Anyway, what has me royally steamed these last few days is the humiliating order of an anti-individual, neo-Maoist in Alberta by the name of Lori Andreachuck (if you don't know the story, see Ezra Levant's comments here and here and here) who would effectively silence and ruin the life of a Christian pastor, banning him from speaking on one of the central concerns of the Judeo-Christian worldview, and of deep personal concern to this pastor.
For writing this letter in 2002, Stephen Boissoin has been passed with a legally binding order (ignoring which could lead to his imprisonment) that is entirely unconscionable in a free and democratic society. In other words, there is no way this is constitutional if Canadian law is still in the hands of sane people, since according to our Charter all laws must be consonant with the needs of a "free and democratic society."
As I wrote in the comments at the National Post, I think it is time for Canadians to start thinking seriously about organizing civil disobedience in opposition to the kangaroo courts of the "human rights" tribunals:
Whatever you may think of Boissoin's righteous certainty about the wrongness of homosexuality and the degree of tolerance in the Christian's "love the sinner but hate the sin" (personally, I think there is a lot of tolerance in that, since loving ourselves but hating what we sometimes do is how most people understand their own humanity), there can be no doubt that Andreachuck and Lund have demonstrated a far greater degree of self-righteousness and intolerance than Boissoin.I will be at the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library tomorrow night, like every Thursday, 7-9 pm in front of Blenz Coffee (look for the guys with the blue scarves), and open for discussions on the logic of civil disobedience, as an occasionally necessary activity in a free and democratic society.
As Ezra says, to pass this order on a Christian pastor is effectively to ruin his life, permanently. And this for a passionate letter to the local paper.
But to effectively ban all discussion of the possible consequences of different sexual and familial practises (the future of which is something no one can know: we are all making more or less educated guesses in the laboratory of history, and no one, despite the arrogance of Gnostics like Andreachuck and Lund, has special knowledge of what will prove successful and what not, whatever the very real historical lessons remembered in the Bible's conflict with the widespread pederasty and polygamy of the ancient world) is outrageous to a whole other level. It is positive madness for a once free and open society to try and close off huge and fundamental topics of conversation. It is a sign of a society that has become too scared of itself to go on, too frightened of our shared freedom, as if it is unthinkable that we might never have to stop thinking about and defending what we hold dear, as if it is too outrageous that we can never live in certainty about our life choices and must have constant maternal affirmation from the Andreachuck's of this beastly realm. What kind of pansies does she think we Canadians are?
There really aren't words to express the sickness and the complete lack of justice or common sense in the action of the Alberta (and other) Human Rights Fascists. This kind of public humiliation is exactly what they did in Mao's China and the stories of ruined lives are now all about us here in Canada for anyone with the real empathy to look, listen, and learn.
I am utterly disgusted that this is happening in my country. Let there me no doubt that I am ready and willing to engage in civil disobedience alongside anyone targeted by these "human rights" fascists. And I suspect there are every day more and more who feel the same. Any politician who thinks this outrage will just fade away with time had better think again.
Act now or live in the shame of history. As it presently stands, Ed Stelmach is a &$#*@ Maoist, as is Gordon Campbell, Harper, and most of the so-called "conservative" leaders in this country.
We might also talk about the kind of organizations we need to see emerging in Canada to focus the fight against the "human rights" world view. We might begin asking, for example, who will join us in setting up picket teams to blockade the entrance to buildings where our deeply evil kangaroo courts will meet in future? Whatever you think of my or Boissoin's views on sexuality, none of us is free in a society where we can be given gag orders for life for offending the sensibility of some bureaucrats and activists. No one is free in a society where people are forced to make public apologies, against their will, for the views they hold. Mao killed and ruined tens of millions of lives in China where just such forced rituals of "apology" and public humiliation were a central tool of the most oppressive mental domination; how many will our Canadian Maoists kill and ruin before we stop them? Among my Chinese-Canadian friends who have recently immigrated, there is a high frequency of stories about families ripped apart, members killed, by the Maoist/police state evil... will the nightmare continue?
I will have more to say on all of this when I get my bearrings. We really do need a way to better understand why those who claim to be fighting for love and tolerance can be so deeply intolerant and hateful. Christians have a right to their Biblical and patriarchal religion. No one has a right to feel their way of living is beyond public criticism. No one is wise enough to judge when language is too passionate that it might expose someone else to hate. Language, even violent language, acts to defer our violence, even when it doesn't succeed for long. Those who would silence in the name of keeping the peace can only take us to the dead (and usually very violent) end that all tyrannies eventually reach. Andreachuck and her many comrades in genteel Canadian authoritarian stupidity need to talk to some Ukrainians about Stalin.
Thankfully, Boissoin is not caving in to these tyrants and so we will all have a chance to stand with him against the law that is clearly indefensible to people who know what freedom is:
In regards to the recent absurd ruling by the AHRC, let me be clear, I will never apologize regardless of the consequences and I will not pay fines unless failing to do so prevents my ability to appeal. I stand by my right to have an opinion and to equally express that opinon in private and in the public square. I will exercise that God given right as long as I live.