A Wiki Bibliography on Canadian Evangelicalism

I’ve posted on this before–about a year ago, in fact–but I’ve just had contact with some more researchers on Canadian evangelicalism who didn’t know about it, so here it is again:

It has been my honour to help guide the new Centre for Research on Canadian Evangelicalism (CRCE), a venture of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

The CRCE sponsors research, publishes its own journal (Church & Faith Trends), and helps journalists and researchers understand evangelicals better.

Now the CRCE has established a research tool  that, I believe, is unprecedented anywhere in the world. (Tell us, though, if there are other such tools.) It is a bibliography on Canadian evangelicalism that has been established using wiki technology. Only scholars can register to contribute (and we hope everyone in that category will do so), but anyone can use it.

This tool should save people hours, if not days, of research time. So visit the site if such research interests you, and please expand it if you have expertise to offer.

And congratulations to project manager Rick Hiemstra who put it together with help from EFC’s IT experts.

And Now for Something Completely Different: A Moderate Voice on Abortion

I’m both a feminist and a prolife advocate, and I mourn the almost total loss of the early linkage between those two movements (e.g., guess which babies, once their sex is ascertained, are more likely to be aborted?). So I am delighted to come across a thoughtful, fairminded interview with a thoughtful, fairminded prochoice scholar who advocates regard and respect for the prolife movement as a genuine heir to the civil rights movement. And in The New Yorker—a magazine I enjoy, but one not noted for its patience with a prolife outlook.

Taking the Cross Out of the Classroom

Here’s my most recent contribution to the National Post’s religion blog: I’m defending the recent European Court’s direction to the nation of Italy (!) to remove crucifixes from public schools.

(This may be the first time I’ve disagreed with a whole country, but I suppose it was inevitable.)

Partnering with Non-Christian Organizations: Is Compromise Okay?

A friend recently wrote to me (and I’ve disguised the situation a bit to preserve his privacy):

“My wife and I have been approached by The Kids Help Line to help raise funds.  The Kids Help Line is a national organization to help kids with various problems from simple friendship and parent tensions to issues of abuse, suicide, bullying, teen pregnancy, contraception, sexual orientation and dating.

“Their job is to provide information and help these kids through their problems.  They have a website where there are chat lines and you are able to see how the counselors handle situations.  For the most part I am impressed with their care and attentive listening.  On most inquiries they ask the teen good questions in an effort to get them thinking about the issue from other perspectives.  On pregnancy they offer all the options and while they define abortion as ‘an interrupted pregnancy,’ they do say that there are people who believe abortion is wrong and that there are spiritual, emotional and psychological consequences that need to be thought out.  For a child questioning his or her orientation they refer them to the gay and lesbian society, which upsets me, but I also can’t think of who else they ought to recommend instead.

“So our dilemma: There is an overall good going on, especially regarding abuse and suicide, and there are also issues where their handling would be inadequate from a Christian prospective.

“So can I make out  the trees from the woods and make a wise decision?  I can argue that working with this organization opens opportunities for us to work alongside people who we would never otherwise meet,  people who want to do to good for others.  We may offset stereotypes of judgmental Christians by accepting them into our home and that we will be helping children in many difficult and some very serious situations.

“But I can argue instead that I am partnering with an organization that would be neutral, or worse, on ethical issues such as abortion, sexual orientation and promiscuity, and by helping fund them I appear to be endorsing their stands on these matters.  As a church leader I am leaving myself open to being criticized by Christians who would believe we have ’sold out.’ So what do you think?”