Heritage Canada Letters to Catholic Insight or Censorship? Nonsense! It's just "Monitoring", Double Standards? Whattsamatta U don't like Little Kids?
Following are two of the documents I have received pertaining to the continued program of harassment of Father de Valk and Catholic Insight by Heritage Canada and an unnamed complainant.
As for my own mixed feelings on aspects of this issue, I think my friend Timeimmortal said it best - "I don’t much like it when people align themselves with Caesar and then complain that he’s acting too Roman for their tastes. And since Catholic Insight does accept Heritage Canada money, they have unfortunately opened themselves to this state of affairs — one never gets to lead when one takes Caesar as a dance partner."
However in the case of Father de Valk and Catholic Insight I believe a double standard may be at play, that not all animals are equal in the eyes of Heritage Canada, but more on that later. Based on what I have learned to date Heritage Canada has placed Father de Valk on their "watch list" for the same material by and large, that was used as evidence in the recently dismissed, though currently being appealed, Canadian Human Rights Commission complaint raised against him. Father de Valk is in effect both guilty and innocent depending on which Kangaroo is in charge.
On to the Letters, and please forgive the poor jpeg scans. The 1st files are pages 1 & 2 of the complainants letter to Heritage Canada decrying their slow pace of action on the Catholic Insight file. The last file is a letter sent by Scott Shortliffe - Director, Periodical Publishing Policy & Programs Department of Canadian Heritage in which he thanks Father de Valk for agreeing to comply with Heritage Canada's request that Catholic Insight provide copies of each issue of their periodical for "monitoring purposes".
In a third as yet unpublished letter from Mr. Shortliffe Father de Valk is cautioned that; "While Catholic Insight has the right to present religious or political views on the issues of same sex marriage and homosexuality (as a sexual choice or lifestyle), any denigrating content that is specifically directed towards homosexual men and women could potentially render it ineligible for support by by our programs."
Denigrating content, remember that term.
Heritage Canada is a proud "funding" sponsor of InsideOut, the Toronto Gay and Lesbian Film & Video Festival, now in it's 18th year.
Here's a sample of the fare you missed at last May's InsideOut festival.
I don't know what category of pedophiliac wish dream the following films represent but hey it's your money they're spending so why should Heritage Canada care? Besides it's being done in the sacred name of diversity you Stick-in-the-Mud Haters!
Babysitting Andy:
Synopsis: What do you do if you’re nine and nobody will tell you what ’fellatio’ means? When Andy’s uncle and his boyfriend arrive to babysit, she corners them with a Supersoaker and they can do nothing but comply.
Or how about, No Bikini:
Synopsis: When Robin was seven, she spent her holidays at a swimming camp. She decided to do without her bikini top - and managed to pass for a boy for several glorious weeks.
Of course you could have opted to enjoy - Jerking
Synopsis: Gender tensions are expressed through short bursts of boxing and jerking off.
Now if film isn't your thing you can always curl up with a copy of Fab Magazine, which Heritage Canada supported to the tune of $35,751 in fiscal 2006-2007. Click on the Hot Links tab on the right hand sidebar under "Regular features", I dare ya;) I'm not sure if that section qualifies under "Editorial Content" funding guidelines hmmm.
...
Denigrating content indeed. So there you have it, in Heritage Canada's moral universe, pedophiliac wish dreams and Gay Porn are considered a wise cultural investment, while Father de Valk is threatened with having his funding cut off for daring to support traditional values and communicating church doctrine. Nope, no double standard here.
....
PS. My SuperKitty Powers are picking up signals, the complainant may be a disgruntled ex-seminarian, with frustrated political aspirations, ah but the signal grows weak....
Yowza!
You like? I think it sums up the issue of double satndards and the corrupt moral relativism of Heritage Canada pretty succcinctly.
An ex-seminarian?
Well it's surely someone with a holier-than-thou complex. I can't remember the last time I read such a rude, demanding letter. Is this Putin's long-lost boyfriend? I'll have to ask Bill Siksay....
Yikes ...
Theoretically, a "complaint" about the immoral, offensive content of those gay magazines should result in those publications also being put on a 'watch' list.
I like the line about "it is our deeply held conviction."
I can just picture the government bureaucrat taking a deep breath and feeling some sense of self-satisfaction before he dictated that line.
The alliance of the CJC, the CIC and Egale is, to say the leaswt, interesting given this.
No 13.1 complaints, no Libel suits...what gives?
From a link at Kathy's great site.
"The Heretic: Modesty Patrols and Vigilante Violence
by Shmarya Rosenberg, August 6, 2008
37 comments
TAGS: Ultra-Orthodoxy The Heretic Modesty
Not too long ago, a woman sat in the ‘wrong’ section of a public bus. A group of men asked her to move to the back. She refused. The men became more insistent. She still refused. Infuriated, the men punched, kicked and beat her. The bus driver did not interfere or call police.
Did this happen in America’s Deep South? In Taliban-controlled Kabul? In some Third World backwater?
No. It happened in Israel, and it is not an isolated incident.
The men who beat that woman are ultra-Orthodox. The woman herself is Orthodox. Her ‘crime’? She refused to sit in the section of the bus designated for women.
Ultra-Orthodoxy demands strict separation of the sexes. Men and women sit apart at weddings, family dinners, public gatherings, and in synagogue. Unmarried ultra-Orthodox men do not converse with women they are not closely related to. They have never held a woman’s hand or stolen a kiss, let alone "hooked up." Married ultra-Orthodox men follow the same restrictions. Even contact with their wives is closely regulated.
This hyper-segregation has now spilled over into Israel’s system of public transport. The ultra-Orthodox are demanding – and getting – separate seating on public buses. And, even though compliance with this segregation is supposed to be voluntary, increasingly the ultra-Orthodox choose to act as if it were mandatory, and as if they have the legal right to use coercion and brute force to achieve it.
This rigid separation of the sexes is combined with a plethora of modesty laws that prohibit women from wearing certain color dresses, from wearing denim skirts, and from wearing any clothing deemed immodest. This is over and above the modesty called for by basic Jewish law.
Until recently, enforcement of these extra modesty laws was largely left to non-violent peer pressure – today it is handled with aggression. Women have been beaten and doused with acid, paint, and bleach. Clothing stores have been torched.
The latest case of ultra-Orthodox vigilante violence was just reported by the Jerusalem Post. A group of young ultra-Orthodox men, a so-called “modesty patrol,” invaded the home of a young Jerusalem woman and, when she failed to agree to move out of the neighborhood the men sought to safeguard, beat her. One of them, a hasid, has been arrested. This “modesty patrol” suspected the woman of having contact with married men.
I have heard about other home invasions, beatings and attacks – including a woman beaten with a nail-studded 2 x 4. Her crime? Nobody really knows.
Ultra-Orthodox lawlessness is not new. Ultra-Orthodoxy has a clear disregard for laws it considers secular and non-Torah-based, and ultra-Orthodox Jews have long sought ways to skirt or completely evade inconvenient laws and government regulations.
Violence also has a long ultra-Orthodox pedigree, especially considering ultra-Orthodoxy itself is only about 200 years old. My favorite example is what happened after the head of the religious court in Brody – one of Eastern Europe’s most famous shtetls, now located in Ukraine – ruled leniently, allowing machine-ground wheat to be used for Passover matzos. (In the mid-19th century, this was revolutionary.)
Enraged by the ruling, hasidim harassed and threatened the rabbi, trying to force him to retract. When that failed, under the cover of darkness they hurled bricks through the windows of the rabbi’s home, narrowly missing the bed of his sleeping infant son. The rabbi refused to give in to the mob, and his lenient ruling stood.
But most often, violence works. Rabbis are not willing to confront it, and so they tailor their public rulings to placate thugs. They remain silent as women are beaten and harassed, sometimes condemning in private what they fear to confront publicly.
When the target is homosexuals, however, ultra-Orthodox rabbis have been in the forefront of inciting violence. Israel’s chief rabbis called homosexuals “the lowest of people” during the violence-filled run-up to Jerusalem’s 2006 Gay Pride parade, and leading ultra-Orthodox rabbis signed a notice calling gays an “evil mob seeking to defile the holy city of Jerusalem.”
Yeshiva heads sent their students to the streets to riot. They burned the contents of the large city-owned plastic trash dumpsters – and they burned the dumpsters themselves. The fumes and smoke sent scores of ultra-Orthodox elderly and children to hospitals with breathing and cardiac trouble. Even so, the riots and the dumpster-burning continued night after night. Weak and defenseless victims of the acrid smoke became collateral damage in a holy war fought by unruly mobs to defend the “purity” of Jerusalem. It was as if these victims were viewed by the mobs as sacrifices offered to appease the angry, vengeful, ultra-Orthodox God – the God of “modesty patrols” and segregated buses; a God of ultra-Orthodox invention, not of history.
Many of us project our own religious upbringing on ultra-Orthodoxy, as if ultra-Orthodoxy was somehow American Judaism dressed up in period costume, Fiddler on the Roof with cell phones and iPods.
It’s not.
Ultra-Orthodoxy is a fundamentalist, rejectionist movement. It lacks transparency, democratic institutions, and checks and balances. It is closer theologically to the Taliban than is it to Reform Judaism.
And one day soon, it may be riding on a bus with you. <<<
Uhm uh thanks for LS but maybe just provide a link next time it's a tad long no?
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I doubt they would hear a complaint Ricky, it would be considered "backward", provincial or worse "harassment" of a protected group, in short a hate crime to complain. Anyway these are not the sort who have any understanding or concern for the average citizen, the only optics that matter are the reflections of their own images confirming their own prejudices.
I'm utterly shocked, nice work Blaze. So it's okay to fund kiddie porn, which I thought was illigal but it's bad to print Catholic Doctorine.
Jesus this country has gone to hell in a hand basket, I would think a nine year old little girl giving grown men blow jobs fits into the the catagory of "Exploitation and Pedophilic material" and we are funding that.
Holy Hanna.
Here's a link for a photo essay on the Diverse Life Style and wonders of the Gay lifestyle. Bewarned if you view it might I suggest the blurry option. Father if you are reading this feel free to send this essay to the complainant and tell him that this kind of behavior is what you are trying to make the Catholics aware of.
Link: http://www.zombietime.com/up_your_alley_2008/
Hi Rose thanks for the link and comment, it is an odd choice of subject matter for Heritage Canada to be associated with.
I hope Father de Valk is reading, he needs to know he has allies especially in light of the bizarre double standards shown by Heritage Canada.
BCF,
I notice this news is close to a year old (dates on the letters). ANy idea why this took so long to come out as news and, also, why de Valk complied with this request and fought the HRC complaint.
(the obvious thought is he really really wanted his gubbermint stamps)
I doubt Catholic Insight had either the time or inclination to publicise this matter given the serious harassment they faced by the CHRC, besides for all I know they may have been warned not to publicise this issue, or as you say why risk their funding by angering Heritage Canada further. The matter was brought to my attention by a citizen.
Check this link so long as you are discussing religion and "blow jobs."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/nyregion/26circumcise.html
I am prepared to live and let live when it comes to matters of religious belief and cultural practice, provided they are not stupid and harmful and if the individual's right to bodily integrity is respected. By this I mean an individual can have all the cosmetic tattooings, piercings and surgeries he or she wants once they reach the age of majority. Up until then, claims that a deity or cultural habit demands any of these cosmetic procedures is irrelevant. There is nothing stopping an individual from consenting to a cosmetic procedure if he or she deems it important once they are old enough to decide for themselves.
Yoiks Pongo I would hate to be in the middle of that Bar Fight. Circumcision in general seems to fall in and out of vogue within the medical community as well,
How much of a subsidy does the Herald receive ?
I mean if enough of us subscribe maybe he can tell Heritage Canada to stuff it and then he can publish what the heck he likes.
Sanwin Catholic Insight recieved an amount just over 12K in 2006-2007. Now I am not certain if this figure represents actual dollars or a bit of accounting sleight of hand between Heritage Canada & Canada Post. Did they receive an actual cheque for this ammount? I simply do not know enuff about the PAP program to say so.
BCF, the link I posted in the comment above details the controversy in New York City over the bizarre religious practice of an Hasidic sect whose mohels use oral suction, that is they put their lips on the wound and suck it clean following a circumcision. The New York City Health Authority tried to put a stop to this after infants were developing infections and herpes as a result.
The Hasids insist this is a requirement revealed to them by their G_d. The Mayor of New York City prefers that the Health Authority ignore the issue, which strikes me as odd in that you can be certain were any other religious sect or cult doing this, or anything akin to this, and claiming they were so ordered by Divine command they would have the book thrown at them by City and State health and child welfare authorities.
Ritual circumcision is one thing. Sucking on a newborn's circumcision is something else entirely, particularly when it leads to the transmission of diseases.
Yes Pongo I agree, it would be a very nast fight indeed were the authorities to take direct action.
Yes, this is the point: in matters of religious expression when and where is it appropriate for civil authority to intervene when the beliefs, rites and ceremonies of a particular religious community run afoul of the mores of modern society? At present it looks as though these decisions are determined by adherents of politically correct orthodoxy.
Catholic Insight was dragged before a human rights commission and put on notice by Heritage Canada over comments on homosexuality and morality in its magazine. Catholic Insight's comments in this matter were found to be consistent with Catholic moral theology, and presumably within the Charter rights to freedom of religious expression.
In addition, do you recall the case in 2001 in Aylmer, Ontario when executing a court order obtained by the Elgin Children's Aid Society seven terrified children between the ages of 6 and 14 were taken from their families by force by the OPP after their parents refused to discontinue disciplining them with a leather belt or stick. The parents belong to the Church of God, a fundamentalist Christian group that believes in this method of correction. In short, they told the state to mind its own business, asserting their right to practice their faith and raise their children as they see fit.
Do you expect the CAS and the human rights commisions are likely to be as heavy handed with people of other faiths?
I've not read any of the comments but just wanted to post my own after reading the article. I have to disagree with BCF as it is not double standards at all. Heritige are just promoting their own vision for the future. They see cultural acceptance of anything new as a "good" and "enriching" thing, and anything that promotes values from past ages as "bad". The paedophilia movies, while utterly ridiculous, does not contain anti-*anybody* stuff -- not even anti-Paedophilia, which is *bleep*-ing moronic and dangerous -- and so qualifies as "not hate or anti-somebody-who-might sue/complain". The Bible, which states (paraphrasing here, obviously) no man shall lie with another man, or with the beasts of the field, is obviously an exclusive club where homosexuals and zoophiles are not welcome or accepted. So, by its own rules, there's no double standard.
Problem here is that its own rules are *bleep*-ing moronic.
Ugh, my entire response to Pongo got erased. In Canada, I expect the state to become ever more heavy handed certainly against those of a Christian heritage, other faiths may get a pass so long as they can proven useful. The Aylmer example you provide is of a small and non-influential sect, and as such ripe for the picking if not today, then tomorrow. Religion has been the true enemy of all totalitarian regimes. Never more so than in the 20th century.
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I like your angle Mr. Right, it is an interesting perspective which may be the result of a cultural and moral vacuum created by the adoption of the new "secular" religion.
Pongo yikes wow, that's gross.
I personally believe in allowing others to follow their own beliefs, however a homosexual perusing a Catholic Newsletter looking to find offense is just plain creepy. From my perspective Father Valk is being harrassed and persecuted by the complainant, not content with the complaint being the punishment Mr. Wells apparently(is that name correct) hell bend on driving a devote FRAIL ELDERLY Catholic Monk to an early grave.
If that fruitloop can peruse Catholic and Christian material hoping to find offense I'll respond in kind and persuse online and off line gay porn and litature and I'll bring it to the public's attention.
We Catholics (sic yea I'm one of them) have turned the other cheek one to many times, if the gay advocates want a nasty fight we'll give them one. The link I provided earlier to the perv fest, which was labeled a "Family Affair" is just the tip of the iceberg. If the gay community want a fight, we'll give them one and we'll win.
Bigcitylefard in absense of your condemnation am I to assume you approve of the government providing funding for "Kiddy Porn"? You get your knickers in a knot over funding to a religious magazine but remain mute on the exploitation of a nine year old little girl, talk about twisted ethics.
Apparently Rob Wells is not himself gay, so it might be more accurate to present him merely as someone who just has it in for "Catholic Insight" magazine or, perhaps, Catholics, or maybe just Father de Valk.
"Catholic Insight" has only a small circulation, and it is dependent on subscriptions and donations. It's not exactly a household name, even in Catholic households. It is really unlikely to fall accidentally in gay hands unless those gay hands live in one of the few conservative Catholic households that subscribe to the magazine. It's not like "Xtra", "Eye" or "Now" which any unsupervised child in Toronto can take from a public box.
It seems very strange to me that Rob Wells would make it his mission to crush this small, conservative Catholic magazine. I hope this time around he is paying his own costs.
Pongo I did not mean to sound too apocalyptic, but the truth is that whether the bureaucrats of the CHRC or for that matter Heritage Canada or any other bureacracy care to realize it or not all bureacracies eventually "turn" on the very people they were meant to serve due to a twisted sense of self preservation. The CHRC and Heritage Canada are really no different from previous efforts to engineer the New Soviet Man or whatever iteration they have concocted.
Another government agency infected with PC bigotry.
All too true WLMR, and I suspect that they consider themselves to have the best of intentions.
Shaidle was having fun with Jason Cherniak today on the Michael Coren show taping. She said that Jason hopes to live in a country where Hate is outlawed. She told him that she has no desire to live in any such country, and who could blame her. Proponents of such intellectual slop have no understanding of history or human nature. Scary to realize that the Law Schools now produce Cherniaks and Sock Puppets.
"What do you do if you’re nine and nobody will tell you what ’fellatio’ means? When Andy’s uncle and his boyfriend arrive to babysit, she corners them with a Supersoaker and they can do nothing but comply."
with her demand to know what fellatio means. she's not after a demonstration, or lessons in how to give head. she wants answers to questions - age appropriate sex education.
seriously. if you jump from that description to child pornography, you're a lot sicker than the "fruitloops" you oppose.
Anon you must be a leftist. Know how I can tell? Your evident moral and intellectual bankruptcy. Not to mention your obvious depravity.
Later Shorteyes.
In answer to the commenter who posted this: Do you expect the CAS and the human rights commisions are likely to be as heavy handed with people of other faiths?
Yes, there is a double standard. In the Chinese community, they use a practice called "coining" where they rub a child's body with coins to produce a "healing effect" that marks up the body and looks as though the child has been tortured or burned. Is this child abuse? Depends on who you ask. They claim it is a medical healing practice of their culture, but if you or I were to do it, we would be hauled before the courts for child abuse.
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