Vol XVI. No. 28
Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019 http://colleagueslist.blogspot/.ca http://colleagueslistii.blogspot.com
GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net
This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns, write to me personally - waholst@telus.net
*****
Dear Friends:
My Special Item this week focuses on "Canadian/American relations from a religious perspective." I offer no great or novel insights, but the ongoing reflections of a Canadian with a lifelong interest in our neighbour to the south.
Please enjoy the other items I have collected for you as well.
Wayne
PLEASE NOTE - If a link below seems to be dead, cut and paste it into the address bar at the top of your web page and it should work.
******
SPECIAL ITEM
CANADIAN/AMERICAN RELATIONS FROM A RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE
I have been engaged in religious research affecting Canada and the United States for more that fifty years. Part of that engagement has involved living and working in the USA for a time myself.
Never in that period of more than half a century have I experienced Canadian disillusionment with America as I see it today.
For example, Angus Reid tells us that a large majority of Canadians prefer to see Biden, rather than Trump, as president of the country to their south. This is quite irregular in many ways from times past.
https://tinyurl.com/yy8oxefq (Angus Reid link)
Colleague John Stackhouse, a prominent Canadian evangelical commentator, openly criticizes a number of well-known and outspoken American evangelicals. A Canadian evangelical strongly criticizes some that are Americans. Unusual.
https://tinyurl.com/mqsno7bd (Stackhouse link)
These examples, I suspect, are but the tip of the iceberg.
Canada, geo-politically, is a more conservative nation than America, as we have often been the destination of American refugees in search of less extreme living conditions.
Religiously, Canada distinguishes itself from the USA because we have never had a Protestant majority as has been the case in the country south of us. Quebec - with its French factor - has always been a major influence balancing our national religious and cultural realities. We seem to have learned the art of compromise in ways we have not seen operative in the States.
Freedom - both politically and religion-wise - takes on a different hue to the south of us. Americans always seem to be testing the boundaries when it comes to just about everything. My Canadian formation has taught me that while freedom is a great gift for a people, that must be balanced with a sense of responsibility. That does not mean to imply that many Americans are an irresponsible lot. I count many Americans as friends of like mind and behaviour. But recent developments at the US Capitol have left many Canadians deeply concerned. Could this radicalism ever happen on Parliament Hill? I sincerely hope not.
When I worked in the USA during the 1970's I succeeded in alienating a number of my American colleagues with my comments that implied Canadians were a more mature people. I learned to keep my mouth shut about such things while at Lutheran Church in America headquarters in New York City!
During the past years, and especially since Obama was president, I have felt increasingly concerned about the forms of opposition assumed against him by radically conservative Americans. That anxiety has only grown since Trump has been president.
Many Canadian Christians simply don't understand the positions assumed by Republican plus Conservative American Christians. Try as we might to be fair and balanced, it does not work for us. That is why Canadian evangelicals like John Stackhouse can continue to be evangelical, but not American evangelical Christians.
American Abraham Lincoln has always been a heroic figure for me - alongside men like King, Gandhi and Mandela. I studied the contribution of Abe Lincoln up to and during the US Civil War. He paid the supreme price for his stance, but people around the world have never forgotten him. The vision of Lincoln keeps many of us hopeful for America.
Canadians pray for another Lincoln to emerge. Has he? Will he?
It is because of what I have learned about American history that I truly and sincerely hope for a rebirth in American religion, which I believe could bring about a rebirth in American life generally.
Wayne
*****
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
John Stackhouse Jr.Moncton, NB
Personal Web Site
February 9th, 2021
"Churches and COVID-19"
https://tinyurl.com/479hsw73
--
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site
February 8th, 2021
--
NET NOTES
AN ECUMENICAL APPROACH
TO ASH WEDNESDAY
No Touching is Permitted
for Lenten Ash Observation
Religion News Service,
February 9th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/378eavlx
--
HERSHEL SHANKS DIES
He Made Biblical Archeology
Widely Available to the Public
Religion News Service,
February 8th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/2uh8masb
--
LAYOFF LESSONS
FOR CHRISTIANS
What Might God be Teaching Me?
Faith Today,
Jan/Feb. 2021
https://tinyurl.com/39uzz7vo
--
POPE TO VISIT IRAQ
Support Christians,
Build Bridges with Muslims
Catholic Register, Toronto
February 8th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/cmh41xco
--
PROPOSED LAWSUIT LINKS
VANCOUVER TO MT. CASHAL
Christian Brothers Involved
Catholic Register, Toronto
February 10th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/1jpn422j
--
AN AMERICAN LENT -
TIME FOR EVANGELICAL CONFESSION
Religion News Service,
February 10th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/1iip4exn
--
BIDEN TO RETAIN CONTROVERSIAL
U.S. EMBASSY IN JERUSALEM
Trump Decision Stands
Christian Post
February 9th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/1k99rh1b
--
WHY WHITE AMERICAN EVANGELICALS
STAYED WITH TRUMP
Sightings
February 11th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/g963mg98
--
THE SURPRISING GIFT
OF KNOWING MY VOCATION
Doing the Work to Which I'm Called
The Christian Century,
February 4th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/2j4l39u3
--
BERLIN'S DEBATE OVER PIUS XII
HAS HIT THE STREETS THERE
Silence re Holocaust Viewed Negatively
Religion News Service,
February 10th, 2021
https://tinyurl.com/4jdxrhxv
*****
Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:
We create an environment where it is alright to hate, to
steal, to cheat, and to lie if we dress it up with symbols
of respectability, dignity, and love.
- Whitney M. Young Jr.,
--
Habit is a powerful means of advancement, and the
habit of eternal vigilance and diligence, rarely fails to
bring a substantial reward.
- Lewis Latimer
--
When we confuse our jobs with our worth we end up
calculating our innate value on spreadsheets and
forgetting the true nature of our deep interconnections.
We forget that others are more than their relative place
in the pecking order. We forget that this pecking order,
which now extends globally, is profoundly inhumane
and unchristian in both its ideology and impact.
- J. Daniel Sims
--
Nobody can will their heart to beat even once. Every
heartbeat is a gift from God and it means he’s not done
with you yet.
The idea that we are going to put less value on another
person’s heartbeat because they are disabled or
because they carry an incurable disease is
anathema to us.
Remember, when Jesus rose from the dead he restored
life in God-made man! In the face of that gift, how can
we denigrate the life of any other human being?
- Joseph Dutkowsky, MD
*****
excuse its sins. It is righteousness that exalts a nation while
sin is a reproach to any people.”
This Winter, Our Groups Meet on Zoom
Monday Night Study 7:00PM to 8:30PM (90 minutes)
Ten Online classes run from January 25th to March 29th.
Our Book - "Braving the Wilderness" by Brene Brown
You can buy the book from Amazon.ca or Indigo
It will be your only cost for the series.
Register for Zoom on our church website
Go to the Ministries heading and click ACTS
Thursday Morning Bible Study 10:00AM to 11:00AM (60 min.)
This winter we are studying the Gospel of John
Classes run until April 8th, 2021
Invite new friends to join us via Zoom.
If you have questions, contact Wayne at waholst@telus.net
(end)
