Ruling Opens Door for Legalized Homosexual 'Marriage' in Canada
by Chad Groening and Jody Brown
December 9, 2004
(AgapePress) - The Supreme Court of Canada has given Parliament the go-ahead to move forward with legislation to legalize same-sex "marriage." According to one pastor in Ontario, the move could result in persecution of Canadian pastors who teach what the Bible says about homosexuality.
Times have changed, says Canada's highest court, and the legal definition of marriage should change with them. "Several centuries ago, it would have been understood that marriage be available only to opposite-sex couples," the court said in its ruling on Thursday (December 9). "The recognition of same-sex marriage in several Canadian jurisdictions, as well as two European countries, belies the assertion that the same is true today."
But religious officials, the court said, cannot be forced to perform unions that are against their beliefs.
According to Canadian Press, legislation legalizing homosexual marriage across the country could be introduced as early as this month and made law next year. In fact, the Canadian justice minister has already pledged to bring the bill forward promptly when Parliament reconvenes in January.
Jeff Christopherson, pastor of the Oakville Sanctuary outside Toronto, says what is happening in Canada is reflective of the hearts of many of his countrymen.
"This thing that we're witnessing right now, as far as legalizing homosexual marriage, is more symptomatic of where our culture is rather than sort of a great shift," Christopherson says. "What's happened in Canada isn't a government issue; it's a reflection of the hearts of Canadians."
It is unfortunate, he says, that most Canadians support same-sex marriage. "Sadly, it reflects more than just the intellectually elite here," the pastor says, "but it does reflect the values of probably a majority of Canadians -- so it's just a sad commentary. It kind of shows the mission field that Canada really is, and the need to see transformation of a culture."
That culture, he says, has been making what he calls "a hard, left turn" over just a short period of history.
Christopherson clearly believes persecution of the Church is on the horizon. "Even though right now we're sort of given assurance that religious groups would still have the freedom to carry out their thinking on these kinds of matters, I've been saying for quite a while that Christian persecution will come under the homosexual agenda," he says.
The Ontario pastor says there are already several bills that propose certain Bible passages be deemed as "hate speech."
A 'Shabby Ruling'
A pro-family group in California says the ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada should give residents of the Golden State reason to stand against the latest move there to legalize same-sex marriage. Randy Thomasson of Campaign for Children and Families says the activist judges on the high court have delivered a "shabby ruling [created] out of thin air."
"You can't find homosexual 'marriage' in the Canadian constitution -- so these activist judges just made it up!" Thomasson offers in a press release. "If these were American judges or politicians, they would be ousted from office for trashing natural marriage and the vote of the people."
Watching what has transpired in Canada, says the CCF president, should motivate Californians to "rise up and oppose the full-blown 'homosexual marriage license' bill" introduced this week by Assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco. Thomasson says AB 19 is an "anti-voter" measure that will, if passed, effectively "turn marriage upside down."
"Marriage is an exclusive relationship for a man and a woman," he says. "Judges and politicians who pervert and trash natural marriage are actually harming the healthy role models that impressionable children so desperately need."
