It is high time Canadians break the spiral of silence that has enabled only some to control public debate.

Recently, we have another example of world views in collision and the resulting bullying and intolerance that is all too often part of the Canadian landscape.

The issue in point is the endeavour of Trinity Western University, in Langley, B.C., to open a law school. The covenant, or promise, which Trinity Western University invites its students and staff to enter into has been condemned as “abhorrent” by the Law Society of Upper Canada, which will mean graduates from Trinity’s law school will not be allowed to practise in Ontario.

The law society’s Nova Scotian counterpart has also condemned the covenant, and the British Columbia law society is rethinking its approval.

At issue is a line in the Christian university’s community covenant that requires all students, administrators and faculty to abstain from “sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman.”

I am including other parts of the covenant in this column so you can read it and judge for yourself.

It reads: “Every community has conduct expectations for its members. As an evangelical Christian community, (Trinity Western University) has formulated a set of behavioural responsibilities that apply to students, staff, and faculty.

• cultivate Christian virtues, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, compassion, humility, forgiveness, peacemaking, mercy, and justice.

• live exemplary lives characterized by honesty, civility, truthfulness, generosity, and integrity.

• communicate in ways that build others up, according to their needs, for the benefit of all.

• treat all persons with respect and dignity, and uphold their God-given worth from conception to death.

• be responsible citizens both locally and globally who respect authorities, submit to the laws of this country, and contribute to the welfare of creation and society.

• observe modesty, purity, and appropriate intimacy in all relationships, reserve sexual expressions of intimacy for marriage, and within marriage take every reasonable step to resolve conflict and avoid divorce.

• exercise careful judgment in all lifestyle choices, and take responsibility for personal choices and their impact on others.

• encourage and support other members of the community in their pursuit of these values and ideals, while extending forgiveness, accountability, restoration, and healing to one another.”

Trinity is not mandating this covenant for the whole of Canada, but for its university community. The staff and students voluntarily agree with the covenant.

Obviously, there are many other law schools that have different requirements, but why should Trinity be so brutally attacked and its students discriminated against because of their values?

Why is this such an offence in a nation that prides itself on human rights, diversity, and pluralism?

Reading over this part of the covenant, I can only believe that Canada would be a better place with folks who adhered to such high ideals. Our culture should not be dominated by the self-righteous opinions of law society members or indeed any other group who apparently wish to bully us into their own image.

Thank God we have the freedom to hold opinions and espouse them. But in the last few years, the majority of Canadians have remained silent, having witnessed the violent personal attacks that some have had to withstand should they do not hold the current opinion of the month and say so.

It may offend some people that not everyone can celebrate different relationships, but here in Canada we still have that right. It does not mean that fairness and justice will not be afforded to those who have a different world view.

Every world view attempts to answer: what is humanity? What is wrong with the world? And how can we make it better?

We do not all arrive at the same place and that is what should be celebrated, because it makes for a distinct and amazing society. Bullying some world views into extinction, as it seems is happening with Trinity Western, will damage Canada.

We only have to look to other nations, where citizens are not free to think and opine for themselves, to see the dangers.

Is there really no room for different world views in our country?

Jakki Jeffs is the Executive Director of Alliance for Life Ontario

Used with permission

Call To Action

Ezra Levant has started a petition to be presented to the Law Societies to rescind their bigoted rulings. Visit http://therealbigots.com/ and sign today.

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