The problem with NDP MP Svend Robinson is not too far removed from the problem of the day: the kind of politicians we elect to public office. Robinson tabled a petition demanding that the reference to God be removed from the Constitution. Incredible to some how the duly elected Member of Parliament saw this possibility as part of his given mandate. Why is it that contemporary elected officials feel they have the option to impose their personal beliefs on the rest of us?
It was one of Svend’s sisters, Susan Eng, who, not all that long ago, wanted any reference to the Queen removed from the Canadian Oath of Allegiance.
What politicians and public figures like Robinson and Eng do with their own principles is their own affair. Trying to foist their personal beliefs on the majority is a campaign mounted on sheer arrogance.
It’s an irony of these politically correct times, that Robinson in targeting God, was identified in respected newspapers like the National Post as "the outspoken NDP MP".
Perhaps some in the mainline media enjoyed the cat fight that followed between Robinson and NDP Party Leader Alexa McDonough, when Robinson charged his venerable leader of allowing the "designated hit squad to attack me".
People who go out on the attack, Mr. Robinson, should be prepared to take the backlash like the proverbial man.
In trying to table his out-with-God petition, Robinson was working with The Humanist League of Canada. Since the 1980s, the secular humanists have been trying to live up to their public promise to "drag in the rotting corpse of christianity by the year 2000". Looks like they may have found a useful idiot in the MP from Burnaby-Douglas. Neither life on earth or eternal life seem high on the humanist priority list, a founding father of their Canadian group being Dr. Henry Morgentaler.
Knee-jerk journalists, notwithstanding, there was neither valour nor originality in Robinson’s hit on God and Christianity.
Indeed, the Godless MP is in good company.
At a well-publicized Washington Forum last February, Ted Turner of Jane Fonda and CNN notoriety, who has openly referred to Christians as "losers", was mocking the Ten Commandments, in particular the one about adultery. This was only months before the public spotlight found the sexual escapades of his friend, the U.S. President.
Denigrating christianity seems to be a safe and popular pastime these days. Jelly-spined politicians at all levels of government try to encourage their constituents to refrain from using the seasonal greeting of "Merry Christmas".
The tragically hip keep weak politicians cowering in their corners. Taking a stand for Christianity in today’s politically correct climate gets you branded as a dinosaur.
..."Remember the old Hollywood films like Ben Hur and The Robe, which would always include a scene with a sneering Roman emperor or centurion spitting out the word "Christian" as though it were a slur," asked a recent article in The Wall Street Journal.
In those days, the silver screen was still producing dramas with scenes showing Christians being thrown to the lions.
Prominent actors have moved over to the camp of Hubbard and Scientology, and Hollywood seems to have given up on casting christians in sympathetic roles. The producer, after all, must keep in sync with the media.
Politically, the sneering Roman centurion now wears a ready-for-the-photo-op smile and a pin-striped suit, and Pontius Pilate can be found in almost any city hall, legislature or parliament hill.