A rchive Date
[ 12-04-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/chapman.html
Religious excess closes minds to the world
By JIM CHAPMAN - London Free Press
April 12, 2003
This week, some slightly spiritual musings.
For starters, I had a very disturbing experience on the radio the other day. I've never been a fan of Pierre Trudeau and I made that point during a discussion of Canadian politics. I believe many of the things that have gone wrong in this country can be traced directly to Trudeau and his particular vision of Canada's future.
A female caller agreed that Trudeau was not her favourite politician, either, and then went on to discuss his position on abortion, crediting him for the present lax judicial attitudes towards the practice.
So far, pretty much standard fodder for our show - fair comment on a public figure. But she went an extra step with her next assertion, saying God had punished Trudeau for his abortion-related sins by taking his son away from him. You will remember that one of Trudeau's kids, Michel, died in 1998 while skiing with some friends in southeastern B.C.
I expressed my displeasure at such an idea and terminated the call, but it has stuck with me ever since. How can people believe in a God who would do such a thing? If God did indeed take Trudeau's son as punishment for his position on abortion, what about all the other moral transgressors who populate this globe? Children would be dropping like flies.
I'm no theologian and don't pretend to be one, but it seems to me such a harsh and narrow expectation of God's character limits not only one's view of the world, but of the infinite possibilities He has laid before us.
On a related topic, a friend informed me this week that my book Heart and Soul, had recently been denounced from a local pulpit on the grounds that the story it relates is somehow blasphemous and/or contrary to "proper" moral beliefs.
I found that assessment quite interesting, particularly because the book doesn't make any theological claims. It's just a story of one man's life-changing experience and the personal conclusions drawn from it.
I'm told the congregation was instructed not to read the book and certainly not to buy it. I can't help but wonder if there'd been a bonfire handy, might it not have been tossed into the flames for good measure.
I'm no theologian and don't pretend to be one, but it seems to me such a harsh and narrow expectation of God's character limits not only one's view of the world, but the infinite possibilities He has laid before us.
I don't care that some people may not like my writing, or my choice of subject matter. But it does trouble me a little that someone would be so threatened by a decidedly non-threatening work that it was deemed necessary to "warn" people against it.
Really, given the state of the world these days, aren't there more dangerous things to beware of?
The name of the church doesn't matter and the minister is certainly entitled to his opinion, but, again, it seems like an unnecessarily restrictive view of the world. And I'm entitled to that opinion, too.
And finally, on a lighter note, a silver lining (literally) on (what were) a cloudy couple of days. Like many Londoners, my lawn was visited by some tree limbs that relocated earthward during the ice storm. My front fence now needs rebuilding and the clean-up made a mess of the grass.
While driving to work on Wednesday morning, still unhappy about the damage, I noticed the warmer temperatures had coated the ice on the trees with melting water and much of the Forest City looked like it was coated in crystal.
It was one of those sights you see only a few times in your life and I took a few moments to sit in wonder at the sheer natural beauty of it. I hope you did, too.
Jim Chapman is host of CJBK-AM Radio's Talk of the Town. His column appears Sundays
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