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Dear
Friend of Canadian Families:
Bill
C-250, an amendment to the Hate Crimes Act, which threatens
religious freedom in Canada has now been moved forward
for third and final reading/vote before parliament. The
only way to stop it is to persuade a majority of the MPs
to vote against it. Please take a moment to read and respond
to this very urgent Action Alert issued by Canada Family
Action Coalition.
For
those of you familiar with the issue - go straight to
the Action Items section of this memo. For others, read
the Urgent Update and CFAC Statement on C-250 section
and get the basic information you require in order to
respond as an informed citizen.
This
is an item of enormous importance towards shaping our
nation's future. Remember, "The only thing necessary
for evil to triumph is for good men [and women] to do
nothing." - Edmund Burke (1729-97)
Our
basic action plan is as follows:
Inform
yourself on this issue (read this memo and also visit
websites of pro-family groups including www.familyaction.org)
Contact your MP of your concerns, asking her/him to vote
against Bill C-250 and Urge 5 people you know to do the
same.
WHAT
YOU CAN DO: (Items 1 and 2 are extremely
important)
| 1.
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Call
your MP today - Call toll free at 1-800-OCANADA
or go to http://canada.gc.ca/directories/direct_e.html
to find names and contact info for MPs. Ask them to
cast a vote against Bill C-250. Ask them to be in
the House at the time of the vote, to not abstain
and to vote against Bill C-250. Tell them that you
will call back to see how the vote went. Tell them,
given the manipulative and undemocratic process by
which this bill proceeded, and given the very serious
threat it represented to our freedoms as Canadians,
that you will make their vote a litmus test for how
you vote in the next election.
Don’t be unkind. Don’t threaten. Be firm,
confident and clear - tell them respectfully that
this issue is very important to you, and insist
that they vote against C-250.
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| 2. |
Call
5 or more friends and ask them to do the same
(spread the word
across Canada) Ask them to also call five more friends
and tell them, that you’d like to call back to
find out what their MP had to say - how their calls
went.
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| 3.
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Write
a letter to the editor to your local news paper.
Let people in your community know and make sure that
you use wisdom and appeal to the hearts and minds
of all decent and freedom loving people in your community.
Don’t make this a religious issue - it is a matter
of freedom for all Canadians.
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Urgent
Update and CFAC Statement on C-250
Parliamentary
procedure has once again been manipulated in order to
force Bill C-250 forward. Bill C-250, which would add
"sexual orientation" to hate propaganda laws,
has been forced through a Justice Committee hearing and
sent to the House of Commons for a final hearing before
becoming law.
The
bill's sponsor, MP Svend Robinson, "filibustered"
the Committee hearings, preventing other MPs from voting
on his bill. Parliamentary procedure now requires the
bill to be evaluated by the entire House of Commons since
the Committee did not vote on it. Alliance MPs on the
Committee, led by Vic Toews, attempted to prevent Robinson's
strategy but were thwarted by other committee members
who refused to even entertain amendments to the Bill.
It
is important for Canadians to realize that Bill C-250
has absolutely nothing to do with the issue of ‘hatred
against homosexuals’ and everything to do with the
erosion of freedom of conscience and religion. Radical
elements of the homosexual rights movement in Canada consider
any and all expression of opinion that homosexuality is
wrong, immoral or unhealthy to be 'promoting hatred against
homosexuals’.
The
cultural elite are demanding complete societal and even
religious capitulation on an issue that is a matter of
essential faith and conscience for millions of Canadians.
The track record of homosexual activist is one of aggressive
attack against people of faith in the public square for
merely expressing an opinion on the matter of homosexuality
(see
www.familyaction.org - Religious Freedom Section for details).
Given the track record of his activist friends, Svend
Robinson’s assurances that religious freedoms will
not be effected, is meaningless, considering the facts
of how hatred is defined by homosexual activists and ‘good
friends’ in the courts.
Christians
routinely uphold standards of moral conduct that members
of the general society may not agree with. Many believe
that drinking alcohol or eating pork is wrong. Are they
promoting hatred by expressing a belief that something
is immoral, unhealthy or wrong? A healthy and free society
not only permits such diversity but welcomes it as a reflection
of what it means to live in a free society. In the name
of tolerance we are now loosing our freedoms. How ironic!
Christianity
also compels the believer in Christ to love all people,
while at the same time lovingly discourage conduct that
violates God’s design and God’s will. Remember
Jesus’ words to the woman caught in adultery, were
on the one hand “neither do I condemn thee”,
but he also said “go and sin no more”. To now
take the Bible, which upholds the highest standards of
mercy, love and kindness towards fellow human beings and
now label it (or portions of it) as hate literature is
most bizarre and profoundly confrontational.
Even
if Bill C-250 does protect the right of opinion against
homosexuality as long as it is religious based, the Bill
still presents huge problems:
Will
the expression of religious opinion be permitted outside
of the Church walls? Why should we as Jews, Christians
and Moslems accept the false label of hatred being attached
to our sacred texts (even if they are protected from censure
and confiscation - for now). How religious do you have
to be in order to be protected? Do you have to go
to church? Do you have to be ordained? Given the track
record of previous rulings, is it conceivable that the
homosexual rights advocates will find a judge who will
rule that the present 'religious exemption' is unconstitutional?
They are getting everything else
they demand from the courts! How soon before the homosexual
rights activists find a judge who will rule that religious
groups who do ‘promote hatred’ (by preaching
against
adultery/sexual sin), should not qualify for tax exempt
status thus loosing their charitable status? Why do you
have to be ‘religious’ to legitimately hold
an opinion that
homosexuality is unhealthy or immoral or unnatural? Will
the 'sexual orientation' definition also protect pedophiles
and others engaging in perverse activity?
Bill
C-250 must be stopped and Canadians of all faiths are
urged now - to take a meaningful step towards defending
our freedoms and demand that MPs vote against Bill C-250.
They had a chance to amend it, to provide constitutional
guarantees that religious opinion will not be suppressed
and they choose to ignore the valid concerns of millions
of Canadians.
Now
- the only acceptable action for our MPs to take - vote
against Bill C-250.
CFAC Staff
President, Canada Family Action Coalition
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