Guelph Mercury/ June 29,2009
Covering the Burka Issue from all Sides
Royal Hamel
Who would have thought that overdressed women could engender intense political controversy? But such is the case in France where just recently President Nicolas Sarkozy has strongly repudiated the burka, a tent-like garment worn by some Muslim women that covers them from head to toe. Sarkozy said, "In our country we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen . . . The burka is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement . . . It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic."
But think not only of France, for a number of Canadian columnists and editorial boards see the burka as a danger to women in our own culture. A recent National Post editorial claims the burka is like "a mobile prison" that nothing in Islam demands, and that it harms women by denying them a face and identity in our open society.
If women want to wear it based on religious conviction, or simply as part of their cultural tradition, I think that any coherent free society has to give its consent. To deny such freedom in a matter of dress would be an attack on the basic rights of women. On the other hand if women are forced to drape their entire body in this manner by a cultural tradition of extreme male dominance I would oppose it. There I've said it. I know, I know, nobody in multicultural Canada is supposed to imply that some cultural values are better than others. But are some cultural traditions in fact undeserving of acceptance?
Oh sure, I can easily enough practise tolerance and live with the burka, but if I examine it somewhat more closely it seems to be largely a case of domineering men saying, "You will hide your form, your personality, and your identity behind this mobile tent because no one outside of this family has any right to know you." Isolating women behind a wall of cloth reminds me of eunuchs in other times standing guard over harems of women by isolating them behind walls of stone. I oppose the burka where it is imposed as dress code because I believe that the female half of the human race is also made in the image of God and is of equal worth to us men. It is neither just nor fair for their identity and person to be hidden and subjugated behind a wall of cloth. The issue of fairness to the hidden woman is crucial. If men in these cultures were similarly garbed there would be no issue since both would suffer equal disadvantages. But men are free to dress as they like.
But there is another side to this issue. If a woman from personal religious conviction wishes to robe herself in the burka, what right has the state to interfere? I would say it has none. And, in the same way, I believe the state has no right to interfere in my freedom as a Christian to carry the symbol of the cross, or in the case of the Sikh to wear a turban, or to oppose a Jewish man donning a skullcap.
At present it is France that is contemplating a burka ban. And since it has already banned the hijab in their state schools they just might pull off the burka in the wider culture. But Islam in its more traditional expressions is growing in many Western nations, including our own. And how deliciously ironic it would be if Canada were to ban the burka. After all our justice system winks at sporting nothing more than sandals at gay pride events in Toronto. How ironic that it might become illegal to overdress in burka fashion while across the street women are allowed to parade topless because the law has chosen not to forbid extremes in under dressing.
Will France ban the burka? Will Canadians in fact join the discussion and move toward the same solution? Your guess is as good as mine. If the world view of secularism tends toward the throwing off of most restraints, the world view of most spiritual people tends to move in the opposite direction seeking to restrain behaviour that causes harm to society. Is there any room for compromise in a liberal democracy between these two sides that are so far apart? My suggestion, let's get someone to design fashionable, see-through burqas.
Royal Hamel is a member of the Guelph Mercury Community Editorial Board.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sin Beats Up Victims and Leaves them for Dead
Just recently an old friend came back into my life. I hadn’t seen Oscar (not his real name) for a coon’s age. He broke off friendship because he didn’t want me around while he was ruining his life and marriage by an all consuming addiction with alcohol. But like the prodigal he has seen the error of his ways; he is in process of a long and deep repentance. My heart thrills to see him returning to his God, to sanity, to sobriety. It is a long road and hard, but he is moving in the right direction. I cannot help but see however that the sin that consumed his time, money and most everything of value in his life has left him traumatized, wounded and bleeding.
Often we think of the sinner as rebel and lawbreaker and he is both. Perhaps less rarely do we see him as one who is himself a victim of his own folly. But it seems to me that after sin has had his way with us over a period of time that often there remains only a husk of a man or woman. At times they are so traumatized, beaten up, bleeding and emotionally wounded that they require major surgery or hospitalization just to hold life together.
I say all this to say that when we call people to cease from lawbreaking and rebellion that we are often speaking to very broken, and wounded ones who are in desperate need of compassion and love because of the tragic wreckage their life has become. It behooves us then to be gentle and kind and to show deep compassion, even though they have brought all this on themselves by their rebellious and foolish choices.
May God cause us to see sinners not only as rebels, not only as breakers of God’s laws, but as precious fellow travelers in whom dwells the image of God, and to whom we owe a debt of love and compassion. Let no one think that I depreciate the place of personal responsibility. In the end all of us are responsible for our choices. But let us at all costs avoid condemning these ones. Rather, let us love precious people who may have made wrong and immoral choices, but have not disqualified themselves by so doing from the care and compassion owed to them by a people called to love even as our Father in heaven loves.
Often we think of the sinner as rebel and lawbreaker and he is both. Perhaps less rarely do we see him as one who is himself a victim of his own folly. But it seems to me that after sin has had his way with us over a period of time that often there remains only a husk of a man or woman. At times they are so traumatized, beaten up, bleeding and emotionally wounded that they require major surgery or hospitalization just to hold life together.
I say all this to say that when we call people to cease from lawbreaking and rebellion that we are often speaking to very broken, and wounded ones who are in desperate need of compassion and love because of the tragic wreckage their life has become. It behooves us then to be gentle and kind and to show deep compassion, even though they have brought all this on themselves by their rebellious and foolish choices.
May God cause us to see sinners not only as rebels, not only as breakers of God’s laws, but as precious fellow travelers in whom dwells the image of God, and to whom we owe a debt of love and compassion. Let no one think that I depreciate the place of personal responsibility. In the end all of us are responsible for our choices. But let us at all costs avoid condemning these ones. Rather, let us love precious people who may have made wrong and immoral choices, but have not disqualified themselves by so doing from the care and compassion owed to them by a people called to love even as our Father in heaven loves.
Friday, June 12, 2009
I'd Rather be in Hell with my Friends
Just last night someone poured out her heart to me about heaven and hell. Turns out she is fearful that many beloved family members will not be in heaven. And so she raises the question, "What if I would rather be with my loved ones than in heaven"? A very profound question indeed. But, Jesus spoke directly to this issue. For he said at one point that those who loved husband, wife, brother, sister, son or daughter more than him were not worthy of him. So it is a terrible indictment...but those who would rather be in hell with beloved family members are actually saying I love my family more than I love Jesus. And Jesus I fear will honor their misguided and terrible choice.
A somewhat more crass approach is often expressed by some people who say on this topic in a flippant manner, "You can keep your heaven, I'd much rather be with my friends in hell". This answer too reveals profound ignorance about the actual conditions of hell. This person has to be told that if he knew how the Bible described hell he certainly would not want to go there for even one minute much less an endless eternity. For the scripture describes hell as a place of suffering and endless torment. By no possible stretch of the imagination are we to think that those who suffer God's judgment in this way are going to be "enjoying" some kind of a "girls gone wild" weekend that will last for an eternity. Hell is all about judgment for sin, those who are consigned there will never cease to regret their decision to treat Jesus and their eternal welfare so lightly.
A somewhat more crass approach is often expressed by some people who say on this topic in a flippant manner, "You can keep your heaven, I'd much rather be with my friends in hell". This answer too reveals profound ignorance about the actual conditions of hell. This person has to be told that if he knew how the Bible described hell he certainly would not want to go there for even one minute much less an endless eternity. For the scripture describes hell as a place of suffering and endless torment. By no possible stretch of the imagination are we to think that those who suffer God's judgment in this way are going to be "enjoying" some kind of a "girls gone wild" weekend that will last for an eternity. Hell is all about judgment for sin, those who are consigned there will never cease to regret their decision to treat Jesus and their eternal welfare so lightly.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Scattering Seed While Biking in a Park
Thought I would tell you how the adventure of witnessing of Christ is continuing to unfold in my life. I share not for my glory, but for His...and to show how he can use any old clay pot. Here's what happened yesterday, Sunday, June 6:
7:30 am...I was in Tim Hortons having a coffee break while on a morning walk. In walks a person from my neighbourhood whom I'm seeking to know better. He's a bouncer in a nightclub, a great guy, kind of like a gentle giant...he gladly has coffee with me, and we talk, and I am privileged to begin to build a relationship with him.
5:30 PM I go for a bike ride with my bag of tracts and the following occurs:
I meet a latino couple in the park with their little toddler… I strike up a conversation on the basis of their cute little guy, because I'm intrigued by their obvious accent, and because of my knowlege of spanish. We share email addresses and before we part I am able to leave some excellent literature with them.
While crossing the covered bridge I give right of way to a young man with tattoos who was wearing a T-shirt with a cross on it. So I stopped him and asked about the cross....turned out it wasn't a cross...just an artistic "T"...but anyway I took opportunity to chat and gave him a tract before we both rode away in opposite directions. He warmly said he would read it and take it under advisement.
Further on the same bicycle path I met an 86 year old man whom I have often seen before. I stopped and we made conversation. He made a striking comment at one point when he said, "My father taught me to respect the almighty, but he also taught me that the church was not worthy of respect." I got a little defensive, but in the end offered my 86 year old friend a tract and encouraged him to read it. He assured me he would...we will meet again and he is open to talk more.
At THortons on my coffee break I met a cashier who hails from Afganistan...we talked about his unique name, for I wanted to make sure I pronounced it rightly. I asked him about the book titled, The Kite Runner (a story of Afganistan) and he assured me that he has read it. I told him I had written an article about that book, and he wanted to know about the article. I will be back in that T Hortons soon to give my friend a copy of that article in which the gospel is shared. And in future I will carry copies of that article for Muslims whom I may meet for many have read that book.
On the way home I met four Jordanian men in the park smoking the hooka (water pipe). I was so fascinated by the sight that I rode over to them and began a conversation about the water pipe, how it worked etc. At one point I asked them if they were Muslims, all said yes, and I told them that for my part I was a Christ follower. They seemed to be okay with that…I rode away, but these four Muslims met a Christian that day who expressed love, interest and appreciation for them.
On the way home I met a younger man riding his bicycle slowly, so I joined him and we talked for a kilometer or so about biking etc. No spiritual conversation, but as we said good-bye he said I could find him on the trail again as he bikes three times a week.
I was praising God for my encounters, and was now just intent on getting back home, but going through a parking lot I saw a man whom I had greeted earlier many kilometres away. He recognized me, so I got off my bike to talk. I asked him if he was walking to take off weight and he told me abut his personal struggle with weight loss. . Well he was most open, and we talked freely...I gave him a tract which he received warmly. He gave me his business card, encouraged me to email him and talk to him at any time.
Then I got on my bike one last time and headed for home arriving at 7:30pm
I know that I miss many chances to witness and do not consider myself any great expert. But I believe I have learned at least one thing. I think one thing that keeps many of us from witness is that we make it too complicated. We think that a witness has to be a full verbal presentation of the substitutionary atonement. And hey that's great when God opens such a door for such a complete sharing. But in the meantime there is a great need for a whole lot of ground to be seeded abundantly. What I'm doing is not complicated...it's seed planting...others will water, still others will bring in the harvest. Everyone has a part to play.
May God be honoured, may precious people actually hear the truth, and may Jesus call many into his kingdom.
7:30 am...I was in Tim Hortons having a coffee break while on a morning walk. In walks a person from my neighbourhood whom I'm seeking to know better. He's a bouncer in a nightclub, a great guy, kind of like a gentle giant...he gladly has coffee with me, and we talk, and I am privileged to begin to build a relationship with him.
5:30 PM I go for a bike ride with my bag of tracts and the following occurs:
I meet a latino couple in the park with their little toddler… I strike up a conversation on the basis of their cute little guy, because I'm intrigued by their obvious accent, and because of my knowlege of spanish. We share email addresses and before we part I am able to leave some excellent literature with them.
While crossing the covered bridge I give right of way to a young man with tattoos who was wearing a T-shirt with a cross on it. So I stopped him and asked about the cross....turned out it wasn't a cross...just an artistic "T"...but anyway I took opportunity to chat and gave him a tract before we both rode away in opposite directions. He warmly said he would read it and take it under advisement.
Further on the same bicycle path I met an 86 year old man whom I have often seen before. I stopped and we made conversation. He made a striking comment at one point when he said, "My father taught me to respect the almighty, but he also taught me that the church was not worthy of respect." I got a little defensive, but in the end offered my 86 year old friend a tract and encouraged him to read it. He assured me he would...we will meet again and he is open to talk more.
At THortons on my coffee break I met a cashier who hails from Afganistan...we talked about his unique name, for I wanted to make sure I pronounced it rightly. I asked him about the book titled, The Kite Runner (a story of Afganistan) and he assured me that he has read it. I told him I had written an article about that book, and he wanted to know about the article. I will be back in that T Hortons soon to give my friend a copy of that article in which the gospel is shared. And in future I will carry copies of that article for Muslims whom I may meet for many have read that book.
On the way home I met four Jordanian men in the park smoking the hooka (water pipe). I was so fascinated by the sight that I rode over to them and began a conversation about the water pipe, how it worked etc. At one point I asked them if they were Muslims, all said yes, and I told them that for my part I was a Christ follower. They seemed to be okay with that…I rode away, but these four Muslims met a Christian that day who expressed love, interest and appreciation for them.
On the way home I met a younger man riding his bicycle slowly, so I joined him and we talked for a kilometer or so about biking etc. No spiritual conversation, but as we said good-bye he said I could find him on the trail again as he bikes three times a week.
I was praising God for my encounters, and was now just intent on getting back home, but going through a parking lot I saw a man whom I had greeted earlier many kilometres away. He recognized me, so I got off my bike to talk. I asked him if he was walking to take off weight and he told me abut his personal struggle with weight loss. . Well he was most open, and we talked freely...I gave him a tract which he received warmly. He gave me his business card, encouraged me to email him and talk to him at any time.
Then I got on my bike one last time and headed for home arriving at 7:30pm
I know that I miss many chances to witness and do not consider myself any great expert. But I believe I have learned at least one thing. I think one thing that keeps many of us from witness is that we make it too complicated. We think that a witness has to be a full verbal presentation of the substitutionary atonement. And hey that's great when God opens such a door for such a complete sharing. But in the meantime there is a great need for a whole lot of ground to be seeded abundantly. What I'm doing is not complicated...it's seed planting...others will water, still others will bring in the harvest. Everyone has a part to play.
May God be honoured, may precious people actually hear the truth, and may Jesus call many into his kingdom.
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