{"id":25081,"date":"2017-06-03T21:35:19","date_gmt":"2017-06-04T01:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/?p=25081"},"modified":"2017-06-03T21:35:19","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T01:35:19","slug":"some-flags-are-more-equal-than-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/some-flags-are-more-equal-than-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Some flags are more equal than others"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I mentioned here<\/a>, for a brief period during the Ottawa March for Life, the March for Life flag fluttered valiantly atop the City Hall – until someone complained, prompting an embarrassed mayor to reassert his pro-abortion credentials and have it removed.<\/p>\n

There is a good article defending flying the flag in the National Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here is another article by Rev. Robert Lyon on selective flag flying.<\/p>\n

Received via email:<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday\u2019s edition of The Record announced that all Waterloo Region public schools will fly the \u201cpride\u201d flag throughout June to mark \u201cPride Month\u201d.\u00a0 The Record quotes Board rep Nick Manning as saying that the Board wants to ensure that \u201cpublic schools remain a welcoming place for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcoming\u201d \u2013 and also \u201csafe\u201d \u2013 are indeed what schools should be.\u00a0 Every person in a civil society, including those we disagree with, should be able to conduct his or her life without giving or receiving unkindness or abuse.\u00a0 But Waterloo Region DSB\u2019s \u201cPride Month\u201d decision is hypocritical. Which makes it also unkind and abusive.<\/p>\n

This is the same school board that decided the Gideons could no longer distribute New Testaments in the schools.\u00a0 The \u201cPride Month\u201d flag proclaims a particular value system to all and sundry, including those who find it offensive.\u00a0 The Gideons, on the other hand, who also have a lawful value system to proclaim, sought to avoid giving offense by distributing their Testaments only to students who, with parental permission, would have requested them.\u00a0 But for the Waterloo Board, even that wasn\u2019t good enough.<\/p>\n

The Board\u2019s unequal treatment of these two special interest groups is flagrant.\u00a0 The Region\u2019s public schools are not \u201ca welcoming place for everyone\u201d \u2013 not, at least, for Christians, unless they keep their mouths shut.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026it\u2019s small acts like this,\u201d Mr Manning said, \u201cthat will transform our community.\u201d\u00a0 They certainly will.\u00a0 But it\u2019s clear that the Board does not want truly authentic inclusivity.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s suppose, for example, that Christians in Waterloo Region were to declare a \u201cJesus Month\u201d to promote virtuous and pious living.\u00a0 Would the Board fly our flag?\u00a0 Orwell was right: \u201cAll animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s to be done about it?\u00a0 In his letter to the Christians in Philippi, Paul sends greetings from the brethren in Rome, significantly including \u201cespecially those of Caesar\u2019s household.\u201d Even on the staff of the imperial palace there were some who had become obedient to the Faith.\u00a0 When Tertullian wrote to the Roman Senate a century and a half later, he noted that Christians had infiltrated every aspect of the life of the Empire: the towns, the country, the marketplace, the army, the courts \u2013 \u201cand we have left to you only the temples of your gods.\u201d\u00a0 Where today are the bold, vocal Christians on our city councils and our school boards?<\/p>\n

Pastors:\u00a0 It\u2019s time to encourage informed and capable Christians to run for public office, and for your congregations to support their candidacies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I mentioned here, for a brief period during the Ottawa March for Life, the March for Life flag fluttered valiantly atop the City Hall – until someone complained, prompting an embarrassed mayor to reassert his pro-abortion credentials and have … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,77],"tags":[2022,2295,2452],"class_list":["post-25081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity-and-culture","category-christianity-and-politics","tag-abortion","tag-march-for-life","tag-rev-robert-lyon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25081\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}