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Email: "In Canada Even “Moderates” are Tarred as Extremists - Editorial"

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BY LifeSiteNews.com By John-Henry Westen  Editor  LifeSiteNews.comIn Canada you mustn’t step out of line with homosexual activist orthodoxy or you’ll end up on the hit list of the politically correct thought police.Case in point this week in Canada was the granting of an honorary doctorate to Canada’s best known ethicist, McGill Professor Margaret Somerville. The graduation ceremony at Toronto’s Ryerson University over the weekend was marred by a protest by gay activists outside and even a disgraceful display of intolerance by University professors who shared the stage with Somerville.ÂAs students and homosexual activists outside denounced the University for going ahead with the award after it had learned of Somerville’s opposition to homosexual “marriage”, inside a number of professors were draped in rainbow flags representing their support for homosexuality and disdain for the honouring of Somerville. A few had the audacity to turn their backs as Somerville was called on and carried signs reading “respectfully disagree” and “my Ryerson honours equal rights”. As Somerville attempted to commence her address a heckler yelled “Shame on you.”The preparation for the circus has been running for a week with the media giving prime time coverage to the controversy. The university committee which had decided to give the honorary degree to Somerville said last week that had they known of her views it would have given them “serious pause” before putting her name forward for the honour.In truth, Dr. Somerville has more honourary degrees and actual degrees than any one of the faculty which so impolitely snubbed her.However, the intriguing part of the whole business is that the McGill professor is no radical; she cannot even properly be placed on the pro-family side of the debate. She can in fact be called a gay activist herself. As she readily admits, she promotes civil unions for homosexual couples but has reservations concerning gay “marriage”.ÂOnly seven years ago gay-rights advocates drew the line at trying to redefine marriage; at the time even the Liberal (and small ‘l’ liberal) Canadian Parliament voted 216-55 specifically to state that marriage should retain its traditional definition.ÂThe same Liberal leadership which then supported marriage, however, four years later targeted as bigots anyone who opposed their move to redefine marriage to include unions of two persons of the same sex. In a similar fashion the entire gay-rights movement has made the parameters for orthodoxy stricter and stricter until even aÂnon-militant homosexual supporter like Somerville can be labelled a heretic and burned at the stake of political correctness.ÂSomerville has apparently made the unconscionable mistake of drawing the line at the rights of children.ÂShe suggests that the needs of children are more important than the desires of adults. And since children are best reared with a mother and a father, Somerville cannot bring herself to support gay “marriage” or artificial procreation for homosexual couples.Somerville falls far outside the camp of those who, along with believing Christians, hold homosexuality as a disordered behaviour. Yet Somerville and those like her who sway from homosexualistÂextremismÂare, along with Christians, treated as if they advocated gay bashing, which both groups condemn unreservedly.Somerville faces the contempt not only of homosexual activists but also of the Canadian Federation of Students. Joel Duff, representing the organization told CTV News, “I think it’s really offensive that students today, who are convocating, who are here to celebrate four years of working hard at their studies, had to have that marred by having the presence of someone who’s promoting discrimination on the stage with them.”Christians have endured similar opprobrium. Pope Benedict XVI was labelled the 2005 “anti-gay person of the year” by the Washington Blade, one of the most prominent gay newspapers in the United States. But it’s not only homosexual groups belittling Christians for holding true to their faith.ÂA few months ago, the city government of San Francisco unanimously passed a resolution referring to Catholic teaching on the matter of homosexuality as “hateful and discriminatory rhetoric (that) is both insulting and callous, and shows a level of insensitivity and ignorance which has seldom been encountered by this Board of Supervisors.’‘At the ceremony Somerville expressed her regret at the hurt that her position has caused.“As we all know some people are hurt by some of my views,” she said.“Although I believe that I must stand by those views, I genuinely regret the hurt that causes them.’‘As the media put it, the quasi-apology wasn’t enough for the protesters outside. Students have thus far amassed 1,700 signatures demanding the university rescind the honorary degree. How long before this purity of ideology, one that unlike Christianity does not teach unconditional love, creates an atmosphere where persecution of Christians is acceptable? If the likes of Margaret Somerville cannot receive an honorary degree for her missing the mark of full homosexual activism, what is to be done with those who oppose homosexual sex altogether?Hopefully Ryerson is not representative of most of Canada. They are after all the university which was internationally known for having in their faculty Canada’s best known promoter of pedophilia - the proud professor by day and male prostitute by night, former Ryerson professor Gerald Hannon.A video of the Convocation can be seen online here:  (scroll down to June 19 at 9:30 and Somerville’s portion begins about 30 minutes in)http://www.ryecast.ryerson.ca/dmpstreams/convocationspring2006/index.asp http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/in-canada-even-moderates-are-tarred-as-extremists-editorial/

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