” I think that ministry has a deep need to name anxiety for what it is: an addictive substitute for faith.

“Idolatry” is the word for it in the ancient writings.”

Rt. Rev. Peter Short

United Church Observer, Sept. 2004, p.39

 

 

“Life is not a destination. It is a journey of exploration and discovery.

We are born to contribute to that journey.”

 

“Refugees are reasonable people in desperate circumstances.”

The Economist, February, 2016

 

“Inner peace will always be compromised until we recognize and affirm that we cannot be ruled by our fears but only by our hopes.”

Peter J. Gomes in The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus, p. 101

An op-ed in the Toronto Star, written by Devika Shah, Adina Lebo and Cameron Watts, published on January 23, 2019, spoke about the choices that Torontonians are making. It argues that if Toronto truly is a “world-class city” or “Toronto the Good,” we must choose to move beyond slogans to action. Too many Torontonians are hurting.

This raises the question about how we are taking care of our neighbours, as many of our faith communities call us to do.

The opinion piece can be accessed at: https://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/toronto_the_good

 

 

Nelson Mandella said that poverty is not an accident.

Living in poverty also not a deliberate decision that people make.

To tolerate the existence of poverty in affluent nations like Canada is a deliberate decision that has been made by those who have the power to make, or influence, governmental decisions. Although the House of Commons voted to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000, a report demonstrates that child poverty has actually increased in Canada. The report gathered Statistics Canada tax-filer data and found that child and family poverty has increased to 1,331,530 children in 2012 from 1,066,150 children in 1989. https://globalnews.ca/news/1685376/25-years-since-canada-vowed-to-end-child-poverty-where-are-we-now/

One means of moving toward the elimination of poverty is to implement a Basic Annual Income for all people. Here in Canada there was a trial of this idea that took place in Manitoba, and in Ontario. Unfortunately, the research in Ontario was cancelled by Doug Ford shortly after the Progressive Conservative Party won the provincial election on June 7, 2018. For more information on Ontario’s situation, check out:

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/change-gonna-come/2019/01/re-instating-basic-income-ontario-would-help-raise-children

Ontario’s cancellation of the research on Basic Income has adversely affected the hopes and dreams of many. One tragic story was reported in the Toronto Star:

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/12/27/hamilton-couple-with-newborn-prepares-for-wind-down-of-basic-income.html

How we care for each other is a statement of our love for each other, and our commitment to a healthy community. Basic Annual Incomes are one way that we can, collectively,  help our neighbours who are less fortunate, and who are human beings just as I am a human being. Poverty is not an accident! We can, together, make a better world for all by sharing; collectively.

This story was posted on the United Church of Canada website (July 18, 2018) and is a statement that brings positive energy to my soul. As we remember the birth of Jesus, we also remember the narrative in Matthew’s Gospel that tells of Jesus and his family being refugees.

Sign from a Muslim ban protest, Washington, DC.

Credit: Liz Lemon, Flickr [CC0 1.0]

Racism and Islamophobia practised by individuals and nations continue to destroy God’s beloved community.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. —Matthew 25:35–36

Affirming that God is at work in the religious life of all humanity, the United Church is committed to working with all people of goodwill for compassion, peace, and justice in the world. Together with our full communion partner the United Church of Christ (USA), we respond with outrage and sorrow to the recent US Supreme Court decision upholding President Trump’s executive order barring people from several Muslim-majority countries from travel to the United States.

When Jesus named welcoming the stranger as one of the characteristics of those who are faithful followers of his way, he spoke of a gathering of nations. This recent decision demonstrates once again that racism and Islamophobiapractised by individuals and nations continue to destroy God’s beloved community.

United Church of Christ leaders say that this “travel ban is a signal that we are closing the door to our neighbors who are fleeing violence and persecution, and that our faith calls us to do otherwise.” As part of our commitment to racial justice, The United Church of Canada is called to speak against discrimination rooted in racial and religious bigotry. Indeed, the recent travel ban decision has been criticized as the US Supreme Court once again legitimizing and legalizing racism.

International interfaith organization Religions for Peace expressed its sorrow and moral opposition to the Supreme Court ruling, calling all people of faith to “welcome the other.” “Each of our diverse faith traditions calls for profound active solidarity with, and empathy for, the ‘other’ rooted in a spirit of unity, as a deeply held and widely shared value among our religious communities,” states the organization.

Religions for Peace has joined with a global coalition of faith leaders (including the World Council of Churches, of which the United Church is a member) in the Faith over Fear campaign, an initiative which invites people of faith to “welcome the other” by opening their hearts and communities to refugees.

Although Canada’s refugee sponsorship programs have supported people of many faiths, Canadians are not immune to these global currents of fear and distrust of “the other,” or to underlying racism and Islamophobia. Recent responses to asylum-seekers entering Canada from the United States; hate crimes attacking individuals and their places of worship; increasing numbers of visa refusals for those coming to Canada from the global South—all point to a Canada less welcoming than our faith envisions. Recently the Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, and the Canadian Council of Churches (of which the United Church is a member) filed a court challenge of the safe third country agreement between Canada and the United States, through which refugee claimants cannot legally enter one of these countries from the other.

Choosing faith over fear requires us to denounce all actions that violate on the basis of race or religion. As people of faith, we must denounce that which violates the human rights, dignity, and very life of those around the globe who seek refuge from war, poverty, or climate devastation, and of those who simply seek to travel or work in a different part of the world.

We are called to work with Canadians of all faiths for immigration systems that “welcome the other” and contribute to communities that are just and inclusive,‎ honouring diversity as a gift for all. Consider exploring the stories of hope and welcome on the Faith over Fear website. Or share this statement on your social media networks with the hashtag #NoMuslimBanEver.

For more information, contact:

Gail AllanProgram Coordinator Ecumenical and Interfaith

416-231-7680 ext. 4162
1-800-268-3781 ext. 4162

gallan@united-church.ca