Oh, Dear Stephen, Your Master Already Funds Religious Organizations!

By ck, on February 17th, 2011

First, the light bulb tweet of Stephen Taylor:

C’mon Steve! Of course you do! Private theological schools, Winnipeg’s Youth For Christ, Chakam School of the Bible in Prince George, Saskatchewan and my favourite goody, Wycliffe Bible translators. Below, are some other religious groups receiving federal goodies.

$986,667 for the Catholic Youth Organization of the Diocese of Hamilton
+
$371,650 for the Good Sheperd Venture Center (Which I didn’t know was Catholic too!)
+
$2,947,652 For Redeemer University College (A Christian School)
+
$1,000,000 For a soccer field at Redeemer University College
+
$300,000 For phase 2 of the soccer field

So That’s

$5,605,969 For Hamilton’s Religious circle

Do I really need to go on? You were saying, Stephen?

H/T CC

deBeauxOs

February 17, 2011 at 8:52 PM

Excellent research, CK!

And how many of those religious groups might be evangelicals, thanks to the MASSIVE lobbying efforts of Faytene Kryskow, Dokter McVety and others, including fund-raisers for the CPC?

ck Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 9:33 PM

Merci beaucoup! I’m sure I could find more if I put more time and effort into it.

Tony Durke

February 17, 2011 at 9:25 PM

Church and state have always been bedfellows. Nobody talks about it in Canada because many people in this country are atheists. (though, apparently, many Canadians lie about their faith and say that they go to church when they don’t) Look at the fury that ensued last year when people were talking about removing the word ‘god’ from our national, albeit archaic, anthem. (Our home on Native land)
What is the deal with Hamilton? Are the neo-cons close to winning or losing some seats there? Do they put the same amount of cash into Catholic and Christian institutions elsewhere in the country? Like, say, Alberta, where it is like a crime to be a lefty or a homo or concerned about the environment? The neo-cons already have those seats sewn up so I would guess that they don’t need to dump as much of our taxpayer funded cash into the word of God in that province? I wonder if they pony up cash for Muslims?

Alison S

February 17, 2011 at 11:17 PM

Notice that they are funding religious propaganda organizations and NOT funding religious organizations that actually might do some good in the world. Frankly, I am against any funding to religious organizations, but Kairos is one of the better ones.

dylan

February 18, 2011 at 12:42 AM

The Redeemer soccer field qualified under the EAP as well as a few other religious post-secondary institutions that had shovel ready projects. Redeemer’s academic credibility has already gone through the hoops through their Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada application and acceptance. To sum: they’ve already proved their academic value to their peers in the AUCC (U of T, UBC, McGill, U of S, Western, U of A, etc., etc.) of whom a clear majority voted to accept. Labeling them propaganda machines is ignorant.

From a public goods argument, all education – private or public – could fall within the public goods category and therefore qualifies for SOME (albeit, intentionally unequal due to politics and other factors) public funds. After all, BC taxpayers can attend university in New Brunswick and contribute NOTHING back to their alma matter’s province when they return home upon graduation – therefore leaving all the long-term benefits of a post-secondary education (higher wages, home ownership, higher consumer spending, etc), not to mention any of the social benefits, behind with the taxpayers of NB to continually foot the bill.

Moreover, Alison S., Redeemer was founded by the Reform Church, the very same that belongs to the Christian Reformed Church in North America that is a member of KAIROS. Next time, keep your head up. I’m all for fair critique and dialogue; but let’s not be too quick to label all Christian post-secondary institutions and their supporting congregations as brainwashing lie factories.

Simon

February 18, 2011 at 3:25 AM

hi CK…excellent post. Can you believe the hypocrisy of those Cons? Besides funding a decent humanitarian organization like KAIROS is one thing, and funding religious schools is another. My position on that is not a bloody dollar…

Oemissions

February 18, 2011 at 4:18 PM

Awesome post!
Mon Dieu! or is that Tabernacle!

kootcoot

February 20, 2011 at 8:12 PM

There is a vast difference between funding religious organizations to perform humanitarian work and distribute aid in third world countries and funding religious organizations themselves. One would hope that such organizations engaged in humanitarian efforts would keep proselytizing to a minimum, though that is probably too much to ask.

I always root against Notre Dame in football and basketball, because I figure their opponent needs all the help they can get what with God and the Pope pulling for the Irish!

Tim

February 21, 2011 at 3:24 PM

I doubt Taylor thinks its inappropriate to fund religious organizations. However, isn’t he just asking Goldenberg (who works for the Liberal Party) if his party thinks it is appropriate since they are defending kairos?

ck Reply:
February 21st, 2011 at 4:03 PM

That’s not how Taylor worded his tweet.

Besides, Kairos, unlike those other groups the Harpercons do fund, do not seek to convert people.