Does the majority have a voice in Lord’s Prayer issue?

May 27th issue of the Taber Times, Re: ‘The Lord’s Prayer could be considered bullying.’

Twelve parents are bullied because 128 parents want the Lord’s Prayer reinstated, while allowing those students who do not want to participate the freedom to be excused?

In a country where the preamble to its constitution states that ‘Canada is founded on principles that recognize God and the rule of law,’ I don’t get it.

It seems in today’s society some of the minorities are bent on forcing the majority to see an issue their way. It is a similar to the issue of same-sex marriage. Canada’s laws are changed to have that happen, but that does not seem good enough.

There are cases where a business denies service for a same-sex function because of the owner’s personal beliefs, and recommends the client to another readily available business. Yet, that same-sex couple can force that business to supply that service, supported by the HUMAN wrongs commission, and the owner is considered a homophobic.

The latest case is a jewelry store owner in Newfoundland, he was forced to take down his store’s Facebook Page after it was flooded with angry comments from the LGTB advocates who do not like the poster that was hanging in their own store stating ‘the sanctity of marriage is under attack, let’s keep marriage between a man and a woman,’ a statement of belief made by the owner of the store.

Where is free speech? Can’t a person state his or her opinion, without these extreme confrontations?

Now back to the Lord’s Prayer. It was Jesus who taught us to pray the Lord’s Prayer. It is a prayer that is prayed by broken people, including Christians, in a broken world.

We traveled to poverty-stricken countries in that broken world. We witnessed peoples and organizations as Samaritan Purse, Canadian Foodgrains Bank, and other Christian organizations in the name of that Jesus helping these people in distress, and it warmed our hearts.

Now I want to encourage the 12 families of Dr. Hamman, the LGBT organization and others, including Christians, be kind and respect each other.

HANS VISSER

2 Responses to “Does the majority have a voice in Lord’s Prayer issue?”

1. luke.fevin says:

   June 3, 2015 at 3:26 PM

   Hans is confused and incorrect on a number of issues involved here. This is not a dig at Hans, this misconceptions are quite common with this issue – I hope this serves as a reasonable clarification.

   HV – “Twelve parents are bullied because 128 parents want the Lord’s Prayer reinstated, while allowing those students who do not want to participate the freedom to be excused?”

   Yes Hans, THREE Canadian corts have ruled on this and all agreed that to favor one religion, and to segregate and exclude the minority was to deny them A FUNDAMENTAL CANADIAN FREEDOM.

   Now, if one cannot understand why this may be, one should read the judges ruling from Zylerberg V Sudbury Board of Education, Russow V R. Or Fancy V Sask School Div #13. Generally, the judges found that this practise was coercive stigmatized kids & forced families to self-identify religious beliefs thereby denying them their Charter Rights.

   HV then says, “In a country where the preamble to its constitution states that ‘Canada is founded on principles that recognize God and the rule of law,’ I don’t get it.”

   Fortunately the Supreme Court of Canada gets it – and it is there for anybody that can operate the Googles. Doesn’t matter whether you go back to Big M Drug Mart (Lord’s Day case) or the most recent Supreme Court Saguenay ruling – according to the Supreme Court of Canada, the preamble is irrelevant.

   HV then cites the case of a private business, completely failing to realise that there is a fundamental difference between the State (a Public school) and a Private business.

   Then HV asks about the whereabouts of free-speech? Demanding that a State institution funded by diverse taxpayers accommodate and privilege one religious belief over, and at the exclusion of all others.

   Shockingly, that isn’t actually a “free-speech” issue. In fact, there is NO LEGAL RIGHT at all to demand that your child get to participate in the school led recitation of the Lords’Prayer at all (Read Ch 29, Sec 137 of the NWT School Ord again).

   HV also goes onto say, “It was Jesus who taught us to pray the Lord’s Prayer”, and while completely irrelevant to the actual point, I am left wondering why HV ignores Matthew 6:5 when he says, “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men.”

   So if you REALLY are into RIGHTS – then you clearly MUST observe the courts finding and NOT proceed with the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in this manner.

   But here’s what I think. I don’t think it really is about “Rights”. I don’t think it’s about equality, or fairness. I think all the talk of “love thy neighbor” & “The Golden Rule” & “grace” is all BS.

   This was and continues to be about a historically privileged majority being unable to cope with the concept of a new world where the ideals of fairness, inclusion and equality require that they give up their privilege & domination – and despite words to the opposite, will look for any loophole, or leverage any social bullying & coercion to get to their way.

   WWJD? Not this.

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2. Jim Linville says:

   June 3, 2015 at 7:34 PM

   The Preamble of the Charter of Rights and freedoms does say that “Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law”, but the Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled that it cannot be used to justify state prayers because the contexts of the recognition of God in the Charter and a communal prayer are different and the preamble “cannot lead to an interpretation of freedom of conscience and religion that authorizes the state to consciously profess a theistic faith.” (Mouvement laïque québécois v. Saguenay, 2015)

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