Realwomen of BC - Archives - February2007

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THE REAL NEWS The R.E.A.L WOMEN of BC Newsletter February 2007, P.O. Box 39068, Point Grey RPO, Vancouver, BC V6R 4P1, Tel/Fax: 604- 463-1611, website: http://www.realwomen.bc.ca
The State Rules If conservative Christians ever thought that they were protected under the Charter of Rights they better re-think that notion. Apparently those “nasty, intolerant” people will either conform to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as, of course, defined by the Supreme Court of Canada, or else. Last fall, in an article entitled “Living Better Multiculturally: Whose Values Should Prevail?” published in the Literary Review of Canada, Janice Gross Stein, Belzberg professor of conflict management and director of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, disclosed an interesting campaign. Stein makes it clear that the Supreme Court’s values rule and that churches whose teachings are not aligned with the Charter should be denied charitable status and property tax exemption. Although Ms. Stein has a particular problem with churches that do not ordain women, teachings on moral issues that contradict the Charter will cause the same response. Eventually, there will be a court case where a woman’s inability to be ordained as a priest will be held as in contravention of the charter. She would be likely to win, considering the current make-up of our Supreme Court of Canada. Churches may then be found in contravention of the Charter on moral issues such as homosexuality and same-sex marriage. They may then risk having their charitable tax number revoked before anyone can say tax receipt and on it goes from there. Churches better realize that their tax exempt status days are numbered and church goers learn to support their churches without receiving tax receipts.