Friday, October 21, 2016

Harry DeBoer - Again

Recently, as Harry DeBoer has a one-track mind, we were reminded by him of how backwards and nonsensical his religious views are.  Harry regularly writes into the Sarnia Observer to talk about abortion - even when he pretends that he wants to talk about something else, he almost always reminds of his antiquated and anti-woman beliefs.

To be consistent, Harry wrote a letter to the editor on October 20, 2016:

It’s ironic that Canada, once known for its democracy and Judeo-Christian ethos, has now become one of the most liberal anti-God nations on Earth. 
Canada has redefined marriage from its biblical status, and now allows same-sex unions.
As far as the culture of death is concerned, Canada is one of only three countries that permits partial abortion. All other countries have restraint in this regard. To share the partial abortion status with two of the biggest violators of human rights (China and North Korea) is nothing to be proud of.
Now our government and courts have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide. According to the Prevention Coalition of Canada, doctors of conscience who object to euthanasia will be coerced to pay a penalty of sorts should they refuse to refer patients who seek death to doctors who will carry out that instruction. 
Even in most supposedly liberal jurisdictions such as Holland or the state of Oregon, where euthanasia was legalized long before Canada made that decision, anti-euthanasia physicians are not forced to make these referrals. 
The root cause of all that ails most western nations, and not just Canada, is a refusal to obey the laws of God as they pertain to public life and governance. 
For Canadians, it’s the disregard of the preamble to our Constitution, of not recognizing “the Supremacy of God and the rule of law”. 
Not many Canadians think about the preamble, and you can be sure Canada’s mainline political parties avoid it. Even the Supreme Court of Canada calls “the Supremacy of God” a meaningless phrase, or a dead letter. 
It’s time to have a national and public discourse on the Constitution’s preamble. 
Harry DeBoer
Wyoming  

Since I've addressed many of Harry's points before, I didn't even feel like responding but, when stupid presents itself...

Like Harry’s bronze-aged myth, his letter has done little to change with the times.  That he states outdated information and misrepresents what is actually allowed should be what we recognize as “true Christian morality and values”.    

To borrow a phrase from Harry, it’s ironic that Canada, known for its relatively high level of education, still has any portion of the population that still believes in a god of any sort.  In our country, if you believe in a god, with almost no exception, you do so because your parents also believed in god – not only ‘a god’, but the very god that you, too, believe in.  Of the thousands of possible gods you could believe in (Harry and I disbelieve in almost the same number of gods – I believe in just one fewer), it’s not through revelation, evidence or proof that you’ve come to choose the particular god. 

To address Harry’s points, Canada has redefined legal marriage from being oppressive and exclusionary to one that is more inclusive.   Ironic, too, that religions claim morality and tolerance but display that in the most oppressive, immoral and intolerant ways possible (well, okay, give credit to Christians for cutting back on committing genocides and stoning people to death).

It is interesting that, given the number of lives that are lost as a result of religious interpretations, that Harry’s supposed concern is about preserving life.  As far as the culture of death is concerned, the story that Harry DeBoer wants you to believe is, like the book he believes in, almost complete fiction.  

Furthermore, the book that Harry so loves resulted in the oppression, murder and subjugation of millions of people.  Harry and others will argue "that was a different time" but we can't simply pick and choose what we apply that to when it comes to "the literal word of god" or "the inspired word of god".  The justifications for oppression were when we were ignorant, when people didn't know better and when men had the opportunity (clearly took advantage of it too!) to control.  Now that we know better, now that we can demand more and now that the world is seeing religion for the horrible ideas it brings to the table, we're saying "that was a different time" when we revered the "word of god" and, frankly, if you can't look back on history and say "we should be ashamed of ourselves", you are deserving of additional scorn and ridicule.

To argue, as if it is a bad thing, that Canada stands alone in progressive and moral policy, is another trait of many religious people.  The argument is circular and silly.  That other countries will come to accepting good science, good medicine and, simply put, good public policy is only a matter of time – and then what do you argue? 

I understand that the facts can be inconvenient to Harry's story but the United States, federally, has come to accept that the right to abortion should be permitted and preserved as well as the right for consenting adults to make their own choices on whether or not and to whom they wish to get married.  (Keep in mind that Harry has chosen an extremely limited interpretation of abortion laws to make it so we fit only with China, United States and North Korea - and he leaves out the US.  Other versions of the story that Harry is copying will include Vietnam.  Harry is also being disingenuous - he doesn't want Canada to "get in line" with most other democracies - because even if Canada made the single limit that Harry speaks about, abortion would still be legal - and it would have almost no impact on the number of abortions that are provided in Canada.)

Now to Harry:

Here’s an idea, Harry – value women as your equals, permit them the same opportunities presented to men and allow them to control their own reproductive cycle (don’t shame them and, for your non-existent god’s sake, don’t make it a financial burden for them to do so). 

And, one final great idea, Mr. DeBoer, consider the facts.   Accept what is true and not simply what you want to be true.  Give women access to birth control and other needs related to reproductive health, permit them to make their own decisions, give them opportunities in life and what is the result?  Fewer abortions.  Imagine if that was truly what you were trying to achieve.


Bullying is what you’re doing and it is not acceptable under any other pretense.  You should be ashamed of your backwards view on morality and the harm that your lies and bullying are doing to society.