Andrew Lawton It’s hardly novel when university campuses capitulate to the whims of social justice warriors. So I can’t say I was surprised to see this sign on a washroom door during a visit to my old stomping grounds, Western University. “Western respects everyone’s right to choose a washroom appropriate for them. Trust the person using this space belongs here.” [...]
National Affairs Rory Leishman In recent years, theologically orthodox Christians have come under sustained attack throughout Europe and North America. The Netherlands, once renowned for its tolerance, is no exception. Some 250 Dutch Calvinists are now undergoing a hate-crime investigation for publicly reaffirming the traditional teaching of the Christian Church on the sinfulness of sexual intercourse outside the bond of marriage [...]
Media attacked Covington teens at March for Life, bishops and schools piled on There’s an old saying that life is like high school. I have no idea who originally said it, though American musician Frank Zappa is reputed to have elaborated on the idea by saying that “Life is like high school with money.” There was a time, very recently, when real [...]
Talk Turkey Josie Luetke I’ve felt quite embattled this past month – by the media’s persecution of the Covington Catholic kids, by some Americans’ embrace of third-trimester abortions and flirtation with infanticide, and by Ottawa City Councilor Shawn Menard’s open discrimination against pro-life citizen transit commissioner Michael Olsen. Most of all, I’ve felt embattled by internal divisions in the pro-life [...]
National Affairs Rory Leishman In a remarkable report released in December, the Expert Panel on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) which was convened by the Canadian Council of Academies at the request of the Trudeau government concluded that there is no consensus among academic authorities on the wisdom of amending Canada’s euthanasia law to include MAiD for mature minors, advance directives [...]
John Carpay The free society is undermined by the progressive, politically correct claim that the many Canadians who hold traditional or religious views about sexuality are “hateful.” The notion that only post-modernist beliefs about sexual behaviour can be expressed in the public square is an enemy of authentic diversity. A real-life example of an attack on the free society is [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell Although she had noticed him from afar, she didn’t recognize her former classmate until she reached the bench he was sitting on.“I haven’t seen you for a long time,” she said, after they exchanged greetings. “I don’t see you very well now,” he replied. “I’ve lost a good deal of my central vision to macular [...]
We make two mistakes when it comes to using social media for pro-life outreach: The first is not relying on it at all, and the second is relying on it too much. Social media can be a crucial tool for amassing support for pro-life candidates, recruiting activists, promoting events, and educating peers on life issues. I am quite sympathetic to those who [...]
Anthony Bourdain I’m not normally emotionally affected by the deaths of celebrities, but the sudden death of celebrity chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain last June resonated with me unaccountably. I don’t want to sound cold, but I think it’s difficult to feel real grief for anyone we don’t know personally. Very simply, there’s more than enough grief and heartbreak [...]
Laying down the Lawton To err is human; to forgive, divine. Though no one promises the latter to be easy. When it comes to criminals, we must not only question our own willingness to forgive, but also how that squares up with our legal system and its mandate for justice. Canada’s justice system – rooted both in civil and common [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Politically and philosophically, leading Canadian feminist Meghan Murphy and self-described “Christian truth activist” William Whatcott have almost nothing in common. Yet both have been taken to task for expressing the opinion that a biological male is not a woman and cannot be a woman. Murphy was expelled from Twitter for “misgendering” JY, a biological male who [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell Thanks to the animal rights people, I’ve developed a guilty conscience. After reading their literature, I realize that I’m unfair to animals. I’ve been unfair to them, I’m embarrassed to say, for as long as I can remember. It’s not that I dislike animals. It’s just that I treat them unequally. I discriminate, and that’s [...]
Talk Turkey Josie Luetke I have argued previously that your average member of the public has more in common with pro-lifers than with pro-choice theorists, but I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize that our movement is the new counterculture, a reality which I think some pro-lifers haven’t really internalized. Our common self-perception is that of defenders of tradition, [...]
National Affairs Rory Leishman Despite the intense controversy over the birth last November of the world’s first gene-altered designer babies in China, numerous leading biologists around the world are proceeding with similar, potentially catastrophic experiments. The crisis has been brought on by the invention of CRISPR Cas9, a revolutionary new technology for editing genes that was hailed four years ago by [...]
Laying down the Lawton While I’m not generally one to set New Year’s resolutions, I may take it upon myself to assign one. Make 2019 the year you get involved. Not just in church and community, but also politics. I know, it sounds like a snoozefest. Try to embrace politics for the importance of it, if not the excitement. The [...]