Media: Cartoon: Don't miss yesterday's Aidan cartoon re G&M in Western Standard

As you may know by now, Friday, May 27's article by Gloria Galloway in The Globe and Mail, Toronto's desperate effort to be a national newspaper, has managed to arouse not only the evangelical Christian constituency ("Christian activists" in Federal politics are her theme) from "Halifax to Vancouver." The lady's article is actually itself rather reportorial, but its hidden presupposition is that evangelical participation in the public square with religio-political ideas for policy and governance is somehow "a big story." indeed "a creepy story." What Gloria and her headline writer seem unaware of, is this: There's been a massive sociological-paradigm shift going on in Canada for the last two decades, and it's just beginning to dawn on the Liberal Left media that something is bound to come of it. What came of it? A number of "social conservative" Christians are fed up with the drift of parliamentary politics, judicial decisions in the upper levels of the court system, and public morals. Since life has become less and less bearable on terms dictated by Martin and the ethno-religio-worldviewo inherited from previous Liberal leadership that has been ripping off the Canadian taxpayer as the Gomery Commission has been demonstrating, this restless unrepresented constituency is producing new entrants into political life, and they're not tieing their tongues to fit rules dictated by the secularism that dominates the Liberal Party and the New Democrats. It's not the same phenomenon we've seen develop in the USA; but there are some parallels. It's a continent-wide drift, and in Canada it doesn't find the old squabbles between Francophones [Québec] and English=speakiers ["English Canada"] as the end all and be all of existence in this Federal political entity, or any grand re-organization of it. Québec is just as imprisoned in rampant and presumptuous secularism as is "the rest of Canada."

One major shock seems to have been that immigrants either join evangelical churches, or convert to Christianity thru the ministries to them, and they are drawn in part because they feel more at home with the ethos of public morality the evangelicals espouse - as per the traditional definition of marriage. People and pundits of many different religious traditions and secular viewpoints have picked up on G&M's Galloway piece, "Christian activists capture Tory races," an article fanned up and made palpably inflammatory by the editor who wrote the headline. And the sub-headline: "Some in party worry new riding nominees will reinforce notion of 'hidden agenda." " And a good many evangelicals don't like it one damn bit. It's bigotry. The implication of denial of freedom of speech when that speech comes from a religious source (like the Bible) around issues pertinent to Martin's intention to destroy the traditional definition of marriage in the public realm, following a gaggle of specious court decisions the logic of which are ridiculous, is cawt in the semiotics of a master cartoon by a Master Cartoonist. Aidan, you deserve an award for Cartoon of the Year. The gist of the controversy has been summed up in one counter-statement cartoon by a genius of line-drawing polemic, in full colour (Canadian spelling, if you please), a political cartoonist named Aidan. Take a look!

And by the way, I agree with the sanity of Steven Harper's proposed alternative legislation on the issue. Enable Lesbian couples to declare their avowed intentions to form a permanent union, to the exclusion of all others. Then, to be legally recognized with certain regulated rights and responsiblities distinct to them. Now, Lesbian unions are not the same as male homo unions, which present certain problems unique to the public-legal recognition of their kind of avowals, rights, and responsiblities. Altho I approve of these in principle, I choose not to discuss them here, since the male homo organizational life and history in Canada is much more permeated with bad behaviour and anti-social actions. But, in due course, one can surmise a clear societal arrangement and measured compromise, including both the evangelical community/ies and the Gay male ideological movement/s (which to this point are not simply to gain mock-"marriages" but are aimed to take over the teaching of sexuality in schools, etc): yet, some such compromise of the key parties involved can be reached aside from what dim-witted courts following a deadbrained jurisprudential philosophy would impose on the society and culture. Another time. - Owlb

no live-link here yet; but see entry for Saturday, May 27 below