Josh Benner

Tag: Canada

  • Asia Bibi, Pakistani Christian acquitted of blasphemy finally arrives safely in Canada

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    Asia Bibi spent eight years on death row in Pakistan for allegedly blaspheming Mohammad. Bibi is a Christian. In Pakistan, there were protests over her release. At least two politicians who advocated for Bibi were assassinated in calling for her release. There have been protest rallies with thousands of demonstrators, opposing Bibi’s acquittal. There have also been death threats against the Pakistani supreme court justices who acquitted Bibi of blasphemy.

    After her acquittal, leaving the country was difficult. Bibi and her husband spent months in hiding. (more…)

  • The Christian law school that wasn’t: Canadian Supreme Court rules against Trinity Western University

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    Today the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Trinity Western University, a Christian liberal arts college which has been trying to establish a law school.
    From the legal brief:

    The Law Societies of British Columbia and Ontario had the power to deny approval to a proposed law school that would have required students to follow a religiously-based code of conduct restricting sexual behaviour, the Supreme Court has ruled.

    Students and faculty at TWU are required to follow a code of conduct. Among other things, this code of conduct forbids any sexual relations except for in a marriage between a man and a woman.

    After the school was turned down by the two law societies, TWU appealed the decision, which worked its way up to the Supreme Court who ruled against them today.

    Quoting again from the legal brief:

    The “public interest” included promoting equality by ensuring equal access to the legal profession, supporting diversity within the bar, and preventing harm to LGBTQ law students. Neither Law Society was stopping someone from following his or her own religious beliefs (including following the covenant if s/he wanted to). They only prevented TWU from enforcing beliefs on other members of the law school community.

    That last sentence is striking to me. Part of the issue is that TWU would have been “enforcing beliefs on other members of the law school community.” It’s not doing that because people have choice on if they go to that school or not. No other law school in Canada has that policy.
    This is a loss for religious liberty in Canada.
    Why can’t a law student have an option (one option) to go to a law school with a university that has Christian values at the core of its mission?
    Traditional Christian values are often criticize for being intolerant.
    In Canada (and largely in the United States), there is this push for LGBT tolerance that is increasing becoming intolerant of views that disagree, especially Christians who disagree.
    If you don’t support what they’re doing, then don’t go to school there. But don’t take the option away entirely.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • Pro choice paradox: why efforts to curb gender selective abortions are irrational

    Note: this post discusses what I see as a logical paradox in the current debate about abortion as a means of gender selection. Full disclosure: I am personally pro life.

    I’ve written before about the topic of gender selective abortion. In developing nations, the process of aborting a fetus (typically of a girl) based on gender is common. I read an interesting article this afternoon in the Montreal Gazette discussing how the practice is also becoming more common in North America among certain ethnic groups, while outlining different steps which the medical community has taken in an effort to curb this from happening.

    The Gazette sites an editorial from the Canadian Medical Association Journal which urges doctors to wait until the pregnancy is at 30 weeks before they inform parents as to the gender of the fetus. (more…)