GodBlogCon Wrapup -- The offical GodBlogCon blog has dozens of links to post written by bloggers who attended the event. (I'll be posting my thoughts on the excellent conference tommorow.)
Religious Libery Watch -- Josh Claybourn reports that Canadian pastor may be sanctioned for calling gays immoral. After considering the case for three years, the human rights commission in Alberta will hear a complaint filed against Steve Boissoin by Darren Lund, a University of Calgary professor. Lund contends the Boisson’s letter saying that homosexuals were immoral contravenes Alberta's human rights law. As Robert Martin, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Western Ontario, says, "Canada now is a totalitarian theocracy. I see this as a country ruled today by what I would describe as a secular state religion [of political correctness]. Anything that is regarded as heresy or blasphemy is not tolerated."
Carnival Watch -- If you like blog carnivals you'll want to check out this site which indexes the various happenings on over 100 carnivals.
The Leather Pants -- This is quite possibly one of the funniest non-blog blog posts ever to be found on Ebay.
Black Conservatives -- Avery Tooley has a great post on the problem with black conservatives:
This is where I think the Black conservative (or maybe I should say the black Conservative) message goes awry. Instead of just highlighting problems, they should offer solutions. Really, they should focus only on their solutions. As many conservatives write, the typical rank-and-file Black person is usually a lot more conservative than the politics as espoused by Black "leaders." At the same time, there does not appear to be an effort made to reach out to the disaffected masses, except to repudiate the "leaders." Really. What is that supposed to do? It's not a personality contest. I don't think Black folks are caught up under a spell, we just want what's best for us, just like any other group of individuals. Right now, the majority of Black folks seem to think that the programs forwarded by Democrats and progressives are what's best for them as individuals. The way to counter that is to actually present an alternative, not just talk about how so-and-so party or such-and-such ideology is damaging Black people.
1
I'm about as fiercely pro-gay rights as they come, but the decision by the Sasketchewan Human Rights Panel was truly awful. The law itself isn't so terrible (inciting violence, I believe, it's what forbidden), but the decision was insane in its determination to characterize offensive but non-threatening speech as a violation of the law.
If the speaker had a history of violence against gays or something, I could see lowering the bar for proving incitement, but this guy didn't have such a history. It was so bad, I couldn't even believe it as I read it. I kept looking for the "real" decision.
posted on 10.19.2005 9:56 AM2
This is an example of why we should support the secular ACLU's take on freedom of expression. 'Offensive speech' should not only not be attacked by the government but it should also be tolerated as much as possible by non-government organizations such as schools, universities, clubs etc. When in doubt open debate works very well and what makes it work is the fact that people can be wrong. The only thing they should fear is being exposed for being wrong by others exercising their speech.
posted on 10.19.2005 12:04 PM3
"Religious Libery Watch"
You somehow forgot to mention that the Totalitarian Theocracy" in Canada was also persecuting people other than Christians;
But the crackdown doesn't just happen to Christians; others can feel the pain too. University of British Columbia Prof. Sunera Thobani, a native of Tanzania, faced a hate-crimes investigation after she said that Americans are "bloodthirsty, vengeful and calling for blood." Thobani, a Marxist feminist and multiculturalism activist, soon realized the Canadian hate-crimes law created to protect minority groups from hate speech can be invoked to protect Americans, too.
But I guess if you don't leave out that fact then you can't wail about anti-Christian prejudice coming from those darn secularists again.
Instead of being concerned about "Religious Libery" perhaps it would be better to be worried about the state of liberty itself in Canada, for everyone. I know I am.
The Canadian law is ridiculous and dangerous. If I recall correctly, it was first used against a teacher who was a closet white supremacist who was teaching his public school class that the Holocaust never happened.
posted on 10.19.2005 1:23 PM4
Thanks for the "Leather Pants" laugh. I recently cleaned out my closet and pitched a red plaid sports coat with a similar history...
posted on 10.19.2005 2:13 PM5
Patrick: The point is that this is a stupid law. Joe used the example of a Christian pastor's troubles and your university professor is another. Glad to see we're in agreement here.
It's surprising how often well meaning people out to end injustice create more than they cure.
6
It's surprising how often well meaning people out to end injustice create more than they cure.
Happens all the time (but funny instead of destructively) on South Park.
Remember "Kyle's Mom"?