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Presidential hopeful Barack Obama was caught in campaign rhetoric. Obama threatened to pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) established in 1993, unless it is renegotiated. However, an aide to Obama allegedly told Canadian officials he was not in fact serious about disrupting the trade deal. Despite this contradiction, it is the Canadian Conservatives that have come under the gun.
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March 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Those who attend an Anglican Church have probably already heard the news. The Anglican Communion is effectively broken. The sad truth of the matter is that the Anglican Church of Canada, which has about 2000 parishes, has become schismatic. The split-off group, the Anglican Network of Canada, which is composed of the more orthodox members of the church, have split off and placed themselves under the authority of an archbishop outside of Canada.
My concern is not with a detailed examination of the history or the reasons behind the schism; that would require a much deeper examination of the history of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
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March 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Have you ever thought, “Hey, my generation is pretty pathetic”? Our fathers and their fathers had small wars and world wars, dust bowls and not-so-great depressions, and Ravi Shankar and Woodstock. They engaged their environment and each other. In contrast, we have World of Warcraft and Star Wars, economic booms and hedge funds and dirty rap that’d make Serge Gainsbourg blush. We don’t engage our environment. We ignore what’s around us, numb our feelings and simply exist.
Our generation doesn’t have a rallying point. We don’t have passions. We don’t have goals. We don’t have commitment. Our human interaction has been debased to friend requests on MySpace and the annoying “ping” of instant messengers.
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March 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Every year 1.2 million innocent children are kidnapped worldwide for sexual trafficking. That’s two children every minute. Hotspots for these criminal acts include Southeast Asia, Calcutta, Russia, Romania, Nepal, Latin America and more. It has grown to such an extent that it is now a major social problem in nearly every country. Canada is said to be harbouring upwards of 100,000 child prostitutes, many residing in our beloved Vancouver.
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February 20, 2008 | 1 Comment
Some people might think that ongoing anti-semitism in Egypt is a phenomena that is restricted to Muslims. That is not really the case. Statements by Muslim religious leaders have been widely covered by the press, but little attention has been given to the Coptic Church, which has had its share of anti-semitism.
Coptic Christian books are filled with anti-semitic remarks and stories, especially the “Sineksar,” the official Church book of Saints, in which you can find stories that include Blood Libel.
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February 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Being North American, white and middle class seems to be almost synonymous with egoism. Whether it is forcefully shipping our culture to all corners of the world or subscribing to ideas that place our individuality front and center, it is obvious that we are most interested in ourselves.
Within the Evangelical Christian community it can be seen through the self-absorption that prioritizes sustaining the immediate needs of the church body. Outreach is promoted only after the kid’s church schedule is filled for the year and there are an adequate number of greeters every Sunday. When we do reach out, it seems easy to tell others and lead them in our footsteps. But when reaching out to culturally distinct neighbours there is a large problem. One of the most salient examples of this is the relationship between North American Christianity and First Nations people.
