Tolerance? No, not really...

Those who yell most loudly about 'tolerance' don't seem to be that tolerant...especially towards Christians or those holding to Biblical values.

Recently the Ontario Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Canada applied to have a stall at the Toronto Vegetarian Association's Food Fair.

Since the SDAs are vegetarian, you might think they wouldn't have a problem in getting a stall... especially since the SDAs have had a stall at previous Food Fairs.

But no. The Toronto Vegetarian Associationreplied to the SDAs - refusing their application..

WHY?
Because of the SDA position on homosexuality. The TVA wrote that they "must take issue with the public statements of the General Conference of Seventh Day Adventists regarding homosexuality. It has been brought to our attention that the General Conference of Seventh Day Adventists is “opposed to homosexual practices and relationships, ” and that the Church views homosexuality as “a manifestation of the disorder and brokenness in human inclinations and relations caused by sin coming into the world.”

They went on "As noted in the Toronto Vegetarian Association Anti-Racism, Access and Equity Policy, TVA acknowledges its responsibility to provide an environment and services that are free of racism, sexism, discrimination and bias, where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity."

No mention of sexuality - but the TVA decided that they didn't want anyone with such views on sexuality having a stall!

They concluded that if the local Conference wanted to say they didn't endorse those views they would 'reconsider the application'!

So much for tolerance!

Read a report on the issue (and the letter from the TVA) - click here.

Election looming

With the election this coming Saturday, August 21, we've been busy preparing material to help Christians understand more about the issues that the general media is usually fairly quiet about!

As well as the Christian Values Checklist, we've sent out E-News emails about using our preference vote effectively, the position of the parties on abortion and the Greens polices on a range of issues that conflict with Biblical values. They're all posted on our front page and on our election page.

These has been a lot of spin during the election. One of the most glaring examples was the story that Julia Gillard was going to give her Labor campaign speech 'off the cuff' and without notes. Julia herself said she would 'speak from the heart'.
Almost all the media reported on this 'feat' ... however some of the media found that wasn't actually what happened and reported the truth!
See Tim Blair's report and Andrew Bolt's comment.

When Age reporter Tony Wright, who initially talked of her using 'no notes', later realised that notes had been placed on the lectern and she had used them, he wrote about what had REALLY happened.
Read his report.

Does it matter if Julia used notes - or an autocue - or not?

NO. It made no difference to anyone if she used notes or not.
However, it is the issue of TRUTH that is important.

When her minders told the media she wouldn't be using notes, many journalists were led to comment on how amazing it was that she could talk for so long without any notes.

But, after saying she would speak off the cuff, Julia delivered a speech that had been carefully prepared in advance.

Elections and 'social justice'

With the federal election campaign in full swing it's interesting to monitor what is happening...

With opinion polls falling for Labor - and now favouring the Coalition 52% to 48% - Julia Gillard has taken charge of Labor's campaign, saying she will be presenting the 'real Julia'... which prompted commentators and the Opposition (and us) to ask 'Which Julia have we been seeing in the past few weeks?'

Since the Christian Values Checklist was released last week (read it on our election page), there have been a number of people and commentators complaining that the Checklist doesn't address 'social justice' issues such as the poor, refugees, and so on.
Bill Muehlenberg addresses these issues initally here and again in more detail here.

As the 'Supporting Statements' document says, most of the political parties have similar positions on providing welfare - it is the moral foundations of the nation and the political parties that determine the direction the country will move in.

One Christian commenator, John Dickson, even wrote an opinion piece in the National Times (Age/SMH) criticising such Checklists and promoting the view of caring for the poor.

Naturally, we do want to care for others - but that is an individual responsibility rather than a government responsibility.

This article by Gary DeMar of 'Vision to America' addresses the question of 'social justice' from a Christian and government perspective and looks at what is real justice.
It is well worth reading!
Article: Do we need 'social justice'? by Gary DeMar

What happened to that break?

The middle of the year is generally a quiet time in the political arena. Federal and State Parliaments take a winter recess and we often use the time to have a holiday away from Melbourne's cold winter.

However, no sooner had had we arrived in Queensland for a short holiday than Julia Gillard announced the federal election!

Since our return we've been busy sending emails about the forthcoming election and working on the preparation of the Australian Christian Values Checklist. We've sent E-News emails, posted items on our front page and also prepared a special webpage for the federal election.

As Christians we need to carefully analyse the policies of the political parties. Naturally, there are a wide range of areas we should be concerned about - the Checklist covers the moral and ethical issues of life and family. However these aren't the only areas we should be concerned about.

We encourage all Christians to carefully review the policies of the political parties and assess the character of the leaders and candidates. See the election webpage for more information and links.