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Only 2.9% is Black and 1.2% Latin American in Canada
Not much compared to the US (13.6%) and (16.8%).
yes but the US isnt that diverse if we look that most of blacks in the US are African-Americans, who are also a homogenized group of colonial descendants of west african slaves (with some caucasian ancestor, as average african american is about 20-25 caucasian ancestry). The latin americans are 90% mexicans, guatemalans or salvadoreans. Immigration in canada is more similar to europe, you might have less blacks but they tend to be from straight up africa and speak their home languages, they are not homogenized colonial blacks like in the US who wear baseball hat and eat hotdog like average john smith.
White americans are also mutts, of multiple ancestries (mostly british isles+ Ireland + American ancestry combined though).
So american diversity is way different than Canadian diversity and let alone European diversity where blacks means multiple different ethnicities of FOb africans and other europeans all who have distinctive cultures, language and identity.
If I had the opportunity to express my view if there was a plebiscite, I would state my view. I am a Christian and I believe God invented marriage and God has design and purpose of our sexuality. I know you and most people out there are likely not to believe that.
I have to add that our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.
If a gay couple chooses to get married I won't stop it and I believe gay marriage will be legalised in Australia and worldwide too. It may not even be next year and may be after the next federal election.
I have gay friends and have worked with gay people too and I think they are great people btw.
If I was you, and truly held your beliefs, I would spoil my ballot instead of voting against people that I call friends.
One part of loving someone is accepting who they are, not disagreeing with their " lifestyle ". How can some say they love someone when they don't accept one of THE major things that makes them who they are?
It sounds almost condescending. " I love you, but don't accept you ". Isn't that big of me?
This is not just about disagreeing with someone. This is about you rejecting the very core of a persons being.
As the saying goes, " with friends like these, who needs enemies? "
It is very frustrating. Especially, as up until 2004, the Marriage Act merely stated a "union of two people". John Howard, at the time got wind that teh gayz might want to get married, so quietly just amended the Marriage Act in a mix of all this other legislation to be "man and woman"
If he never did that........ there would be no discussion. Therefore, it is possible to just change the marriage act, through parliament -- as they should -- and save $200 million from running a popular vote, which is not even binding.
Canada, as an example has repeatedly been used as an example that the sky is where it has always been, and the nation didn't self implode.. We have been kind of shocked into action with the US/Ireland being more progressive than us... Which is how we got to this plebiscite issue. When Tony Abbott was PM (a raging Catholic) and hanging on to his role for dear life, there was a move remove him as leader of the party. One of the key issues being raised at this time, was marriage equality. He came up with this pop vote idea, on the back of Ireland having a pop vote (which they had to do -- we do NOT need a vote to change the Marriage Act).
Fast forward 18 months, a change in government --- and the promise of a vote, which now if they back down, its a "promise that they didn't deliver on" apparently (I think its more to just appease the right wingers of their party).
/rant over. lol
I'm happy Canada has been used as an example, I think we are a good example
Speaking of PM's and being Catholic, it was Jean Chretien who was PM when equal marriage became law. He was asked if he got pressure from his Bishop not to allow it. His answer has gone down in the history books of one of the best IMO. He said " I told him, I am Prime Minister of ALL Canadians, not just Catholic Canadians ".
It was a perfect example of a religious man, who had the intelligence to separate his public and private life.
Up until then, nobody really knew if he was religious or not.
I totally disagree with a popular vote on any human rights issue.........human rights should not be dependent on the voice of the majority. If all of a sudden people voted to strip Aborigines of their citizenship or make it so the disabled no longer have equal rights, or repeal the law that women no longer had the right to vote and they just happen to pass a plebiscite, is that also kosher? Human rights are exactly that, rights. The fact that they are rights means they are inherent to ever person and cannot be repealed by some other party forming government.
All this said, I do understand the difficult legality of the issue some countries face. In Ireland it required Constitutional change but Constitutional change in Ireland can only be decided by the people thru a plebiscite.
This is the feeling I get from most Canadians. Some may not support equal marriage etc, but are living fine with it, and seem to have a live and let live attitude. Heck, didn't the Conservative party finally give in?
I'm happy Canada has been used as an example, I think we are a good example
Speaking of PM's and being Catholic, it was Jean Chretien who was PM when equal marriage became law. He was asked if he got pressure from his Bishop not to allow it. His answer has gone down in the history books of one of the best IMO. He said " I told him, I am Prime Minister of ALL Canadians, not just Catholic Canadians ".
It was a perfect example of a religious man, who had the intelligence to separate his public and private life.
Up until then, nobody really knew if he was religious or not.
Absolutely a good example
That's a proper leader. I believe our current PM is also Catholic, but his personal view is to end discrimination (generally, we don't care what religion/no religion the PM might be) Tony Abbott just tried to make his religion more important than the job of being PM.
Abbotts own sister is a well known politican, who is a lesbian.
It takes a real ******* to deny his own sister her human rights.
-aaaaand no one has ever described Abbott as intelligent - even if he is a Rhodes scholar lol
Edit: I should add, people can believe what they like. Its just a matter of not denying the rights of others, because of your personal belief.
There is a very well known Catholic priest in melbourne, Fr Bob... who is about 75 and is like a celebrity, he said he'd marry homosexual couples, (in civil unions) when this law is fixed. That, is a good person.
Last edited by artemis agrotera; 09-28-2016 at 06:02 PM..
That's a proper leader. I believe our current PM is also Catholic, but his personal view is to end discrimination (generally, we don't care what religion/no religion the PM might be) Tony Abbott just tried to make his religion more important than the job of being PM.
Abbotts own sister is a well known politican, who is a lesbian.
It takes a real ******* to deny his own sister her human rights.
-aaaaand no one has ever described Abbott as intelligent - even if he is a Rhodes scholar lol
Edit: I should add, people can believe what they like. Its just a matter of not denying the rights of others, because of your personal belief.
There is a very well known Catholic priest in melbourne, Fr Bob... who is about 75 and is like a celebrity, he said he'd marry homosexual couples, (in civil unions) when this law is fixed. That, is a good person.
...and that's the issue. People who want to make laws forcing others into their belief system. Of course they argue that by allowing equal marriage we are forcing our beliefs onto them, but that doesn't stand up to logic, since no one is preventing them or forcing them to do anything.
I have an aunt who is uber Catholic. She is a great lady, and she tells me her views on issues like equal marriage, abortion etc, but doesn't believe it's her place to judge. She truly believes people will be judge at death. She treats everyone well. If only all religious people were like here and the priest you mentioned.
If I was you, and truly held your beliefs, I would spoil my ballot instead of voting against people that I call friends.
One part of loving someone is accepting who they are, not disagreeing with their " lifestyle ". How can some say they love someone when they don't accept one of THE major things that makes them who they are?
It sounds almost condescending. " I love you, but don't accept you ". Isn't that big of me?
This is not just about disagreeing with someone. This is about you rejecting the very core of a persons being.
As the saying goes, " with friends like these, who needs enemies? "
Well you speaking to me as a Christian. No matter how society tries to justify same sex marriage, or how much society will go down to silence people like me, or even as churches out there go gay affirming (I used to go to a church where the minister would bless gay unions), I am not happy about it. Gay marriages will never be accepted by God.
I am more concerned about what God sees about this matter than any one else. God word on sexuality does not change. I know most people out there do not believe in God and or do not know him. Our lives are short and even tomorrow me, you or anyone can loose their life. I believe everyone will answer to the Lord one day.
You live in Canada and even though gay marriage is legal, it has not changed the views of many Canadians on gay marriage, no matter what happens.
I enclose an article by a Canadian Christian who is serving in the military on his observations on the gay pride flag flown at the Canadian navy: A section that stands out is:
. Even for those who live openly as Christians, it is difficult to explain the church’s understanding of morality, especially related to homosexuality - and especially when serving with gay and lesbian colleagues. No matter how rooted in love and how sincerely held our faith may be, the decision to adhere to classical Christian understandings of morality is widely understood to be a form of bigotry and discrimination - and of course, what justification can be sufficient for bigotry? We have now reached the point where those forced into living in the closet are the Christians https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/c...-isnt-happy-at I find it a great article, with testing times for Christians there, and it can be applied here in Australia as well, especially in the workplace.
Well you speaking to me as a Christian. No matter how society tries to justify same sex marriage, or how much society will go down to silence people like me, or even as churches out there go gay affirming (I used to go to a church where the minister would bless gay unions), I am not happy about it. Gay marriages will never be accepted by God.
I am more concerned about what God sees about this matter than any one else. God word on sexuality does not change. I know most people out there do not believe in God and or do not know him. Our lives are short and even tomorrow me, you or anyone can loose their life. I believe everyone will answer to the creator one day even though the sky has not fallen yet.
You live in Canada and even though gay marriage is legal, it has not changed the views of many Canadians on gay marriage, no matter what happens.
I enclose an article by a Canadian Christian who is serving in the military on his observations on the gay pride flag flown at the Canadian navy: https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/c...-isnt-happy-at I find it a great article, with testing times for Christians there, and it can be applied here in Australia as well.
As a citizen of a free and democratic country, I am all for you believing in what you want to believe. It's a cliche to say freedom of religion also means freedom FROM religion, unless you want to live in a theocracy. I'm sure you don't, especially if that theocracy's religion wasn't your own.
So I don't care that that sailor isn't happy, just like I didn't care that two of my great aunts didn't attend my sisters wedding because she was marrying outside her faith.
What people do care about is when religion is used to hold people down and deny them their rights. Religion has and was used in keeping many groups, First Nations, Women and blacks down. Inter-racial marriages were against god said people who held their beliefs just as strongly as you.
So I see your beliefs in the same light. You can have them, but the moment you try and force them on anyone, then you will have crossed the line.
As a citizen of a free and democratic country, I am all for you believing in what you want to believe. It's a cliche to say freedom of religion also means freedom FROM religion, unless you want to live in a theocracy. I'm sure you don't, especially if that theocracy's religion wasn't your own.
So I don't care that that sailor isn't happy, just like I didn't care that two of my great aunts didn't attend my sisters wedding because she was marrying outside her faith.
What people do care about is when religion is used to hold people down and deny them their rights. Religion has and was used in keeping many groups, First Nations, Women and blacks down. Inter-racial marriages were against god said people who held their beliefs just as strongly as you.
So I see your beliefs in the same light. You can have them, but the moment you try and force them on anyone, then you will have crossed the line.
Well if religion (Christianity) is being used to hold people down and deny them their rights then tell that to Marin Luther King Jr. After all he was not just a civil rights leader but a Baptist minister. I can also give other examples.
Even so being a member of a racial group, or colour of skin is part of God creation. However the equal rights on sexuality is about rewarding behaviour that is contrary to the scriptures which I have gave mentioned previously.
Gays in the gay rights movement overall care less about marriage. They are really doing this to convince themselves, and the rest of us, that homosexuality is no longer immoral. So legitimising their unions with the word marriage accomplishes that goal.
I do not force people to deny their rights, yet I have a right on my view. Even so it does not mean I hate someone, even if people out there see me as an enemy, I am as a Christian are to still love them (not just my friends or people who I agree with, but our enemies as well) just as Jesus Christ has done.
yes but the US isnt that diverse if we look that most of blacks in the US are African-Americans, who are also a homogenized group of colonial descendants of west african slaves (with some caucasian ancestor, as average african american is about 20-25 caucasian ancestry). The latin americans are 90% mexicans, guatemalans or salvadoreans. Immigration in canada is more similar to europe, you might have less blacks but they tend to be from straight up africa and speak their home languages, they are not homogenized colonial blacks like in the US who wear baseball hat and eat hotdog like average john smith.
White americans are also mutts, of multiple ancestries (mostly british isles+ Ireland + American ancestry combined though).
So american diversity is way different than Canadian diversity and let alone European diversity where blacks means multiple different ethnicities of FOb africans and other europeans all who have distinctive cultures, language and identity.
FOB = fresh of boat.
The U.S. is the most diverse of the 4 listed above by far. 40% are racial minorities. Nobody else comes close. White Americans are also not British Isles heavy (as in Australia and NZ) or British Isles+France heavy (as in Canada). And the U.S. Mexican population is remarkably diverse too. Mexicans come from dozens of ethnic groups and I've heard Mayan on the bus even.
And the U.S. also has as many 'fresh off the boat' migrants as well. DC has the world's largest number of Ethiopian restaurants outside of Addis Ababa. So you can't say all Blacks in the U.S. are from slavery times and all of the Blacks in Canada/Australia/New Zealand are incredibly diverse. One of my best friends is a Togolese Catholic woman who studied in France during college and became a U.S. citizen three months ago.
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. We have been kind of shocked into action with the US/Ireland being more progressive than us... Which is how we got to this plebiscite issue. When Tony Abbott was PM (a raging Catholic) and hanging on to his role for dear life, there was a move remove him as leader of the party. One of the key issues being raised at this time, was marriage equality. He came up with this pop vote idea, on the back of Ireland having a pop vote (which they had to do -- we do NOT need a vote to change the Marriage Act).
