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by on 1.17.12 Leave a Comment

CMAJ issues controversial call

The headline: Selective abortions prompt call for ultrasound rules

In a recent issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, its editor-in-chief issued a call for banning the disclosure of a baby’s gender before 30 weeks of pregnancy in a bid to end the practice of aborting female babies. This practice is especially prevalent among some South Asian cultures (the editor issuing the call is apparently from this culture himself).

The whole article has the pro-abortion side tied up in knots, as you can see from the comments following the article. You can also see the hard-heartedness of many Canadians who insist on their rebellion and sin.

The article is, overall, heartbreaking. The ramifications of the fall of man are constantly on display. May God help us reach some of our fellow citizens with the gospel.

don_sig2

Filed Under: General Interest, Health, Medicine, Politics
by on 5.1.09 3 Comments

proximity of political paralysis

I ran into a friend of mine the other day. He was outside one of our grocery stores, campaigning for his seat in our legislature. He is the incumbent MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) for the riding next door to the one I live in. [For our American friends, an MLA is like a State Representative, except we have a unicameral legislature, so an MLA has much more influence than a State Rep would. There are other differences as well, but that will have to suffice as an explanation.]

I first met my friend when I was selling real estate to support our work here in Victoria. Another friend referred him to me. One day I picked up my phone at the office and this voice said, “Is this Don the Baptist?” And when I answered “Yes”, the voice went on, “Well I am John the Socialist.” And indeed he is. We get along rather well, in spite of political differences. The story of that house sale is one of my best from real estate days, but we’ll let that go by the wayside, too. John told me the other day they are still in that house, happy with it, and planning to renovate the kitchen soon.

As I said, I ran into John while he was campaigning. We talked about a few things and noted our differences. I was talking to my daughter about it afterwards. I told her that if we lived just a few blocks further west, I’d have a real problem deciding who to vote for. That might come as a shock to those who know my political views – my friend is a member of a party that I think I could almost never vote for. They are through and through socialists, so wrong headed [Read more...]

Filed Under: Canada, General Interest, Politics
by on 1.10.09 3 Comments

persecution or good governance?

In Canada today, the biggest news story of the day is the arrest of two Mormons for polygamy. These men are the heads of rival factions among a Mormon sect in Bountiful, BC. There have been numerous stories about these men, their wives, their children, their feud, and on and on over the last few years. With the arrest of two of the principles yesterday, our news media has exploded with stories and opinion articles concerning the matter.

Google.ca news says there are 599 related articles when I clicked on this link, but once you arrive at the link, it says 89 related articles. I am not quite sure how that works, but the story is undeniably a big story here in Canada and is surely of interest around the world, especially in places where there are many Mormons.

One of the men arrested yesterday was on TV today claiming religious persecution. Now… is this religious persecution, or is this a matter of good governance?

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Filed Under: Canada, Culture, Politics
by on 11.4.08 5 Comments

oh boy…

So I’m listening to the One’s acceptance speech…

And this is what keeps running through the back of my mind…

[display_podcast]

don_sig2

P.S. What’s he so angry about? He just won? Why can’t he smile?

Filed Under: Politics
by on 9.2.08 Leave a Comment

the other side scares me

I offered earlier a somewhat underwhelmed view of the Republican ticket. But what of the other side?

The other side scares me:

When I read the Bible, I do so with the belief that it is not a static (stable) text but the Living Word and that I must be continually open to new revelations.(Barack Obama, Audacity of Hope, p. 224)

There’s more, read about it at Lighthouse Trails.

don_sig2

Filed Under: General Interest, Politics
by on 9.2.08 9 Comments

it’s a good question

A letter writer to my newspaper, The National Post, asks this question about the Republican vice-presidential nominee:

Re: The Culture Wars Continue, Father Raymond J. de Souza, Aug. 30. Father Raymond J. de Souza’s subtle endorsement of Sarah Palin is interesting. How can a woman be second in charge of the most influential country on Earth and not able to be ordained in his Church?

Just asking. Eric Madden, Collingwood, Ont.

Raymond de Souza is a Roman Catholic priest who has a regular column in the Post. A column I rarely look at and almost never finish, by the way.

But the letter writer asks a good question, one for which Independent Baptists and other fundamentalist Christians should have a good, biblical answer.

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Filed Under: General Interest, Politics
by on 8.22.08 Leave a Comment

so its Biden

My favorite Dem!

Obama’s VP pick makes it very interesting for our family. A few years ago we were in Washington, DC. We had arrived too late in the day to get a ticket for a Senate gallery visit, so we were just touristing around outside the capital, taking pictures, etc. My wife spotted Biden about thirty yards away and waited for him to turn towards us to snap a picture. He grinned and came over to talk to us, which of course thrilled us all. Here was a guy we had seen on TV just chatting us up!

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Filed Under: General Interest, Politics
by on 5.21.08 Leave a Comment

heard everything?

One of my Canadian news aggregator sites led me to this story:

“European Court agrees to hear chimp’s plea for human rights“

I am not sure what is more bizarre… the fact that someone is actually attempting to make a case like this or the fact that the European Court of Human Rights has agreed to take the case.

The case involves a chimp in an animal sanctuary facing bankruptcy. A young woman wants to become his legal guardian to care for him if the sanctuary is forced to shut down. In order to be a ‘guardian’, the chimp has to be a person, hence this case.

Some of this young woman’s rationale:

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Filed Under: Environmentalism, Fun and games, General Interest, Issues, Politics
by on 2.22.08 Leave a Comment

are we in a slow earthquake?

An Associated Baptist Press article discusses the question “Will ‘evangelical center’ emerge to rival waning Christian Right?” The article notices the waning political effectiveness of the so-called Christian Right. A few quotes:

“The younger generation is definitely turned off to the culture-war mentality and all the anger,” he said. “They believe it violates the Spirit of Christ.”

 

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Filed Under: Fundamentalism, Politics
by on 10.18.07 Leave a Comment

on more politics

Just another thought about Dr. Bob’s endorsement of Romney.

I have said to some that I personally wouldn’t be prepared to endorse Romney at this stage, but I don’t live in South Carolina. As this blog at Real Clear Politics points out, the SC primary is less than 100 days away. This makes it important for SC residents to make up their minds concerning their primary vote.

Some criticise Dr. Bob for not supporting someone like Huckabee. While Huckabee is an attractive candidate ideologically, it seems highly unlikely that he is going to lead the ticket, although there is some talk of him as VEEP. If Dr. Bob endorsed Huckabee (or someone like him), the endorsement would have a negligible effect on the outcome. It would also contribute to another possible effect, which I think is part of the political calculus that is behind the endorsement.

The other effect is the danger of a Third Party or Independent candidate. While none of the front runners for the GOP are completely satisfactory to me or to many other Christians, I like each of them well enough that I can support them in the general election. But some Christians (influenced, perhaps, by James Dobson) are considering getting behind an independent or third-party candidate if Romney or Giuliani are the nominee, especially if it is Giuliani. A reasonably strong third-party candidate on the right would almost ensure another Clinton White House.

For someone perceived to be as right wing as Dr. Bob, his endorsement of Romney may not have a huge effect on the primary or the nomination, but it might mitigate the attractiveness of a third-party option for the Christian Right. A sort of, “if he can swallow Romney’s negatives, I guess I don’t need to split the vote on the right” mentality.

So the endorsement makes sense from a couple of standpoints: the proximity of the SC primary and the general dissatisfaction of Christians with the front-runners in the GOP.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Filed Under: Politics
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