We did not have an opportunity to save the more than 50 migrants who died when trafficked north to the U.S. in a deadly hot locked truck in late June. Nor did we have any chance of preventing the deaths of the Uvalde school children and teachers, 21 in all who were executed by a teen. Or the 10 shoppers executed in Buffalo.
But the Government of Canada has made it possible to save a great many lives this summer. In the region of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya a population greater than half of Canada’s is on the brink of starvation and many have already died. Development & Peace Caritas is allied with 12 Canadian charities called the Humanitarian Coalition. These charities along with our government have arranged that donations by Canadians up to a total of $5 million will be matched dollar for dollar if donated before July 18. See humanitariancoalition.ca for details.
Successive droughts, climate change, conflict, and the great increase in the cost of food have contributed to this situation. It does not take much online effort to find photos and stories of some of these persons whose lives are in danger. They are not “hopeless cases” or throwaway lives. They are as beautiful as any on earth and if they had a fraction of the assistance that we received most could prosper. Not one of us has been successful without the assistance of many others.
Brendan Martin
St. Joseph’s Parish, Langley
Terry O’Neill’s June 27 article “A ‘persecution engine’ is causing Catholics to self-censor their faith, new report” should be required reading for all people of faith who think we still have some freedoms left in Canada.
It is frightening to think we must now bite our tongues when disagreeing with the government or state-sanctioned narratives regarding matters of faith and conscience. The very freedom we have to worship, believe, and participate in society is threatened by government fiat and social media discrimination.
I believe the coming times will be another historical test for Christians and in particular Catholics. Will we succumb to the pressures of the state to “be assimilated” because “resistance is futile’’? Or will we be like the saints of old who are lauded to this day? Let us pray we are among the latter.
I encourage readers to read and circulate this article far and wide as it is a portent of things to come.
John Hof
Langley
Saskatchewan Senator Pamela Wallin is offering Canadians an unthinkable choice in her newly tabled Bill S-248. It is the choice to allow a doctor or nurse to kill you in the future.
Under Bill S-248 if you are ill or disabled, you can sign an advanced directive that authorizes your health-care provider to act as the Grim Reaper once they determine you are incapacitated. Your death will be in their hands, and you can’t change your mind.
It’s already a tragedy that Canada allows diseased and disabled individuals to choose to be killed by euthanasia. It’s already a scandal that we would give doctors and nurses the power to murder their patients at some future date when they lose the capacity to object or change their minds. It takes the evil of euthanasia to a whole new, satanic depth.
Dean Clark
Langley
Re “Church and pride society opt for conversation, mutually resolving human rights tribunal case (June 15):
We now live in an age filled with taboos and things that we can no longer say. Facts are automatically treated as discrimination (not the literal meaning of discriminating the difference between one thing and another.) One such subject is gender and sexual orientation. A woman cannot call her husband a husband, but a partner. Many Catholics succumb to this today.
Activists have been deliberately, systemically, and systematically mapping out how to push their agenda so as to turn things upside down, just like the strategy employed by the Maoists during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The machinery of activists has been creating situations where they can challenge organizations about “inclusivity” from government agencies to hospitals and schools. The strategy to CEOs is: “Are you for us, or against us?”
Discrimination against anyone is wrong, and there should be no place for it anywhere. But do I have to accept everyone’s agenda and beliefs? Do I have to take on everyone’s fight and make it mine?
Not all homosexual persons are political or activists. When I meet a homosexual person, I do not need to know what he or she does in the bedroom. I connect with anyone based on their interactions, words, and behaviour. But activists will not stop with church rental. We need to recognize the difference between discriminating and talking facts.
Nancy May
Vancouver
