axmoyano Registrado: 27 Oct 2006 Cantidad Total de mensajes: 40 Ubicación: Lima - PERU Age: 67 Gender: Male |
 Publicado: Lun 06 Nov, 2006 1:24 am Título del mensaje: Religion is creeping into Canada's normally strictly secular
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Religion is now back on centre stage as Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister, prepares to make good on a campaign promise to revisit the legalisation of same-sex marriage and hold a free vote on it in the House of Commons. Gay weddings were a divisive issue when the Liberals made them legal in 2005 as a matter of equality. They will be even more so when Mr Harper challenges that law as a matter of faith.
Mr Harper launches his first big battle as prime minister with religion at its core. “It's the first time the f-word (faith) has snuck into the discourse,” says Andrew Grenville of Ipsos-Reid, a pollster. Mr Harper can count on stronger support this time from the plethora of Christian groups that have become more active politically.
| Cita: | Religion in Canada
Coming out
Oct 12th 2006 | OTTAWA
From The Economist print edition
http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8039526
Religion is creeping into Canada's normally strictly secular politics
FOR most of its early history Canada was riven by religious conflict, with the English-speaking Protestant majority battling the mainly French-speaking Catholics. Religion was gradually excluded from public discourse by a combination of political compromise, Western secularism and the need to make immigrants feel welcome. Until recently, you could meet a political or business leader and never know his faith or whether he had one at all. Unlike Americans, Canadians considered faith a strictly private matter.
Not any longer. Religion is now back on centre stage as Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister, prepares to make good on a campaign promise to revisit the legalisation of same-sex marriage and hold a free vote on it in the House of Commons. Gay weddings were a divisive issue when the Liberals made them legal in 2005 as a matter of equality. They will be even more so when Mr Harper challenges that law as a matter of faith.
There are rumours, only partly denied by the government, that should he lose the vote Mr Harper will bring in a Defence of Religions Act, ostensibly to protect officials from being forced to perform same-sex marriages against their will, but more likely so as to placate Conservative supporters from the Christian right. Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, along with various provincial laws, already give officials all the protection they need.
Mr Harper has never made a secret of his religious leanings. He is an evangelical Christian, a small but increasingly vocal group with deep roots in the west. In the 2001 national census 75% of Canadians identified themselves as Catholic, Protestant or just Christian, though only around 25% go to church every Sunday. It is difficult to say exactly how many members of the mainstream faiths are evangelicals because their churches are often small and unregistered. Estimates range between 10% and 12% of the population. However, they make up in enthusiasm what they lack in numbers, attending church much more regularly, contributing more in volunteer time and money, and speaking out loudly on matters of faith. But hitherto Mr Harper has kept his own spiritual side largely under wraps, apart from ending his speeches with a fervent “God bless Canada!”
Important government initiatives such as the accountability bill, Senate reform, and the new environmental plan announced this week have no religious overtones. Even smaller ones meant to appeal to the Christian constituency—a slew of crime bills, child-care payments for parents, and the decision to drop a Liberal bill to decriminalise marijuana—may please the godless as much as the god-fearing.
But as politicians discovered the first time round, there is no keeping religion out of the same-sex marriage debate. Parties splintered as some MPs backed the former Liberal government's claim that equality should trump all else, while others sided with Mr Harper, who contends that marriage between a man and a woman is an institution sanctified by faith.
In revisiting the question, Mr Harper launches his first big battle as prime minister with religion at its core. “It's the first time the f-word (faith) has snuck into the discourse,” says Andrew Grenville of Ipsos-Reid, a pollster. Mr Harper can count on stronger support this time from the plethora of Christian groups that have become more active politically. But Mr Grenville thinks raising the issue now is a rare misstep by the normally sure-footed prime minister. Public support for evangelical Christian leaders has plummeted, he says, dragged down by the unpopularity of the ostentatiously religious American president, George Bush. Every public endorsement Mr Bush makes of his friend “Steve” underscores that negative association.
The Liberals, meanwhile, are publicly outraged but privately pleased at the chance to paint the Tories as intolerant zealots seeking to impose right-wing values on Canadians. Making a fuss about religion now may even help voters forget the corruption scandal that forced the party from power. For years, the Liberals have been accusing Mr Harper of having a hidden agenda. At last they think they have the evidence. |
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Angel
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Ich bekenne mich zu dem Geschlecht,
das aus dem Dunkel ins Helle strebt.
[Goethe] |
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jossmy admin
Registrado: 22 Sep 2006 Cantidad Total de mensajes: 595 Ubicación: Barcelona Age: 49 Gender: Male |
| Publicado: Lun 06 Nov, 2006 1:40 am Título del mensaje:
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Un supuesto panorama: Ratzinger (siguiendo los pasos de sus antecesores) da ordenes a todas sus diocesis de actuar en política. La fórmula es utilizar viejos tópicos que movilizan a la gente (en este caso tópicos discriminatorios) y en los que se basa el catolicismo como son sus tabús sexuales sobre diversos temas como la homosexualidad.
Esa masa de gente que coincide con esos pensamientos mamados desde pequeños se convierten en fuerza electoral. Su masividad atrae a políticos para hacer carrera y la iglesia ya tiene lo que quería una voz directa con los de "arriba" para conseguir ventajas.
Sólo tengo una cosa que decir. Ateos convirtamonos en masa reconocible y a agasajar. Líder, Líderes q lleven nuestra voz? sería lo que falta para hacer funcionar la rueda en el sentido q la utilizan otros una vez fueramos masa.
Angel muy buenos artículos tengo pendiente comentar algunos concretos pero la falta de tiempo no me deja. Espero poder hacerlo. Saludos.
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