Faithful Priest Accused of Hate Crime for Letter on Homosexuality [Canada]

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[Polycarp]

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URL: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/sep/03090205.html

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LifeSite Daily News

Tuesday September 2, 2003

Faithful Priest Accused of Hate Crime for Letter on Homosexuality

Politicians Should Take Heed on Implications of Hate Crime Bill C-250

TORONTO, September 2, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Toronto Star published a 750 word letter on Sunday by Rev. Alphonse de Valk, editor of the Canadian monthly magazine Catholic Insight, concerning the Catholic stand on homosexuality. The paper accepted the letter in response to de Valk's request for an opportunity to respond to the Star's publication last week of a lengthy article by Thunder Bay priest Fr. Scott Gale objecting to the Vatican's recent document on homosexual unions.
See http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/aug/03082502.html

In his characteristic, straightforward style, Fr. de Valk served up the teachings of the Church on the subject unapologetically. "The Church is right. The homosexual condition is a disorder, and homosexual acts are grave moral aberrations," he wrote. However, of ten subsequent letters to the Star responding to Rev. de Valk's article, six accused the priest of hate crime.

Despite the fact that Rev. de Valk merely presented Church teaching on the matter, distinguishing between homosexual acts and persons with homosexual inclinations, he was nevertheless accused of hate. "Homosexual activity rages against God's will," he wrote. Quoting the Bible, he explained, "God ordained the institution of marriage (Genesis 1: 27). He intended that it should be a permanent, lifelong commitment between husband and wife (Matthew 19:5-6); and, He ordained that marriage should exist for loving and cherishing one another and for co-creating children who are protected and
nurtured in a family."

In an interview today, Fr. de Valk told LifeSite that the responses to his article in the Toronto Star claiming he violated hate crime law should be a warning to politicians against passing Bill C-250 which seeks to add 'sexual orientation' to hate crime law. "While homosexual activists claim such a law would not silence debate on the issue, they themselves have accused me of hate for nothing more than asserting the Catholic position on the matter."

See Fr. de Valk's full letter to the Toronto Star:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/sep/030902a.html

See one of the responses accusing him of hate crime:
http://torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1& call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1062367811193

See several articles on the same-sex unions issue from the September 2003 issue of Catholic Insight at:
http://www.catholicinsight.com/article.html

See response to Fr. Gale article by Msgr. Vincent Foy of Toronto
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/sep/030902b.html

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[Polycarp]

Ping. (As usual, if you would like to be added to or removed from my "conservative Catholics" ping list, just send me a FReepmail. Please realize that some of my "ping" posts are long.)

[SkyPilot]

I used to say to these things - "Unbelievable."

Now, it is just another, everyday, believable nightmare of the times in which we live.

[gubamyster]

I believe it was David Frum at National Review Online who predicted a couple of months ago this would be the next step. Anyone who speaking out against homosexuality, especially the Catholic church, would be accused of hate crimes.

How long before a person is accused of merely looking like they have a bad thought agains gays?

Pretty soon we will all be like that Twilight Zone episode, walking around "thinking good thoughts" and saying "It's a very good thing you've done."

[B Knotts]

Let there be no doubt: they mean to outlaw our Faith.

[wideawake]

We are now racing toward Gomorrhah and slouching toward the catacombs.

[The Brush]

The Bible has been rejected by many as hate speech. People want to believe in a god without rules and when they encounter a consequence they simply cry "Where is God?"

My favorite line is from people who say that they can't believe in a god that would allow consequences (pain & suffering for behaviors.) They perfer a god that ignores sinful behavior and then micro-manages consequences, and they want a government that works the same way.

[bulldogs]

"Anyone who speaking out against homosexuality, especially the Catholic church, would be accused of hate crimes."



They are going to have to lock me up.

[ItsJeff]

I think the headline is misleading. When I saw that someone was "accused of a hate crime," I assumed that criminal charges had been brought.

But that's not what happened at all. Instead, the priest was "accused," apparently, by six letters to the editor.

[B Knotts]

Not to worry; I'm sure he and the paper will be fined by some "civil rights commission."

[Polycarp]

I didn't write the headline/title, I just posted it.

However, in Canada, under its current laws, there is a very good chance this priest will indeed be criminally charged.

[TexanToTheCore]

Probably the besst thing to do in this situation is for every parish to preach against homosexuality and let the cops put them in jail. And let the parishioners gather at the jails to sing hymns 24/7.

[Sloth]

I agree, but people have been criminally penalized just for publishing Bible verses in Canada.

[laotzu]

"They prefer a god that ignores sinful behavior and then micro-manages consequences, and they want a government that works the same way."

Very well said.

[Diamond]

If a faithful priest can be accused of hate crimes for a letter on homosexuality, then please sdd me to you list (that is, if you can abide a Presbyterian thereon:^)

Cordially,

[.cnI redruM]

Canada becomes more like Rome under Nero....
No wonder the smart and talented Canadians are all in Hollywood. No wonder Hollywood is such a bunghole of cultural rot.

[Polycarp]

Done. (You're not the only Presbyterian on my "Conservative Catholics" ping list ;-)

[EdReform]

Bump and ping.

Scripter will be off line occasionally between now and the middle of September. I've agreed to help him out by running his homosexual agenda ping list.

Homosexual Agenda: Categorical Index of Links

Homosexual Agenda Index (bump list)

Homosexual Agenda Keyword Search

All FreeRepublic Bump Lists

A simple freepmail is all it takes to subscribe to or unsubscribe from scripter's homosexual agenda ping list. If you wish to be added to the list in scripter's absence, please FReepmail me.

[Tacis]

It is a proven neocommunist, left wing strategy. The lefties protest your use of a word or phrase so often and so methodically that it is picked up by the media and academics that the cluster of phrases develops its own label. Thus, any actual or perceived or imagined claim that an individual is/was a communist is met immediately with a counterclaim of "MCCARTHYISM." Such a claim shifts the burden to the person making the original contention and is a complete defense against any hint of comsimp.

The same is true about any criticism of Jews or Israel. The counterclaim is "antisemitism." This is meant to be an absolute defense and puts the orgininal speaker on the defensive.

Today, we have faggitude. Any criticism, real or imagined, of fairies is met with "homophobia" (whatever that means) and shifts the defense to the original speaker. Thus, a suggestion that homosexuality is either a genetic disease or a behavioal disorder is met with "homophobia!" and the burden shifts to the original speaker to prove that not only is he not "homophobic" but that he is pro-tinkerbell.

As I've asked many times, where do the fairies get this clout? They are deviants and perverts and must recruit new members from the ranks of the normal people. We must start using the words "normalphobia" and "normalphobic" to refer to these fairy hissyfits.

[doc30]

In Canada, they will. It's happened before and there is abill before Parliament to ban the Bible as hate speech. Disgusting.

[yoe]

There is hope as long as sane voices can be heard and as yet we are not burning the truth-speakers at the stake.

Hate Crimes & Political Correctness are acronyms for Censorship of Truth.

Anyone with the courage and integrity to speak the truth about anything - need not apply for work anywhere.

[TheCrusader]

"However, of ten subsequent letters to the Star responding to Rev. de Valk's article, six accused the priest of hate crime."

This displays how well organized the homosexual agenda is, and how indifferent too many Christians are. One percent of the population can make themselves appear to be 60% because they work together and never rest. We on the other side of this sexual debauchery issue need to do the same.

[TheCrusader]

"We are now racing toward Gomorrhah and slouching toward the catacombs."

"And I will give children to be their princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them." (Isaiah 3:4)

[lady lawyer]

One part of the International Criminal Court statute -- the "crimes against humanity" is designed to do the same thing -- make traditional religious teaching a crime. There is also language that could be used to imprison church officials for refusing to perform a same-sex marriage. We know that the ICC advocates intend to use the ICC against churches and religious people, because at one point a group of conservative countries tried to get language into the statute that would have made clear that the statute was not to be used against religions. The radical law professors negotiating on behalf of the Western nations, and "volunteering" to represent some small countries that couldn't afford to send a representative, went nuts, and the language didn't make it in.

There is no question but that the left will not be satisfied until they completely silence traditional religious people.

[Capt. Tom]

The left doesn't want debate on sensitive issues . They want to browbeat anyone who expresses an opposing opinion, by name calling or threats.

The reason for shutting down discussion on their agenda is; if you can't talk about it, you can't do anything about it. -Tom

[TheCrusader]

"As I've asked many times, where do the fairies get this clout?"

From the laws they've managed to create, beginning with obtaining "minority status". From gay-friendly Courts with homo judges, and from infiltrating the news media, thus making themselves appear to be a much larger group than they actually are. And finally, from infiltrating the public schools, (we have two homosexual pervert principals in our school system), and the Churches. When Christian Churches preach "tolerance" of perverts from the pulpit, it makes it hard for good Christians to fight this filthy debauchery. So the answer to your question lies in one word: "infiltration"

In a corrupt society that embraces this immoral filth, it's hard to combat it. A great place to start would be for our doctors and researchers to get down off their liberal pedestals and admit that homosexuals are spreading AIDS and HIV around our country by infecting each other with impunity, and then some of the bisexual perverts amongst them spread it to women. Everyone says "I don't care what they do in private", but if what they do in private endangers our whole society they would change their tune.

[Old Professer]

The headline is correct; it is you who is confused. An accusation can be brought or made by anyone while a charge must be brought by legal authority.

I, too, was willing to accept that official charges had been brought just because it came from Canada.

[Ff--150]

Despite the fact that Rev. de Valk merely presented Church teaching on the matter, distinguishing between homosexual acts and persons with homosexual inclinations, he was nevertheless accused of hate

...coming to a state near you, prayer warriors...

[ThomasMore]

Bishop Colli told the Chronicle Journal that he only had a cordial discussion with Fr. Gale and expressed a few concerns. The Bishop and Gale talked about the sermon during a telephone conversation yesterday, which Gale described as cordial. "He wasn't out to malign the church but wanted people to make a decision based on a well-informed conscience and that's what the church expects everyone to do," said the Bishop. The Bishop and Gale appeared to be reflecting the theology of the Canadian bishops' original Winnipeg statement which has for decades been used by many clergy and laity to justify their dissent from the church's teaching on contraception and other moral issues.

Polycarp, this bishop should be excommunicated along with Gale! This is sickening and disheartening!

[Polycarp]

There is some justification for criticism of the Pope in that this kind of heresy is constantly tolerated, even from bishops' conferences.

[kitkat]

****...is met with "homophobia!"***

The response is to call the name caller a heterophobic. Watch him squirm and try to deny it.

[Central_Floridian]

Alot of wisdom in that post of yours.

[jimt]

Not a chance, it's a joke

If so, it's not very funny. There was someone who was charged and fined under similar laws for posting Bible verses condemning homosexuality on a billboard. Another guy was similarly charged and convicted for not printing material submitted by homosexuals. He refused to print it becuase he objected either to them or its content.

I'm not laughing.

[steve86]

Now, it is just another, everyday, believable nightmare of the times in which we live.

In some ways I am happy that nearing 50, I have lived over half my life and won't have to witness this stuff for too many decades more.

[First Amendment]

One percent of the population can make themselves appear to be 60% because they work together and never rest. We on the other side of this sexual debauchery issue need to do the same.

The famous Edmund Burke saying - "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" is something everyone should consider deeply.

I also like this one:

"Hope ... means ... a continual looking forward to the eternal world.... It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.... It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither." --C. S. Lewis

People of faith have been (to a large extent) asleep at the wheel, and if we don't grab control of the wheel, we're all going off the cliff very soon, IMHO.

[Salvation]

**Anyone who speaking out against homosexuality, especially the Catholic church, would be accused of hate crimes.**

We need to pray for them. This is disgusting.

[Salvation]

**However, in Canada, under its current laws, there is a very good chance this priest will indeed be criminally charged.**

Definitely something we need to follow up on here at FR!

[narses]

Thanks for the post!

[Coleus]

used to say to these things - "Unbelievable."
Now, it is just another, everyday, believable nightmare of the times in which we live. >>>

Ditto.

[Coleus]

`

[victim soul]

Ditto -- it is getting so bad I am afraid to turn on the news in the morning to see the latest abomination. God help our children!!!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for the heads up!

[Mark17]

And let the parishioners gather at the jails to sing hymns 24/7.

How much, and for how long can these dip wads push, before the parishioners, in utter disgust, gather at the jails with their pitch forks, and free them?

[Mark17]

There is no question but that the left will not be satisfied until they completely silence traditional religious people.

I think you are right, but I wonder if Islam get a free ride?

[Conservative til I die]

How long until gulags and concentration camps for the religious?

[goldstategop]

Liberals would love to make criticism of homosexuality a "hate crime" in America too.

[chimera]

...homophobia" (whatever that means)

I agree with your confusion, and find it a source of constant amusement that the libs have built up a whole concept and framework of debate based on a malaprop. Because if we look at the definitions:

homo n, pl homos [NL, Homin-, Homo, genus name, fr. L, man] any of a genus (Homo) of primate mammals that usu. inludes a single recent species (H. sapiens) comprising all surviving and various extinct men

Or, alternately:

hom- or homo- comb form [L, fr. Gk, fr. homos - more at SAME 1 : one and the same : similar : alike (homograph) (homosporous) 2 homologous with a (specified) chemical compound (homogentisic acid)

Combined with:

-phobe n comb form [Gk -phobos fearing] : one fearing or averse to (something specified) (Francophobe)

[Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1979, G. & C. Merriam Company. Springfield, MA)

So we have either:

homophobe : man fear, or fear of man (?), or

homophobe : similar fear, or maybe fear of sameness (?)

Neither of which make a whole lot of sense unless the meaning is twisted into the current version of newspeak the left always tries to use.

[TexanToTheCore]

Well, the pitchfork option did occur to me, but I toned it down for my first reply. Since the cat is out of the bag, how about we add torches to the pitchforks?

As for the time needed for people to become fed up with the left wing persecution of Christians, I think there is already a backlash developing and it could take the form of civil disobediance or perhaps a clarification of the first amendment. I am really tired of being hammered by these ignorant tyrants.