Living Tree of Law Has Roots
in Reality of God
November, 2004
Canada's Justice Minister
Irwin Cotler is a brave man.
Universal moral law is his battleground and
he's eager to defeat its
boundaries with boldness and speed. If we
follow him, we have begun
the journey to any variety of marriage
definitions in the country.
The Supreme Court has told Parliament it
does have the
exclusive right to change marriage from
being defined as a union
between
a man and a woman. Religious freedoms to
object to performing same
sex
unions will be protected, although recent
legal history shows they
will
be challenged repeatedly. Thankfully, the
Supreme Court decision has
given Parliament the opportunity to bring the
issue to Canadian
democracy
and already multiple groups are asking for a
national referendum on
the
issue. Some are cheering the news, yet
millions of Canadians have
heard
the Court decision and Mr. Cotlers
determination with sadness,
worry,
even fear. The Christian Coalition, The
Canada Family Action
Coalition,
Focus on the Family, Evangelical Fellowship
of Canada are just a few
of
the voices that are urging voters on
everything from a national
referendum to writing and phone campaigns on
the issue. With Gallup
recently reporting church attendance is the
highest its been in
Canada's in 30 years, yes Ottawa, political
activism in church life
is also growing.
What seems to be lost in public language
however, is how to
discuss why moral views run so deeply on
this issue. Ironically, the
court itself addressed it when it referred
to the living tree that
is
our law.
But first, some of the objection to the
morality of redefining
marriage is because of the enormous puzzle
this presents to our
social
fabric. Do children have the right to know
their biological origins
or
do we create a new type of Canadian who has
to be content with being
a
product of donation into a fertility pool ?
As kids grow, these
things
matter to them, but no doubt well meaning
adults will re-inform them
that
thr innate drive to know and identify with
their roots can be adapted
by
two loving adults of the same sex. Its just
one of the questions
social
scientists have raised as they issued a
warning shot across the bow
that
we vastly underestimate the fragile nature
of culture building by
this
marital change. Scholars from across Canada
wrote their views of
caution on redefining marriage in the recent
book "Divorcing
Marriage", published by McGill Press,
and edited by Daniel Cere of
the Institute for the Study of Marriage, Law
and Culture and Dr.
Doug
Farrow of McGill University. They challenge
that redefining marriage
is about to become a "hastily conceived
social experiment that will
undermine human rights, deflecting marriage
from the support of
children
to the mere affirmation of sexual commitment
between adults."
Similar to the caution brought to the
October Supreme Court
hearing where the historic role of
Parliament in marriage was stated
as
being about "a collective good, not
about individual
rights," argued the Canadian Conference
of Catholic Bishops.
The sheer speed of such a decision being
pushed through by a
Liberal government brings fear. Why can't
gay unions be studied
during the five year term a "not
withstanding clause of Parliament"
would allow for review and deliberation on
the social ramifications
of
redefining marriage ? There are enormous
issues affecting family in
Canada yet they never seem to make the
headway this individual
rights
issue has. Children in poverty, single
mother usage at Food Banks
increasing dramatically, disabled children's
rights to treatment,
the
number of children entering foster care
rising 65 % , more
grandparents
than ever have long-term care of their
grandchildren, Bill C2 the
Child
Porn bill still in limbo, deliberations on
national daycare -- all
signs of great vulnerability for our family
structures. Issues we're
loathe to see take a back seat to political
wrangling over gay
marriage.
But at the core of the disagreement is the
reality that the
Liberal government is poised to depart from
historical harmony with
Canada's religious foundations. In
yesterday's announcement, the
Court reminds us that Canada's constitution
is like a living tree,
its
branches growing and adapting to provide for
a changing Canada.
It is important to take a deep, thoughtful
look at the concept
of the constitutional tree. If branches that
provide for our country
are healthy and vibrant, those branches are
connected to the trunk
and
roots of the tree. By taking this issue to
our Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, its important to note that the
Charter preamble declares
that
Canada guides itself by the rule of law and
the supremacy of God.
Political statesman Preston Manning comes
from a long
background of integrating both into public
life and in reference to
the
marriage ruling he asks if the court could
ever envision a
circumstance
where it would argue that the rule of law
does not apply ?
"It's a fundamental thing they cannot
deny," said Mr. Manning.
"The values that flow from that tree,
that tree that recognizes the
rule of law, are in the same category that
contains the supremacy of
God. For the court to make the living tree
argument is fine, but to
carry it further, when they ignore what the
tree was connected to,
it's like pulling out the tree and putting
it on a different lot.
This isn't branches we're tampering with,
this is roots and the very
health of our tree."
Pacific 1:30
am Monday
Mountain 2:30am
Central 3:30am
Eastern 4:30am
National Religious Broadcasters (NRB)
Eastern 8pm Monday
10:30am Wednesday
DVD's of all our shows are available for sale. To place an order, please call (905) 336 9777 x27. Copies are $15.00 which includes shipping. Payment can be made by cheque (made payable to Listen Up TV); VISA or Mastercard.
Read Lorna's Globe & Mail columns by searching
our archive.
Read 'Media & The Message'. Lorna says if the church wants to impact society, we need to share our stories.
On April 30, 2005 Lorna was privileged to receive an honorary Doctorate of Christian Ministries from Canada's largest Christian university, Trinity Western University. Lorna was recognized for the witness and leadership that Listen Up TV has provided in public messaging: "a leader in the voice of evangelical life in Canada."
