I care, but I hardly care, if you know what I mean? I hardly care …
that our clubby, legacy media pulled out all the stops to frame the event in as negative a light as possible. It is what I have come to expect of journalism in my country.
that CUPE union officials here in Canada call participants “transphobic bigots” and feign horror that anyone would do such ‘bullying’. Now THAT is funny coming from a union official.
that squishy, fussy politicians like the Mayor of Ottawa speak out of both sides of his mouth when he says, “I respect the right to protest” but then doesn’t because he disapproves of the protest.
that counter-culture extremists show up to do their regular empty routine of name-calling of event participants they do not like or ‘approve’ of. I sometimes wonder if they were raised that way. For sure, it was not hard to notice the somewhat desperate nature of their empty rhetoric.
that far-left progressives who love to push ‘born-in-the-wrong-body’ propaganda, described the event as “nefarious,” a “menace,” even using the dreaded, hair-standing “conspiracy-theorist” baloney!
As I said, “I hardly care.”
Now, unless you have been living ‘off-the-grid’ somewhere in Mudge Island, British Columbia, or Mud Lake, Labrador or living in a van north of Ajax because there are no apartments to rent, you likely have already heard of the monumental, coast-to-coast protest on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 called 1 Million March 4 Children, by average Canadians who are simply fed-up: fed-up with what they see as a push for LGBTQ ideology in schools, the loss of their parental rights and the move by ideologues to harm their children for the sake of advancing their doctrines by working to reconstruct them into shared public philosophy. The way progressives frame it, you would think every Canadian parent concerned for the health of their child that Wednesday was a terrorist. Hardly!
When it comes to gender identity confusion, few in Canada do it better than our publicly-funded
schools and school boards.
True to form, Canadian legacy media went ballistic and rushed to crush any and all goodness out of the parents’ protest, high-lighting two arrests out of tens of thousands of participants, and giving overwhelming coverage to the vitriolic comments of counter-protesters and dissenters gathered to disrupt moms and dads exercising their democratic rights. I can appeal to countless examples, but here are two:
City News, Ottawa (Sept. 20, 2023) cited the Mayor, Mark Sutcliffe, Sarah Worthman, a 2SLGBTQIA+ advocate, British Columbia’s human rights’ commissioner, Kasari Govender and ‘Community Solidarity Ottawa’ -- all, (no surprise here), condemning the march.
The CBC, (Canada’s National Broadcaster, who receives $1.4 billion from taxpayers), under the banner “Arrests, heated exchanges mark rallies for and against teaching LGBTQ rights in schools,” (Sept. 20, 2023) took every opportunity to vilify the March4Children participants. Like a symphony conductor, the CBC made sure all the musical instruments in ‘their’ band were heard … including the arrest of two people for "inciting hatred" and a third for "displaying hateful material” … quoting activists like Montreal, queer activist Celeste Trianon … ‘officials’ from school boards … including Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim who righteously declared "Today, we are being confronted by ignorance and bigotry” … and of course, our very own ‘Sunny Ways’ Prime Minister - "We strongly condemn this hate and its manifestations." Such baloney!
Advocating for children's rights against
unnecessary gender ideology teachings at
such a tender age and ensuring that parental consent remains paramount is sensical and a
Biblically appropriate response in a fallen world.
And what do both of these news articles same in common? There was not a single word or quote from an attending mom or dad on the street protesting – not a one! None! Zero! Lots of stuff from profanity-laced counter-protesters, unions officials, queer activists and vote-conscious politicians, however. And, there was the left’s obligatory name calling of moms and dads, all words or phrases social conservatives have heard countless times before, phrases like: right-wing conspiratorial groups, Christian nationalists, anti-public education activists, anti-queer blah, blah, blah! Most know the routine. ‘Balanced journalism’ is a contradiction in terms here in Canada-land. It’s the price one pays for going against culture and rejecting the nonsense that masquerades as science (Sorry, but biology is not bigoted!) and inclusion.
To their credit, these marches were organized in part by Muslim parents, with members of Ottawa’s Muslim community chanting “Leave our kids alone,” – all rightfully distressed by and disillusioned with Canada’s Boards of Education approach to classroom teaching on gender and sexuality. Good for them! They should be applauded. Regrettably, while these parents were breaking through the sludge of apathy and indifference, like a cold neglected poutine, my denomination’s leadership and our local churches, for the most part, have remained silent, as has The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, an organization of 44 Christian denominations, in Canada, whose stated mission includes “providing a constructive voice for Biblical principles in life and society.” Where are they? Or more pointedly – “Where were you?
One’s ability to separate untruth from truth is a core Biblical discipline. It’s called discernment, and Christians need to practice it when it comes
to protecting children. Thankfully some do ‘get it’!
Though it would be wrong to assume all of the Hands Off Our Kids protesting parents were religious, it would not be unreasonable to expect a significant number of them to be – as they live out their faith and its values in the face of a secular world’s growing animosity towards people of faith, whatever their tradition. As a Christian, for sure, I do not expect people who do not profess faith in Christ to embrace all the values associated with Christianity – though I would be the first to say some unbelievers live very righteous lives. Still, non-believers are living out their value system as well – and given the way they live out their lives, they might actually be less hypocritical. Ouch! I mean, did Jesus ever call out pagans for acting like pagans? Nope!
My argument with the cultural activists out that Wednesday to name-call ordinary moms and dads is that the ‘New Tolerance’ of the day is one that requires the absence of religious convictions, a kind of religious neutrality if you wish – a pervasive insistence that Muslims and Christians are not allowed to hold to certain truth claims on the grounds that doing so is intolerant. In this formula, all ideas and people are treated equally right, except those who happen to disagree with this view of tolerance. As a Christian, I can say that the truth claims of Christianity are not incidental to its identity; they ARE its identity. I suspect the same can be said of our Canadian Muslim community as well – thus the push back by parents that Wednesday, September morning.
Here is what I do know Biblically about the parent – child relationship within the God-ordained family unit. I suspect a good many of those standing outside our provincial and federal legislatures registering their unhappiness with their politicians would have no quibble with these ‘radical’ ideas found in the Bible:
Parents are to love their children (Proverbs 13:24);
Parents are responsible for the children in their household (I Timothy 5:8);
Parents are responsible for the instruction of their children (Proverbs 29:15);
Parents are responsible for the conduct of a child (Proverbs 29:17; Hebrews 12:5-11);
Parents are to be honored by their children (Ephesians 6:2);
Parents are to be compassion towards their children, and not exasperate them (Psalms 103:13; Ephesians 6:4);
Parents are to provide for their child’s future (2 Corinthians 12:14);
Children are to listen to their parents and obey them (Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:20);
Children are to be lovingly ‘guided’ by parents because (among other things) folly is bound up in their hearts (Proverbs 13:24; 22:15);
Children are a gift from God to parents (Psalm 127:3);
Children are expected to ‘grow up’ … and grow out of their childish ways (1 Corinthians 13:11);
Parents are to give children guidance and then space, while always lovingly caring for them (Matthew 19:14);
Parents are to start children off on the way they should go, because they learn habits and patterns from a very early age (Proverbs 22:6);
Parents are to make faith talk a regular and natural part of a child’s up-bringing (Deuteronomy 6:6-7);
Yup – pretty ‘radical’ stuff!
Imagine! Through simply reciting pronouns,
men and women magically change form.
When you submit to that kind of lie, you know
more officially sanctioned lies are coming.
Any time I was seriously disobeying Mom, she loved to quote Deuteronomy 21 to me, about “Honoring your father and mother … that your days may be long…” – putting special stress on the words “that your days be long” … and she quickly followed with her own brand of wisdom: “I brought you into this world and I can take you out.” When she said that, I knew she was seriously ticked-off! I had a terrible mother – she never once tried to wrap me up in cotton wool or keep me from drinking out of the garden hose on a red-hot summer afternoon.
My point here is that for discerning people of faith, nurturing and protecting their child is a natural extension of who they are as followers of Christ. Momma bears never worry about what others think when protecting their cubs from possible harm. Nor should Christians.
Standing by as passive, dis-engaged observers in the development of your child while this war of ideas … ideologies … and conflicting world views move to erase their innocence, is not the ‘Christian’ thing to do.
Though we cannot expect non-believers to understand our Biblical values or motives, refreshingly I have met some who intuitively DO understand what is at stake – and they were in the swelling crowds that day as well. This parental ‘push-back’ Canadians were witness to, was about advocating for children's rights against (a) ‘unnecessary’ gender ideology teaching, (b) sexual indoctrination and (c) ongoing exposure to explicit sexual content – at such a young age … AND, (d) to ensure that parental consent remains paramount. Grade Three and Four children are far, far too vulnerable to the ideologues running our school boards and classrooms.
The social revisionists will tell us …there is no such thing as parental rights.
The Teachers’ Union, who have declared war on parental rights protests will tell us that having a different perspective is “hate.”
The union bullies will try to convince everyone that they care more about children than parents do. Is that why they go on strike for better wages during the fall season as school is starting up? Children offer such good political leverage to advance interests.
The social activists, fresh out of our progressive universities, and who have never raised a family, will say this is all about picking on the 2SLGBTQIA+++++++ and of degrading and rendering invisible the rights of transgender folks.
The gender cultists will claim that criticism against them originates entirely with the socially conservative political activists. False of course, since socially progressive nations like Britain, Sweden and Finland have already moved to place restrictions on trans-presenting children accessing puberty-blocking drugs and surgeries. Norway will be next.
Don’t believe a word of what they say. The parental pushback by hundreds of thousands of ordinary Canadians that Wednesday was about protecting the innocence and vulnerabilities of minors, their children – children easily influenced, manipulated, swayed – and even conned!
Recently The National Post (September 29, 2023) reported that The Canadian Institute for Health Information determined that as of 2018, gender reassignment surgeries have risen sharply, from 536 in 2018-19, to 985 in fiscal 2022-23. Even more distressing is that since 2018, 602 involved youth 18 and under … and of those, 303 involved teens 17 and younger. The youngest minor to be given female-to-male “top surgery” — double mastectomy — was 14. The actual number of minors who received this life-altering surgery to accommodate their preferred gender identities is likely higher – given that private clinics and the Province of Quebec hospital data were not included. I wonder if any physician told those prepubescent and preadolescent children that long-term outcomes are not certain or evidence-based?
The threat to our children is hardly imagined … and here in the land of the Maple-Leaf, ideologues have determined school children represent fertile soil from which to hatch their trans-gender brood. No wonder sensible parents are pushing back! May their tribe increase.
In a world that worships sexuality, we need to get some sanity back into this area of our lives. Starting with the school system would be a good beginning.
Increasingly the State sees itself as the surrogate parent because of the failure of some families. In their world parents do not ‘own’ their children – government does. Consequently, the government’s habit of seizing children without due process of law or presumption of a parent’s innocence, is hardly new. Government agencies do indeed take our children, almost like a bank repossesses a new GMC truck should the owner fall behind in payment. My mom certainly never saw her three children as the legal property of the federal or provincial government – as her earlier comment about “bringing us into this world” suggests … and she had no problem informing the principal or my teachers at MacLaren Elementary or Dunton High of this. My mom seems to have replicated herself in the protesting parents on the streets.
The hysteria of Sarah Jones is familiar. A senior writer for the Intelligencer, she writes “Parental rights are merely one path to the total capture of state power and the imposition of an authoritarian hierarchy on us all.” (Intelligencer, April 8, 2023). Whoa! Who would have believed parents were so dangerous to democracy! Now six months later, this is precisely the same mania of those denouncing concerned parents. Later in the article Jones accused ‘right-wingers’ of believing children are property … while hypocritically holding to the view that the State does!
Like an old Sparta movie a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece where seven-year-olds were legally removed from their homes to be molded into the moral citizens the State preferred, today’s band of progressive journalists like Jones, politicians and activists appear inclined to believe the same. “Keep your hands off of the State’s power. Your children belong to us to mold. We tell you how things are going to unfold. Don’t get in our way or we will crush you.”
Parental consent is hardly a controversial subject, but our Canadian legacy media have made it so, proving once again that they are incapable of balanced journalism.
Here in Ontario, the policy of the Toronto District School Board (the largest in Canada) states “A school should never disclose a student’s gender non‐conformity or transgender status to the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s)/caregiver(s) without the student’s explicit prior consent. This is true regardless of the age of the student.” Ottawa, Peel Region, and Hamilton Boards have similar policies. So should Fred, the four-year-old decide to change his gender at school, his parents will not be informed unless little Freddie gives permission first. Now that is fence-post stupid!
Our Prime Minister reported this past June [2023] “Far-right political actors are trying to outdo themselves with the types of cruelty and isolation they can inflict on these already vulnerable people.” Well, Mr. Trudeau, apparently the ‘far-right’ now includes 78% of Canadians, because according to the non-profit Angus Reid Institute (August 28, 2023), parents want to be informed by schools if their child wishes to change their name or pronouns and 43% say parents should be informed and give consent if a child wants to change how they identify. In households with children under the age of 18, support for informing parents goes up to 82%. 1 Oops! I guess our PM misspoke.
While most conservative politicians have generally ignored the gender-file, there are a few bold politicians who more recently have responded to these parental concerns. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe joins New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs in adopting a new gender policy in schools requiring parental consent for students under 16 years old who wish to change their preferred name or pronouns. No wonder the gender activists have their underwear in a knot! Even legacy media’s ideological push to paint the 1 Million March 4 Children protesters as fringe opinion – is being seen for the deceit it is.
Since when is caring about what your child is taught in the classroom considered hatred? Canadians have no reason to trust these same people that use words like ‘birthing people’ to describe a pregnant women.
On that sunny September morning, across our nation, democracy and the right to have a point of view, took to Canadian streets – much to the distress of let of center activists and most politicians. What we saw was a multicultural, main-stream turnout of thousands of moms and dads, Muslims and Christians, standing in solidarity to a righteous cause. Though perhaps unaware, on that day they were living out Micah 6:8, a call to “act justly”; they were “defending the weak … rescuing the weak” (Psalm 82:3-4); they were safeguarding a child’s future that “they might have life in all of its fullness” (John 10:10). I say, good for them.
Recently the entire Canadian House of Parliament stood to applaud a Nazi! Imagine! While hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, our politicians clapped their little hearts out to celebrate an actual Nazi unit war veteran. I confess I am a little bewildered here given that our Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have often claimed that their conservative critics themselves are neo-Nazis! Talk about unutterable ignorance! I would offer it's this same political ignorance that paints concerned parents as racists, bigots and more! BTW – Douglas Murray has written a cogent article, Special to the National Post, about the state of Canada and its move to proto-authoritarianism. 2
I realize that engaging in political talk is a dangerous practice, especially for ‘religious’ people, me included. Well, as we say in my home province of Quebec – “C’est la vie”. Besides, Christians have always lived a different epistemological existence, and I am just operating here in that tradition. The Bible calls us to hunger and thirst for righteousness [Matthew 5:6] – a righteousness that works to make a better world for everyone, including our children – especially our children. On Wednesday, September 20, 2023, the silent majority found their voice; angels disguised as moms and dads decided to speak out -- acting because they rightfully perceived their children’s emotional and physical futures to be in danger. It is! If in standing for parental rights we suffer reproach – then that is what we shall do … and “dam the torpedoes”. Perhaps the mood of the nation over the Liberal government wagging its culture war against ordinary Canadians is tipping things in the right direction. “OnlySaying …”
1. https://angusreid.org/canada-schools-pronouns-policy-transgender-saskatchewan-new-brunswick/
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