"God in Exile?".Calgary--In a 5-part series of articles running in the Calgary Herald The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta . Its major competitor is The Calgary Sun. History It was first published on August 31 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as last January, reporter Joe Woodard reflected on the role of Christianity in today's society in Canada. Here are a few highlights: *Anti-Christian prejudice is the last respectable bigotry, and it's worse in Canada than anywhere else in the developed world (Jewish-American scholar Michael Horowitz Michael Horowitz is an American author and archivist in San Francisco. He is the husband of Cynthia Palmer and the father of Winona Ryder. A former close associate of Timothy Leary, he is responsible With his wife for the creation of the world's largest library of ). The recent Canadian federal election campaign bore this out, for example, with Christian-friendly Alliance members being branded as "holocaust deniers, bigots and racists." *The pretext of the suppression of Christianity in Canada is "multiculturalism"-the need to protect minority faiths. In truth, Christianity is banished from the scene as being "intolerant". *Canadian Christians, lacking in religious fervour or even quiet conviction, are buying into the consumer culture as they abandon their faith principles for secular consumerism. *The secular establishment is making a slow squeeze on the country's fading Christianity in the area of secular ethics. "Tolerance" is becoming "public affirmation." *Free speech is banned from public sidewalks outside abortion clinics in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Ontario. And yet, a statue of Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan Paweł II) born Karol Józef Wojtyła immersed in human urine Urine is liquid waste product of the body secreted by the kidneys by a process of filtration from blood and excreted through the urethra. This waste is eventually expelled from the body in a process known as urination. , and a Manitoba provincial art show that gave first prize to a drawing of the crucified Christ sodomized by a priest, were defended by government officials as "free speech" of the artists they (i.e. we) were funding. *Media objectivity is a myth.A 1980s survey of media personnel on their social, moral and religious beliefs found that at least 81% of the U.S. news media had voted for a liberal presidential candidate in every election back to 1964; 90% of them favoured abortion; 76% actively approved of homosexuality; and 53% thought adultery an acceptable personal behaviour. And 86% seldom or never attended a church or synagogue. *Calgary political scientist Lydia Miljan, director of the Fraser Institute's National Media Archives, has found that only 42% of Canadian journalists This is a list of Canadian journalists. A
adj. Feeling or showing doubt. dis·trust ful·ly adv.dis·trust of any religious authority and they don't seem to realize that having no religion is a value in itself, that it colours the way they look at the world." *Toronto media Christian personality Michael Coren believes that a little discomfort may be good for us. "Christianity is about hope and joy, and we're supposed to get out there and take the culture head on." *With all the negativity, there are small signs that Christianity in Canada is waking up. Signs like the lay Catholic movements Regnum Christi and Opus Dei that focus on nurturing the spiritual lives of their members in their workplaces. Or the growing Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church in North America. Its current primate is Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko), who was elected in 2002. The Church's headquarters are located in Syosset, New York. with its icons, incense and robes. Promise Keepers and the Alpha Program reignite Verb 1. reignite - ignite anew, as of something burning; "The strong winds reignited the cooling embers" ignite, light - cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat; "Great heat can ignite almost any dry matter"; "Light a cigarette" family values and personal responsibility among Evangelicals. And Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity Missionaries Of Charity Missionaries of Charity is a Roman Catholic religious order established in 1950, which consists of over 4,500 nuns and is active in 133 countries. Members of the order designate their affiliation using the order's initials, "MC. , with six Canadian houses, minister to the downcast down·cast adj. 1. Directed downward: a downcast glance. 2. Low in spirits; depressed. See Synonyms at depressed. downcast Adjective 1. , the throw-aways, the marginalized, with gratitude to God for his mercy. In whatever way it takes to focus their efforts, Canadian Christians have a lot of work to do. As one commentator put it: "Christians can't surrender their right to be positive forces in their society". For the complete text see: www.calgaryherald.com/God in Exile? |
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