c. 2003 Religion News Service
Canadian Missionary Freed in Lebanon
(UNDATED) A Canadian missionary jailed in Lebanon July 10 was acquitted of spying for Israel on Monday (Sept. 1).
A Lebanese military court found Bruce Balfour, 52, a Christian missionary from Calgary, not guilty of collaborating with Israel, a charge punishable by 15 years in jail. Judicial sources said he was accused of working with the Jewish state to spy on Lebanon’s army and its Shiite Hezbollah militia.
Five judges found Balfour innocent of espionage but guilty of causing “religious strife,” sources said, sentencing him to a year in prison but reducing the penalty to time served. Balfour was scheduled to return home Tuesday (Sept. 2).
He was in the Arab country representing the evangelical Cedars of Lebanon Reforestation Project, which seeks to replant the biblical cedar forests of northern Lebanon.
At a court appearance last week, Balfour denied being a spy, saying he served God and Jesus.
His family said that while Canadian diplomats in Beirut worked hard for his release, federal authorities in Ottawa “basically did nothing.”
Faithful Gear Up for Same-Sex Rally
OTTAWA Organizers of “Sanctity of Marriage Week,” Sept. 1-7, hope that 1 million people will lobby and pray for traditional marriage outside the constituency offices of all members of Parliament across Canada.
The Calgary-based Canada Family Action Coalition, chief organizer of the drive, is calling on more than 3,300 people to pray outside each of the 301 federal constituency offices on Sunday (Sept. 7) to seek divine intervention to block the federal Liberal plan legalizing same-sex marriage.
Marriage is “the foundation of our society, and the foundation of Christianity,” says Charles McVety, president of Canada Christian College in Toronto and one of the organizers of the event.
McVety says the rally has the support of a broad range of religious groups, including Pentecostals, evangelicals, Catholics, Jews and Muslims.
Among the last group is the leader of Canada’s 25,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims, who told a weekend convention of his flock in Edmonton he can’t understand why same-sex legislation hasn’t been debated in Parliament or gone through a national referendum when so many people oppose it.
“I asked one MP, who said he received three calls in favor of same-sex marriage and 1,400 calls or e-mails against it,” said Naseem Mahdi.
The Supreme Court of Canada has tentatively set aside next April 16 to hear arguments on whether gays and lesbians can legally marry.
A coalition of religious groups said it plans to take aim at individual federal politicians whom the organizations believe are vulnerable to electoral defeat if they vote for same-sex marriage.
Quebec Court Supports Jehovah’s Witnesses
MONTREAL The Quebec Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court’s decision and struck down a municipal bylaw restricting when Jehovah’s Witnesses can go door to door to promote their religion.
The City of Blainville, north of Montreal, had argued many of its residents don’t want Jehovah’s Witnesses at their door on weekends and in the evenings.
But Justice Pierre Dalphond ruled that while municipalities could adopt bylaws regulating door-to-door canvassing to guarantee the peace and safety of residents, they must conform to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“The freedom of religion protected by the Charter includes the right to manifest religious belief by teaching and dissemination,” Dalphond wrote. “The impugned bylaw severely restricts the freedom of religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression of the citizens of Blainville by prohibiting door-to-door in the evening and during the weekends and by allowing it the rest of the time only if a person holds a permit.”
In June 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 8-1 to strike down an Ohio law that required religious groups to get town approval before soliciting door-to-door. Jehovah’s Witnesses protested the Stratton, Ohio, law, which town officials said was meant to protect elderly residents from scam artists.
Officials Resign Over Cross Controversy
TWILLINGATE, Newfoundland Controversy surrounding the erection of a white cross overlooking Twillingate harbor has led to the resignation of Mayor Danny Bath, Deputy Mayor Elizabeth Jenkins and two other municipal councilors, reports ChristianWeek.
The fiberglass cross was erected on Smith’s Lookout overlooking the harbor of Twillingate, a town of 3,600, on June 25. The cross, a project of the local Salvation Army Men’s Fellowship group, is 22 feet high and 11 feet wide.
Major William Kean, Salvation Army commanding officer at Twillingate, said the cross was erected to express the group’s faith and as a monument to all the fishermen who lost their lives at sea.
The town council gave the project its unanimous consent, reportedly based on approval of the project from the local ministerial council.
But a citizens group expressed concern, saying proper procedure had not been followed, other churches weren’t consulted, and tourists might object to a Christian symbol in such a visible location.
Acting Mayor Calla Guy said the former mayor and councilors resigned because of “very abusive phone calls.”
New elections to replace the officials were scheduled for Thursday (Sept. 4).
Vancouver’s Jews Get Their First Eruv
VANCOUVER, British Columbia This city’s Jewish community completed its first eruv earlier this summer, allowing observant Jews to carry most items within its boundaries on the Sabbath, reports the Canadian Jewish News.
Using existing electrical or light poles and wires, Emily Singer, wife of Rabbi Ross Singer of Congregation Shaarey Tefilah, and Rabbi Avi Baumol of Congregation Schara Tzedeck completed construction of the eruv, which others in the community had been working on for about 30 years.
Jews are forbidden from carrying anything in public on the Sabbath, but not at home or in the synagogue. The eruv, using existing objects such as power lines and fences, creates a symbolic boundary around a specific area, usually the Orthodox Jewish community. The whole area is now regarded as an extension of the home, a kind of courtyard.
Richmond, a Vancouver suburb, is the only other Jewish community in British Columbia with an eruv.
Emily Singer said a campaign will raise the estimated $10,000 needed annually for regular maintenance. The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver contributed $7,000. An inspector will be paid to check the condition of the eruv each Friday, she said.
Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that allowed Orthodox Jews in Tenafly, N.J., to erect an eruv. Town officials had argued that the eruv was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
Jews, Muslims Unite to Protest Arrests
TORONTO The Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims has written Prime Minister Jean Chretien expressing their “profound concern” over the arrest of 19 Pakistani Muslim men on suspicion they might pose a threat to national security.
The 19 men were taken into custody last month. Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the federal government can detain them indefinitely without laying charges.
“Such legislation is an attack on civil liberties and makes possible racial profiling of Arab and Muslim people,” said the group, which concentrates on dialogue and peace-building.
The organization cites an Royal Canadian Mounted Police document that refers to the men’s place of origin as “the Punjab province in Pakistan noted for Sunni extremism.”
Suggesting Punjab is a hotbed of extremism “is totally false, baseless, mischievous, and amounts to the dangerous racial profiling of a people,” the group said.
Church Welcomes Hardened Criminals
ST. CATHARINES, Ontario A convicted sex offender released on probation may attend church while living in this city, Ontario’s Court of Appeal ruled recently.
The court overturned a lower court’s ruling that Wayne Harvey, a sex offender recently released from Kingston Penitentiary, was prohibited from attending any place of worship while on probation.
The high court’s decision clears the way for Harvey to attend Niagara Celebration Church, whose spiritual leader, Pastor Alvin Esau, opens his doors to some of the most egregious criminals, including murderers and child molesters.
“Transformation can happen to the hardest of criminals,” the 48-year-old preacher told the St. Catharines Standard. “I have seen that take place.”
For about eight years, Esau has been visiting prisoners at the Niagara Detention Center in nearby Thorold.
At the same time, his church has been accepting convicted rapists, murderers, thieves and fraud artists into its congregation.
“In the gospels, Jesus said we are to visit the prisoners,” said Esau. “We accept people, no matter who they are. They are a child of God, even if they have blemishes.”
Esau estimates about six known offenders attend his church. They have safeguards in place to protect the congregation, he said, including numerous ushers and security personnel attending each service.
Teens Who Torched Church Forgiven
CALGARY, Alberta A priest forgave a pair of teens who caused a $1.6 million fire at a local church, and the judge showed some of the same charity in deciding against sending the two to jail.
In sentencing the teens to a year of probation last month, Judge Peter Leveque said the church was a symbol for many people.
The teens, ages 16 and 17, pleaded guilty to breaking into the historic St. John’s Catholic Church and setting it ablaze on Dec. 31, 2002. The fire left the church a gutted shell after the interior was destroyed and most of the roof caved in.
Speaking at the boys’ sentencing, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Alfredo Pereira, said both accused were forgiven.
KRE END CSILLAG
AP-NY-09-03-03 1342EDT
