audio<\/a>.<\/p>\nYou know those people who are really, really committed to the separation of church and state?<\/p>\n
Canadian National Public Radio Broadcasts Call for State Control of Religion, Especially Catholicism<\/strong><\/p>\nOTTAWA, July 19, 2005 \u2013 Just as Senate approaches the final vote on the gay \u2018marriage\u2019 bill, C-38, Canada\u2019s national public radio CBC Radio has aired a commentary by a retired professor from the Royal Military College calling for state control over religion, specifically Catholicism. While parliamentarians dismissed warnings by numerous religious leaders and experts that such laws would lead to religious persecution, former professor Bob Ferguson has called for \u201clegislation to regulate the practice of religion.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cGiven the inertia of the Catholic Church, perhaps we could encourage reform by changing the environment in which all religions operate,\u201d Ferguson began his commentary in measured tones yesterday. \u201cCouldn\u2019t we insist that human rights, employment and consumer legislation apply to them as it does other organizations? Then it would be illegal to require a particular marital status as a condition of employment or to exclude women from the priesthood. \u201d<\/p>\n
Ferguson continued, \u201cOf course the Vatican wouldn\u2019t like the changes, but they would come to accept them in time as a fact of life in Canada. Indeed I suspect many clergy would welcome the external pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Continuing his comparison Ferguson stated, \u201cI envisage a congress meeting to hammer out a code that would form the basis of legislation to regulate the practice of religion. Like the professional engineers\u2019 P.Eng designation, there would then be RRPs (or registered religious practitioners). To carry the analogy to its conclusion, no one could be a religious practitioner without this qualification.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ferguson also suggests \u2018obvious\u2019 prohibitions on religion including preaching of \u2018hate\u2019. \u201cI won\u2019t try to propose what might be in the new code except for a few obvious things: A key item would have to be a ban on claims of exclusivity. It should be unethical for any RRP to claim that theirs was the one true religion and believers in anything else or nothing were doomed to fire and brimstone. One might also expect prohibition of ritual circumcisions, bans on preaching hate or violence, the regulation of faith healers, protocols for missionary work, etc.,\u201d says Ferguson.<\/p>\n
The retired professor concluded his comments aired on CBC yesterday morning saying, \u201cNow what is the point of proposing this? I do it because I am worried that the separation between church and state is under threat.<\/strong> Religion is important in our lives, but it can become a danger to society when people claim that the unalterable will of God is the basis for their opinions and actions. Yes religion can be a comfort and a guide, but we cannot take rules from our holy books and apply them to the modern world without democratic debate and due regard for the law.\u201d<\/p>\nThe former professor pitched his idea as a boon to religious freedom. \u201cWe could also help the general cause of religious freedom by introducing a code of moral practice for religions,\u201d he said. \u201cThey will never achieve unity so why not try for compatibility? Can\u2019t religious leaders agree to adjust doctrine so all religions can operate within the code?\u201d <\/p>\n
I do it because I am worried that the separation between church and state is under threat\u2026<\/em> so lets destroy it completely, seems to be this man\u2019s solution, subsume religion under the control of the government\u2026there\u2026all tidy. Not free, but tidy.<\/p>\nStaggering. Just STAGGERING.<\/p>\n
Doug at Bogus Gold has more thoughts<\/a>. I was struck speechless, but he has managed some cogent commentary.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I thought this could not be true but there is an audio. You know those people who are really, really committed to the separation of church and state? Canadian National Public Radio Broadcasts Call for State Control of Religion, Especially Catholicism OTTAWA, July 19, 2005 \u2013 Just as Senate approaches the final vote on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,257],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholicism","category-touch-of-evil"],"yoast_head":"\n
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