Letters

A full page of the Anglican Journal (Bullets over Broadway, Mar. 2011, p. 8) celebrates the achievements of Brent Hawkes as a leader on issues of social justice. I believe that had he been Anglican clergy, he would have been dragged through a Bishops’ Court, denounced, reviled, defrocked, tarred and feathered in the press and run out of town on a rail. At any of the significant points in his career, and even now, he goes against the politics, practices and instincts of the Anglican Church of Canada. Which is it? Hero or thorn? Christian leader or secular populist? A clue might be the second article about MCCT winning the french fry tax writeoff sweepstakes.
Stewart Carley
TorontoSelf-Absorbed
I was astonished by the editorial Putting job skills to personal use (Mar. 2011, p. 4). I cannot understand what place this self-absorbed article has in a Christian newspaper. Where does it point to Christ? And his love and redemptive grace? Where is there a connection with the Christian church and its mission to bring about the Kingdom of God on earth? There is absolutely no mention of these things! This kind of writing would be more fitting in a contemporary lifestyle magazine or the Weekend Living section of the Toronto Star. In the context of the Anglican Journal, it is meaningless.
David Puttock
Scarborough, Ont.

Incarnational work
Thanks for your editorial, Putting job skills to personal use, which I read with my morning coffee. I intend to send it to my daughter and stepdaughters. With me and most women I know, your experience as a working mother, and your struggle to recover (or is it discover?) care for yourself, resonates. Although I am now over 70, I am still on a learning curve with all that challenges you.It is incredibly helpful to me, and I trust to most readers, to find your voice bringing life to our personal stories. This is truly incarnational work.
Mary Louise Meadow
Victoria

Journey of life
I was taking a break at work and picked up the Anglican Journal only to come upon Putting job skills to personal use. As a lifelong working gal, I found it made complete sense to me. I truly believe the good Lord wanted me to see this, as I’ve been struggling for a long time with how to maintain a better balance in my life. My two daughters are now grown and I thought I’d have all this time to indulge in self-care activities but, like you, I find it is much easier to work “at work” than it is to work “on myself.” Ah, the journey of life!
Susanne Prue
Toronto

Stop judging others
In his letter (Christian analysis, Feb. 2011, p. 4), Brian Johnson suggests it’s important for Christians to see that the Dalai Lama is lost in his sins. I believe there is only one God, who has always communicated with all people. The different religions are each culture’s response to God’s communication. All of them reveal something about God. All of them, including our own, fall short of a full understanding of God. I think it’s important that we stop judging other people and treat them with respect and love.
Michelle Bull
Berwick, N.S.

Divinely approved?
It would be interesting to hear Colin Miles’s (Nation of War Criminals? Jan. 2011, p. 5) comments on all the killing in the Old Testament, much of it seemingly divinely approved.
James Burchill
Halifax, N.S.A global community issue
Earth Day, which started in 1970, is an important symbol. But if we are to seriously tackle climate change, we need a major change in our consciousness as a global community, as well as better-equipped and more democratic global institutions. The European Union provides a methodology. The EU included in its beginning an advisory parliamentary assembly that gradually converted to direct elections and co-decision powers. This European Parliament helped Europe surmount the constitutional logjams and “Eurosclerosis” of the 1980s. If the imitative Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (detailed at www.unpacampaign.org) is successful, the UN will immediately have a citizens’ watchdog at the highest level, and an institutional lever to bring about the reform and global co-operation needed.
Larry Kazdan
Vancouver

Full disclosure
It is unfortunate that one of your readers was misinformed about World Vision’s use of donor funds (Perk up, I say! Mar. 2011, p. 5).On a recent trip to Indonesia, I saw first-hand how donations from generous Canadians are changing the lives of children suffering from the devastating effects of poverty. We are well aware of false information that has been circulating regarding the salary and benefits of our president and chief executive officer. I assure you, we at World Vision Canada take our responsibility to be good stewards of the money entrusted to us very seriously. We disclose financial information openly on our website. This includes our approach to executive compensation and program facts. World Vision’s annual report is audited by a private accounting firm and carries the seal of approval of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities and the Better Business Bureau. Our website has also been updated with information that sets the record straight. Go to:www.worldvision.ca/About-Us/Newsroom/press-releases/Pages/Last year, we raised more than $400 million in revenue and 81.1 per cent of this went toward programs that help fund children and communities in need.
Caroline Riseboro
Vice President, Public Affairs
World Vision Canada, Mississauga, Ont.

Cooler heads, please
Some 50 years ago, homosexual relations in Canada were prohibited by the Criminal Code of Canada. Today, our federal Parliament has authorized full marriage between persons of the same sex. And while the deffinition of marriage in our church remains the same, the two most significant recent documents have been the Windsor Report and the St. Michael Report. If we are to identify differences, they must be found in these two reports or in scriptural interpretation. The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada has failed to deal with the question of blessing same-sex marriage and the ANiC (Anglican Network in Canada) is opposed. Should this justify dividing our church? I call upon the Anglican laity of Canada to think carefully. Is it not time for cooler heads to prevail?
Peter Swan
Kingston, Ont.