Just remove the check box from the form

Marianna Harris and Lucille Swerdelian are troubled by Trudeau’s interference with the student summer job program.

Marianna Harris, a retired United Church pastor, used funding from the then-Conservative government to hire one student every summer to coordinate her congregation's social media accounts and plan activities like a community teddy bear picnic. With the new announcement, she told The House she fears for other groups with similar values.
"If the job that's being done is against government policy, then maybe they don't get [funding], but it's not just [based on] what they believe. There's a difference between those two things," she said.
While many pro-choice advocates are lauding the government's stance, others across the country share Harris's unease.
"It is not just a religious issue. There are non-religious groups that see this interference as the beginning of government dictating personal ideology," Lucille Swerdelian said in an email to The House.

Marianna Harris wishes the political side could be removed from the issue entirely.

"That's why I wanted to speak up for these people, because I think those grants need to be free of political influence," she stated.
"I'd say take those check marks off that form because it's creating too much difficulty for some faith groups."

Deborah Gyapong reports that Minister Hajdu stands by ‘mandate’ of summer jobs funding as opposition grows. She quotes Neil McCarthy, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Toronto.

“There doesn’t appear to be any change,” said Neil McCarthy, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Toronto, one of many Catholic dioceses telling applicants not to sign the attestation. “There is still a requirement to check an attestation box that endorses values that are not part of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that would run counter to the conscience and beliefs of countless religious organizations and many other Canadians.”

 Stephen Maher comments that Liberals are choosing to play politics with summer camp funding, and taking a stupid legal risk in the process.

The government could easily change the document to respond to the concerns of religious groups, narrowing the language to make certain that the summer students don’t spend their time handing out anti-abortion pamphlets, but they are instead choosing to play politics with summer camp funding.

References




(2018, January 27). Government faces pushback for injecting politics into summer jobs .... Retrieved January 27, 2018, from http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/when-metoo-and-time-s-up-collide-with-canadian-politics-1.4503794/government-faces-pushback-for-injecting-politics-into-summer-jobs-1.4506362

(2018, January 24). Minister Hajdu stands by 'mandate' of summer jobs funding as .... Retrieved January 27, 2018, from https://www.catholicregister.org/item/26706-minister-hajdu-stands-by-mandate-of-summer-jobs-funding-as-opposition-grows

(2018, January 19). Justin Trudeau should read the Charter of Rights - Macleans.ca. Retrieved January 22, 2018, from http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/justin-trudeau-should-read-the-charter-of-rights/

Critical Use of a Moral Compass

Gregg Henriques Ph.D. is one psychologist who believes we should return to teaching moral values, and engage in an active search for values.

#readingthroughProverbs to reset our moral compass. pic.twitter.com/inYjiwhSBb

— Jerome Barber (@revarkbldr) January 26, 2018

Henriques writes...

I believe we should return to teaching moral values, and engage in an active search for values that can guide the construction of greater societies. In my own quest for ultimate justifications that transcend time and context, I have found three separate but interrelated values that together feel like they offer a strong grounding in guiding my life and moral decisions. They are dignity, well-being, and integrity.

Source https://cdn.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/styles/article-inline-half/public/blogs/82191/2012/01/86612-82412.png?itok=K-xBPV7G





The diagram for a moral compass decision model may be quite complex.


This diagram from the Wikipedia commons is very detailed.
Richard Tarnas asks how can it be possible to construct a moral compass that can give the same north reading for all members of society.

“There is an appreciation of the plasticity and constant change of reality and knowledge, a stress on the priority of concrete experience over fixed abstract principles, and a conviction that no single a priori thought system should govern belief or investigation. It is recognized that human knowledge is subjectively determined by a multitude of factors; that objective essences, or things-in-themselves, are neither accessible nor positable; and that the value of all truths and assumptions must be continually subjected to direct testing. The critical search for truth is constrained to be tolerant of ambiguity and pluralism, and its outcome will necessarily be knowledge that is relative and fallible rather than absolute and certain” (The Passion of the Western Mind, p. 395–396). How can it be possible to construct a moral compass that can give the same north reading for all members of society when the mainstream belief of the population is that knowledge is endlessly evolving—that actions and beliefs must of necessity be fluid and adaptable to society’s changing popular culture?

Trevin Wax cites Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion that provides a crash course in the psychology of human morality.

Haidt compares the righteous mind to a tongue with six taste receptors:
liberty
loyalty
authority
sanctity
harm
fairness.

Politicians on the right tend to activate more of the receptors, while politicians on the left focus on harm and fairness as the dominant moral considerations. Haidt thinks the left should broaden their view of morality so that it encompasses more aspects.

Authors Ioanna V. Papathanasiou, Christos F. Kleisiaris, Evangelos C. Fradelos, Katerina Kakou, Lambrini Kourkouta stress the need for critical thinking for nursing students.

Nursing students in order to learn and apply critical thinking should develop independence of thought, fairness, perspicacity in personal and social level, humility, spiritual courage, integrity, perseverance, self-confidence, interest for research and curiosity. Critical thinking is an essential process for the safe, efficient and skillful nursing practice

Leah McClellan is a writer and dedicated to peaceful living. She offers a strategy Some of the direction points on my compass look like this:

1. Respect others no matter who they are and expect the same from them 
2. Be helpful to others and to ask for help when I need it 
3. Honor promises and obligations, and apologize when I can’t do so 
4. Stick with honesty and expect the same from others 
5. Acknowledge, validate or say thanks – whether in person or online 
6. Assume goodness in others and know they’re doing their best 
7. Remove myself when someone’s best isn’t in my best interest 

A moral compass practice for information gathering for a moral decision might use the following steps.

1. Take time to seriously consider the opposite choice. (i.e. Eat the cake or don’t eat the cake). 
2. Evaluate the benefit to self and the benefit to others of first choice. (i.e. Eat the cake) 
3. Evaluate the benefit to self and the benefit to others of opposite choice. (i.e. Don’t eat the cake) 
4. Chose the option that offers the greatest benefit to others. 

Step four in the plan is the most difficult. Many would argue that it is counter cultural. If the counterculture it supports is empathy, compassion, charity, and caring concern then the difficulty is shifted to justifying the narcissistic and self centered culture of today.

• Abortion. Compare the benefits to self and others of choosing abortion or not choosing abortion.
• Capital Punishment. Compare the benefits to self and others of choosing capital punishment for criminals or not choosing capital punishment for criminals.
• Assisted Death. Compare the benefits to self and others of choosing assisted death or not choosing assisted death.

	Critical Thinking about Capital Punishment
	Benefit to Self	Benefit to Others
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

This is an iterative process. The point of view that you have when you begin the process will likely produce lots of benefits for your initial position. Interaction with the benefits described for the alternate position is necessary to affirm your dignity, well-being, and integrity as you attempt to critically weigh both sides before you take your decision. Social media may provide a forum where the benefit calculus in the process can be shared.


References





(2012, January 31). Finding Our Moral Compass | Psychology Today. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/theory-knowledge/201201/finding-our-moral-compass

(2017, January 3). File:Revised NPOV political chart.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Revised_NPOV_political_chart.jpg

(2007, August 17). Ethics and Morality: The Moral Compass - Vision.org. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/ethics-and-morality-moral-compass/3574.aspx

(2014, December 3). Our Moral Compass Is Turned Toward Self-Righteousness. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/our-moral-compass-is-turned-toward-self-righteousness

(2014, August 21). Critical Thinking: The Development of an Essential Skill for Nursing .... Retrieved January 26, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4216424/

(n.d.). 5 Crucial Reasons to Carry a Moral Compass - Goodlife Zen. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from https://goodlifezen.com/5-crucial-reasons-to-carry-a-moral-compass/

(n.d.). 15 Signs Of Self-Absorbed People - Lifehack. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from https://www.lifehack.org/325656/15-signs-self-absorbed-people-2

Government should celebrate fruit of Catholic Social Teaching

Federal funding for social programs that support youth, families and marginalized Canadians is a very appropriate way to spend taxpayers money.

Graphic to consider from a series of talks on Catholic Social Teaching with Fr Keith McMillan Wednesday, 25th January 6pm – A series of talks on Catholic Social Teaching with Fr Keith McMillan https://t.co/QbCoi7YNzv

— Dave Macpherson (@davmacit) January 18, 2018

Several commentators have criticized a government policy that subjects applicants for employment grants to an ideological purity test to qualify for federal funding. David Millard Haskell has written an opinion piece for CBC claiming that Trudeau is asking religious Canadians to betray their conscience for federal funding.

Conservative Christians and those of other faiths supporting pro-life positions should not be subjected to an ideological purity test to qualify for federal funding. The beliefs they hold about abortion are completely within the bounds of the law and can be voiced upon and advocated for freely and publicly. Even organizations that are solely dedicated to opposing abortion contravene no law.
Their only "crime" is that their values don't align with those of our prime minister. It's ironic that Trudeau insists Canadians support "diversity and inclusion," when he himself does not

The legal and historical perspective he offers helps set the policy of a purity test as outside legal requirements and resonant with ancient dictatorial events. On a practical level, the social efforts of Catholics are guided by well established Catholic Social Teaching.

A series of talks on Catholic Social Teaching with Fr Keith McMillan

The efforts based on this teaching have produced good fruit for Canadians. An article in the Catholic Register explores the details of some of these programs.

Who	What they do	Hires
New Life Prison Ministries	generate a resource database for ex-offenders	6
	one-on-one support for ex-offenders
Waupoos Family Farm	offers low-income families a vacation
	the experience of farm living	40
Citizens for Public Justice	work on reconciliation, poverty, climate change.	1
Many Catholic parishes	work painting, and other light maintenance,	??

Table 1. Catholic Register: Charities grapple with Canada Summer Jobs policy change.

The government would be wise to celebrate the particular successes of social programs like these. If the government feels compelled to take an ideological stand against programs, it should confirm that the actual work done for prisoners, aboriginal groups, at-risk youth and families is against their ideology.

Licia Corbella advises that Trudeau should read the charter and honour his father.

What’s most galling, is the vast majority of the organizations that help the poorest of the poor in Canada are church-affiliated organizations. And, the vast majority of the money given to charities is donated by church goers. These are facts verified by Statistics Canada.
In other words, the very people who fund and do most of the volunteering, giving and serving are the very ones who will be excluded from this federal program, meaning those they help — the poorest of the poor in Canada — are the ones who will suffer the most, as well as the young people who want to help.

Margaret Wente asks: Can Justin Trudeau tolerate real diversity?

In the wake of terrible publicity, there are signs that the government is trying to walk back its new restriction on summer-job grants. Even so, Ms. Redshaw is right. We are getting very near the point where people with explicitly religious values will have no more role to play in mainstream society. As the brilliant writer Yuval Noah Harari observes, "God is dead – it's just taking a while to get rid of the body." The idea that people are obliged to order their lives and society according to the moral codes established by a higher power is regarded by the educated elites as nothing more than primitive superstition. In its place, we have created a new religion based on individualism and self-fulfillment – something that the Christian conservative writer Rod Dreher calls "an emotion-based spirituality of self-fulfillment

👍 ... I’d suggest also „The Benedict Option” - fresh „old fashioned” look at current situation pic.twitter.com/IG7XYBj4y5

— h0nzik (@h0nzikk) January 9, 2018

Rex Murphy comments that the prime minister has declared a doctrinal test for any who wish to make application for student summer job grants.

Suppose some parish council wants to do a cleanup of the town stream, and figures with a grant it could help half a dozen debt-hounded students by giving them summer jobs. Under the latest Trudeau encyclical, the town’s priest, minister, imam, shaman or rabbi would have to publicly repudiate his faith on an official document and maul his conscience with a lie (thus playing roulette with their immortal souls; religious people actually believe they have them) if the poor students are to be helped by said grants

The fruit of Catholic Social Teaching in the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has included working with the government to protect Indigenous rights, local workers and the environment from being harmed by commercial projects.

Pope Francis, as well as a number of Canadian Catholic groups, including the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, has advocated for better protection of surrounding communities, Indigenous rights, local workers and the environment from being harmed by commercial projects often involving international investment. During his current visit to Peru and Chile, the Holy Father is scheduled to meet with Indigenous People from the Amazon region, where there have been a number of complaints about the operations of Canadian-based and other extractive industries. On 1 May 2013, the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker, Pope Francis launched an appeal to end what he referred to as the conditions of slave labour, pointing out as a recent tragic example a garment factory fire in Bangladesh which produced clothing for North American retailers, including Canadian interests

Thanks @CCCB_CECC for your continuous support over the years ! #miningjustice https://t.co/2QrlTq5lO1

— Development andPeace (@DevPeace) January 22, 2018

Stephen Maher comments that the Liberals are choosing to play politics with summer camp funding, and taking a stupid legal risk in the process.

The government could easily change the document to respond to the concerns of religious groups, narrowing the language to make certain that the summer students don’t spend their time handing out anti-abortion pamphlets, but they are instead choosing to play politics with summer camp funding.

Evangelical Fellowship of Canada President Bruce Clemenger is one of over 80 religious leaders calling on Trudeau to end rights-based job program funding.

“We want to ensure that Canadians continue to benefit from the collaboration between government and faith-based organizations, working together for the common good of our country,” Evangelical Fellowship of Canada President Bruce Clemenger said at a news conference where the letter was introduced.
“We are unable to give non-negotiable, unqualified affirmation to undefined values and other rights … At the risk of losing funding or programs themselves that benefit so many Canadians, the government has placed us in an untenable situation.

Catholic Social Action predates the Roman persecutions cited by Mr. Haskell. It will continue to be the expression of the Love of Jesus that Christians try to model with or without government support.

References

(2018, January 18). Trudeau is asking religious Canadians to betray their conscience for .... Retrieved January 18, 2018, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/summer-jobs-program-1.4491602

(2018, January 15). Charities grapple with Canada Summer Jobs policy change. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.catholicregister.org/item/26664-charities-grapple-with-canada-summer-jobs-policy-change

(2018, January 20). Corbella: Trudeau should read the charter and honour his father .... Retrieved January 20, 2018, from http://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/trudeau-should-read-the-charter-and-honour-his-father


(2018, January 19). Can Justin Trudeau tolerate real diversity? - The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 20, 2018, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/can-justin-trudeau-tolerate-real-diversity/article37665145/

(2018, January 19). Rex Murphy: No summer jobs for you! And other decrees from Bishop .... Retrieved January 22, 2018, from http://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-no-summer-jobs-for-you-and-other-decrees-from-bishop-trudeau

(2018, January 19). CCCB welcomes decision by Government of Canada on Canadian .... Retrieved January 22, 2018, from http://www.cccb.ca/site/eng/media-room/statements-a-letters/4868-cccb-welcomes-decision-by-government-of-canada-on-canadian-ombudsperson-for-responsible-enterprise


(2018, January 19). Justin Trudeau should read the Charter of Rights - Macleans.ca. Retrieved January 22, 2018, from http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/justin-trudeau-should-read-the-charter-of-rights/ (n.d.).(n.d.).

(n.d.). Over 80 religious leaders call on Trudeau to end rights-based job .... Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/over-80-religious-leaders-call-on-trudeau-to-end-rights-based-job-program-funding/wcm/f63780d1-9fe7-43e7-bad9-3a32877fad02

Inspiring women for the earth

Sallie McFague, Climate Crisis Prophet and the Boston Consulting Group may not appear to have much in common at first glance.

When we add the concern of Pope Francis for the care of the world, as expressed in Laudato Si, there may be some common connections that can be a structure for making progress with the goals of all three.

In the absence of unified, global action on climate change, companies, governments and investors need to wake up to the likelihood of a hotter planet, and factor that into assumptions about the future. https://t.co/TPugtLWhT5 pic.twitter.com/QcaT7Yvx2r

— BostonConsultingGrp (@BCG) January 5, 2018

 In a report by Philip Pullella and Sarah Marsh for Reuters, Pope Francis calls for a new economic order and criticises capitalism.

Pope calls for new economic order, criticises capitalism https://t.co/QvtWW2NoLo via @canberratimes

— Dave Macpherson (@davmacit) January 5, 2018

 "Let us not be afraid to say it: we want change, real change, structural change," the Pope said, decrying a system that "has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature".
"This system is by now intolerable: farm workers find it intolerable, labourers find it intolerable, communities find it intolerable, peoples find it intolerable. The earth itself - our sister, Mother Earth, as Saint Francis would say - also finds it intolerable," he said in an hour-long speech that was interrupted by applause and cheering dozens of times.

  Leah D. Schade explores the work of Sallie Mc Fague on the models we use to try and understand our responsibilities for our home, the earth.

In her book The Body of God, McFague dedicates her efforts to exploring the thought experiment of the body as a model for an ecological theology.  She is quick to point out that this model is not based on the human body, lest it inadvertently reinforce the patriarchal assumption that the head has a privileged position over the rest of the body, which would reinstate yet another problematic hierarchy. Instead, she is envisioning this body to be that of Earth itself and inclusive of all other “bodies”: mountains, oceans, forests, insects, birds, and humans, to name a few. More importantly, she argues that Earth is God’s chosen embodiment, which has ethical implications for how humans relate to Earth itself and how it is treated.
For example, a recent study on the state of the planet’s oceans by the Georgia Institute of Technology reveals that rapid warming due to climate change is leading to deoxygenation.

In her book The Body of God, McFague dedicates her efforts to exploring the thought experiment of the body as a model for an ecological theology. This theology integrates the human experience of life on the planet into the science of climate change and the economics of a resource based system of production and distribution.

References

(n.d.). Preaching the Body of God: Exploring the Work of Sallie McFague for .... Retrieved January 5, 2018, from https://theotherjournal.com/2017/11/06/preaching-body-god-exploring-work-sallie-mcfague-homiletics-creation-care/