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Catholic Insight has joined a range
of Canadian publications, groups and individuals who
have become targets of human rights-based legal attacks
recently.
In February 2007, Rob Wells, a member
of the Pride Centre of Edmonton, filed a nine-point
complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission,
alleging that C.I. has targeted homosexuals as being
a powerful menace, made negative generalizations about
them, portrayed them as preying upon children, blamed
them for problems in society and the world, portrayed
them as dangerous or violent by nature, conveyed the
idea that they are devoid of any redeeming qualities
and are innately evil, used inflammatory and derogatory
language to create a tone of "extreme hatred and
contempt," trivialized or celebrated past persecution
or tragedy involving them and called for action to be
taken against them.
Wells's complaint consists of three
pages of isolated and fragmentary extracts from articles
dating back as far as 1994, without any context.
C.I. counters that these isolated quotes are not meaningful
without the contexts of the articles themselves from
which they were culled; in fact, most of them are even
out of context from the sentences from which they were
taken.
C.I. regards all of these charges as
unfounded and made with the intent to harass. It intends
to defend itself vigorously should the CHRC proceed.
The magazine has continually emphasized that, with the
respect to homosexual activity, it follows the guidance
of the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church has made clear that
persons with same-sex attraction must be accepted with
respect, compassion and sensitivity and that every sign
of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.
At the same time, however, the magazine
notes the Catechism declares homosexual acts are ones
of grave depravity and intrinsically disordered. They
are contrary to the natural law, close the sexual act
to the gift of life, do not proceed from a genuine affective
and sexual complementarity and cannot be approved under
any circumstances.
From its beginning in 1993, the magazine
has traced and exposed homosexual activists for their
attacks against Christians defending the traditional
order in law and society and their use of derogatory
language against all who stand in their way. Many of
C.I.'s articles have quoted homosexual activists, such
as the former Burnaby, B.C. MP Svend Robinson, who was
known to denounce opponents as "bigots,"
"homophobes" and "hatemongers."
The magazine has never replied in kind, but rather has
adhered to the maxim, "Hate the sin, but love the
sinner."
Wells's complaint is not his first.
In 2006, he sought the shutdown of three websites associated
with Craig Chandler in Calgary - freetospeak.ca, freedomradionetwork.ca
and concernedchristians.ca. He also currently has a
three-pronged action in progress against leader Ron
Gray and his Christian Heritage Party. He alleges a
CHP reposting of an article on pedophilia being more
common among homosexuals, as well as several commentaries
Gray wrote, were motivated by hate and the defaming
of homosexual persons. Gray says in the course of conversing
with the CHRC, a highly placed official of that agency
admitted to him that the Human Rights Act is about censorship.
A number of other human rights actions
have been launched against individuals or groups, including
Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary and the Knights of Columbus
in Vancouver. Maclean's magazine and its editor-in-chief,
Kenneth Whyte, face a human rights complaint launched
by the Canadian Islamic Congress over an October 23,
2006 article by Mark Steyn entitled, "The Future
Belongs to Islam." Whyte vows he will let the magazine
go bankrupt before allowing the CIC equal space to respond
to the article, while Tom Flanagan, Stephen Harper's
former campaign manager, is urging all who write or
speak in the public domain to rally to Steyn's defence.
Alan Borovoy, general counsel for the
Canadian Civil Liberties Association, acknowledges he
never imagined human rights commissions would ultimately
be used against freedom of speech. To be acting as censors,
he said, was "hardly the role we had envisioned
for human rights commissions."
Under the human rights complaints process
as it exists, a complainant's legal costs are covered,
while a defendant must pay for expenses out of his own
pocket. As well, rules of evidence in place for criminal
court proceedings are not followed in human rights hearings.
Catholic
Insight will keep readers informed of developments
as they unfold in this matter.
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