Saturday 9 June 2012

In the Public Sphere

Here we are, at the beginning of another summer when there is a General Council.  There is another report on the tremendously difficult question of Palestine/Israel and already the critics are circling.  Criticism is one thing, but this week we rolled over into the realm of threats - by a spokesperson for the Harper government no less.  In a conversation on CBC's "As it Happens"  Senator Nicole Eaton (ON) mused in the same paragraph about inappropriate church involvement in politics, the United Church of Canada, and the fact that the feds have hired more auditors to look into charities.  Given that she has just completed an inquiry into the possibility of "improper foreign funding" of environmental groups opposed to the federal governments policies, the threat was only thinly veiled.  Those groups have been labelled "radical" for their opposition.  Hats off to Moderator Mardi Tindal for a very clear and reasoned response, where she observed, amongst other things, that Jesus was political and that caring for the needy in this country and the world sometimes involves us in politics.  The clip finishes with a recording of the the Prime Minister replying to a reporter that he feels most Canadians would support the government withdrawing funding from groups opposed to government policy.  (The full clip is at   http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/popupaudio.http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/episode/2012/06/08/the-friday-edition-32/ -- follow links to "charity chill".

Of course, this is not a new trend, it's just this season's version of the various attempts to shut down anything and anyone who criticizes our increasingly dictatorial government and anyone who has the temerity to suggest that there could be a discussion of the issue of Palestine/Israel that is not tightly controlled.  Perhaps you recall the storm of criticism prior to the 2009 General Council.  The overwhelming thrust of the criticism was that "you shouldn't talk about it."  The irony is that, some friends of Israel seek to impose a greater degree of control on debate than occurs within Israel itself. If you haven't, you should download and read the Report of the Working Group in Israel/Palestine Policy" (http://www.gc41.ca/sites/default/files/israel-palestine-report.pdf) if only to get the facts straight before someone tells you otherwise.  You can see Very Rev David Giuliano's response to ill-formed criticism at http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/05/15/counterpoint-united-church-defends-a-controversial-report-on-the-middle-east/.  Most of the responses have to do with the United Church not being a church.  The most controversial and erroneous claim is that the United Church is proposing a boycott of Israel.  If you read the report (which is not yet policy) what's being suggested is that products which can clearly be identified as coming from the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza (illegal under international law and condemned by Canada's foreign policy) be boycotted.  Very different indeed.  If memory serves, Mr Harper was very big on criminals not receiving proceeds from their actions.  Presumably the same logic could apply.  My point here is not to defend the Report that's for another time - as to point out how quickly certain forces want to quash any possibility of discussion on the subject.

Of course, the issue is not one of logic at all.  It's a matter of bullying and fear.  The federal government has moved fairly ruthlessly to suppress or punish groups that are contrary to its positions (even when they don't criticize the government itself).  Take for instance, KAIROS. the ecumenical social justice organization.  Despite a lot of back-filling by government ministers and spokespeople it seems clear that this group, which has worked in concert with government for many, many years, was defunded of a huge amount of money because it advocates for positions contrary to the government's in relation to Palestine/Israel and the oil sands.  Added to the list are various advocacy, research and development groups that have fallen afoul of the Harper government's ideology on particular issues.  Recall that this is the government which, when challenged to defend its ill-considered and grotesquely expensive crime legislation replied to critics that they were uninterested in statistics, they were going to do what was right for Canadians.  Oh, and since we don't care about statistics, we may as well gut StatsCan as well.

Certainly, Revenue Canada (CCRA) has the legal responsibility to conduct audits wherever they feel it is appropriate.  Being audited is not a cause for shame.  It used to be that about 10% of taxpayers were randomly audited every year.  Having had the "pleasure" personally I can attest that it is a large pain but not too awful.  I don't know what the random figures are for charities.  What I object to is the thinly veiled threat from a spokesperson of the government, regarding a charity (in this case a church) that even dares to discuss a major world issue with the implication that we ought to "stick to religion."  Given that the federal government has both a majority and a draconian attitude toward dissent, it may be that freedom of religion will increasingly be the only protection for those who dare to say, "we beg to differ."

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