topic of the Dig). Surprised, I looked up the bruderhof website. Gone. Replaced with basic, land-based contact information, and no e-mail address.

I received a comment today from someone who started a website to Bring Back Bruderhof to the internet. If you out there have been moved by the presence of the bruderhof on the internet, take a second to visit this website to let them know. It is being run by an independent person who has stated that he will compile the comments left and send it to them by surface mail (apparently they aren’t answering e-mail anymore either) so the bruderhof can see what a presence they’ve had in our lives. Another thought would be for all of those of us who where touched by their work to send them a postcard from your area, telling them briefly how their work touched you, so they can see how wide their ministry was.

I am worried that this decision was made as a result of past troubles the bruderhof have had with former members and the media. I’ve noticed that wherever there are communities of people who live in true community, sharing everything and serving all, they are viewed as strange. I am sure that the Bruderhof as a community are not perfect, but the fruit of their ministry was a true, living and compassionate discipleship that inspired many. This is such a loss.

There is perhaps nothing we modern people need more than to be genuinely shaken up. Where life is firm we need to sense its firmness; and where it is unstable and uncertain and has no basis, no foundation, we need to know this too and endure it. We need to recognize that we have stood on this earth in false pathos, in false security, in spiritual insanity.

For this is the message of Advent: faced with him who is the Last, the world will begin to shake. Only when we do not cling to false securities will our eyes be able to see this Last One and get to the bottom of things. Only then will we be able to guard our life from the frights and terrors into which God the Lord has let the world sink to teach us, so that we may awaken from sleep, as Paul says, and see that it is time to repent, time to change things.

From “Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas”