Pray: Canada's social conservatives are anxious to have their voices heard where it really counts in a democracy A Vancouver Sun Exclusive, July 23, 2005
Actually they should have spelled it 'Prey'.
And they aren't Canadian they are an American Religious Corporation.
Vancouver Sun -- The gay marriage debate is helping Canada's social conservative movement expand its reach and influence, although the so-called "sleeping giant" of Canadian politics has internal conflicts and is still at the toddler stage compared to the powerful U.S. religious right movement.
Good let's put them in public day care where they belong and teach them about the important values of pluralistic civil society that allows them their religious rights. A society that they hate and are attempting to return to a Medieval theocracy,or a mythical Puritan American society.
Welcome to the national headquarters of Focus on the Family Canada, an affiliate of the Colorado-based Focus on the Family, perhaps the most powerful social conservative group in the U.S. The office of Focus Canada is far more modest than the American headquarters presided over by Dr. James Dobson, who since he began his folksy flagship radio show in 1977 has built a $150-million-a-year family values empire so influential that he has been called the religious right's new kingmaker and the pope of evangelical America.
That's because in the U.S. anyone can form a 'church" or religious organisation under their income tax act. Its the greatest single source of shysters and rip off artists pretending to be charities, when they are political lobbies. Remember the Jim and Tammy Faye Baker scandal, and all the other evangelical scandals of the late eighties.
Not that Focus Canada officials here mind: While the group is increasingly active in Canadian public policy debate -- it helped head the campaign against same-sex marriage legislation and is setting up an Ottawa-based family values policy think -ank -- Focus Canada prefers a low profile.
Low profile indeed, they are a secretive underground organization that threatens Canadian values. Sounds suspicous to me, wonder if CSIS is looking into them yet?
Focus Canada is wary of being depicted as the branch plant of a powerful American Christian right-wing group out to shape Canadian public policy. "We get a little discouraged when we see Focus Canada being portrayed as if Americans are attempting to bring their agenda into Canada," said Anna Marie White, the group's family policy director. "There is no agenda here. We have a group of very well-meaning Canadians here who have been working for over 20 years to bring good resources to Canadian parents and families."
That's because they are a branch plant of the extreme right in the U.S. (including people who kill doctors who perform abortions and condone gay bashing) and yes they have an agenda and it is to change Canadian pulbic policy.
Boy what hypocrites, let's see we are forming a public policy institute but we don't want to influence public policy. Do they think we are stupid or just American.
After all they are from the US home of right wing media that never challenge the right or its assumptions and PR.
And they are of course the kind of people that Monte Solberg, Conservative MP loves and defends. Being the 'America Good'/ 'Canada Bad' kinda guy he is.
Oh yes and the money to do all this political lobbying comes from where? From being a church that collects funds for charitable purposes. Much of this money is coming from their U.S. HQ of course. Supplemented by 'prayer offerings' from Canadian TV watchers. This is another of those TV/Radio evangelical churches that has no real estate, except that which it buys to sell for a profit.
As I have said before its time to tax the churches when they want to play in the area of politics and public policy. It's an idea whose time has come.
But what about free speech you ask.
This isn't free speech this is speech where money talks, cause its income tax free - speech. It's paid for by you and me cause our government allows them to exist tax free. It means they can dominate the discussion beyond the economic means of those they oppose. Nothing free about it.
Money Talks and this movement of the right walks, all over the rights of those they oppose by dominating the media.
They are of course 'shy' about actually talking to a reporter, cause they don't care about the media perse. They buy their media time to promote the message of their theology of intolerance.
