Land of the Maple Leaves by Claudine Tan

ith gay marriages being legalized

around the world, have you ever wondered how it started and where it will end up? The Land of Maple Leaves is a true story about how the failure of Christians to stand up for God’s laws led to a sorrowful end. We hope that in reading this booklet, you will be challenged to answer this question: Will you stand on God’s side, even when you stand alone?”

ISBN-13: 777-020-00-0771-2

Copyright © April 2014 • Bethesda (Bedok-Tampines) Church (BBTC) Tel: 6645 0700 • Fax: 6443 0733 • Email: admin@bbtc.com.sg All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be reproduced in any manner without permission from the publisher.

The Land of Maple Leaves

The True Story of Christians Who Did Not Use Their Voice Not too long ago, the people of the Land of Maple Leaves were confronted with a question that divided the people in two. A powerful man in the land had proposed that homosexual acts in private should no longer be a criminal offence under the law. He felt that the government should not interfere in the bedroom affairs of people. Many people in the Land of Maple Leaves were outraged, most of them Christians. Some tried to fight it, a few of them spoke up against it, but by and large they were mostly quiet and disunited about it. So the powerful

man in the land got the law changed. This was the year 1969. The homosexual people were happy with this, but they were not satisfied. Now that homosexual acts were permitted, they wanted to live together and be recognized in their relationship as couples. So in the Land of Maple Leaves, they were allowed to enter into Civil Unions with one another. But that was not enough, they said. They wanted to be married. So the law of the land was changed to allow them to marry. But they complained. They wanted to be married by solemnization in a church. It could not be any church either – it had to be a Catholic Church, where everything is bright and beautiful. So that was done too. But marriage was still not good enough, said the gay people. We want children. So now the homosexuals were just like everybody else, entering into marriages, having

children1, raising families. It followed that the homosexual lifestyle must be made normal. In fact, it should be encouraged. Children, they argued, must learn that they can have parents of the same sex, can choose their sexual orientation, and can even choose to be male or female. And they should learn this not in college, but in kindergarten. Anybody who refuses to agree with the homosexual lifestyle would be guilty of a criminal offence.

A criminal, just because I refuse to agree to the gay lifestyle? How can that be? I am a Christian and am entitled to my personal beliefs! Now that the homosexual lifestyle is normal in the Land of Maple Leaves, not only are you not allowed to disagree with it, you are not allowed to speak against it. You cannot repeat what the Bible says – that homosexuality In vitro fertilization for same-sex couples, using surrogates for male couples and artificial insemination for female couples, is legal and encouraged. See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dov-fox/it-is-timefor-the-us-to-_b_2900323.html

is an abomination before God, because in doing so you would be discriminating against the gay people. In other words, you are not allowed to share your faith with your friends and family, and even your own children, that God made marriage to be the sacred union of one husband and one wife. You cannot tell them that according to the Bible, homosexual acts are wrong. The law of the land has become greater than the laws of God. For the State says to you: Human beings can choose to be male or female, marry whoever they want of whatever gender, and be allowed to change from one sex to another.

Oh, you are a Christian? Why didn’t you speak up before all of this? This is the true story of Canada, one of the first countries in the world to decriminalize homosexual behaviour. The powerful man who changed the law in 1969 was then-Minister of

Justice, Pierre Trudeau, a Roman Catholic man who attended church all his life. Consider for a moment how you never thought that the simple act of decriminalizing homosexual behaviour could lead to these consequences. But it did, and may it serve as a warning to all others who are thinking of doing the same: •

In 1999, Christian printer Scott Brockie refused to accept work from the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives due to his personal beliefs. He was fined $5,000.

•

In 2001, Christians Dagmar and Arnost Cepica were forced to close their small bedand-breakfast and pay $1,000 in damages for refusing to allow practicing homosexuals to stay in their home.

In 2005, the Knights of Columbus refused to rent a hall to a lesbian couple for their

“wedding” and was made to pay $1,000 in damages. The person responsible for hall rentals was constantly provoked by his gay boss in his day job and eventually fired without a cause.

•

In 2007, youth pastor Stephen Boissoin was punished with a lifetime ban from saying or writing anything negative about homosexual behaviour in public or private, made to write an apology letter, renounce his faith, and to pay $5,000 to the gay complainant 2. His crime? Writing a letter to a newspaper editor, disagreeing with their “gay agenda”.

•

In 2008, public school teacher Dr. Chris Kempling was forced to quit after being harassed for years because of his Christian beliefs and moral stand against the agenda to promote homosexuality in schools. The program, which is compulsory for all school-going children from Grade 1 onwards,

This was overturned by the Court of Queen’s Bench after 7 long, arduous years of appeals in December 2009.

requires children to question their own religious upbringing. •

By 2010, all Catholic adoption agencies in Canada were closed down as they refused to place orphans with same-sex couples.

•

From 2011, all marriage commissioners in Saskatchewan are required to marry same-sex couples, regardless of their religious convictions, as their rights to freedom of religion and conscience were deemed less important than the homosexual right to freedom from discrimination. That year, marriage commissioner Orville Nichols was fined $2,500 for refusing to marry a same-sex couple.

•

In 2012, Christian bed-and-breakfast owners Les and Susan Molnar were made to pay $4,500 to two homosexual men for cancelling their reservation in 2009.

•

From February of 2012, homeschoolers and Christian schools in Toronto are no longer allowed to teach that homosexual acts are sinful. The Toronto District School Board started distributing a poster of cross-dressing children, stating that there are no rules on whether you are a boy or a girl. They also started distributing posters normalizing polygamy and are discussing the establishment of a “queer-centric” school where all teachers, students and the curriculum would be samesex oriented 3.

If you are horrified by the above, you should know that on September 19, 2013 4, the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister announced that one of their foreign policy objectives should be promoting the homosexual agenda. Canada would focus on helping to influence places with strict laws against homosexuality, working with the European Union and the United States. 3 http://www.mncc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ArchbishopPrendergast-Consequences-of-SSM-from-Canadian-Perspective.pdf

http://www.christianpost.com/news/canadas-foreign-policy-looksto-promote-a-homosexual-agenda- 81880/

And like it or not, the homosexual agenda has arrived on our shores. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place… ~ Ephesians 6:14

“Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?” ~Psalm 94:16 Where were the Christians in Canada in 1969? Why did they not speak up for God’s truth? For the same reasons that Christians still do not speak up today: • •

Homosexuals should not be made criminals.

I know homosexuals and they are good people.

•

Homosexuality is inborn, not chosen; we should understand that they can’t help it. • Decriminalizing homosexual behaviour is an act of love to all mankind. •

We shouldn’t make homosexuals feel bad when they are already struggling. • Christians should be more tolerant and not impose their beliefs on other people. •

Somebody else will speak up.

•

Religion and politics should not mix.

•

There is no need to do anything - nothing is going to change. •

There is no point doing anything - things will change anyway. • •

We are the majority and fear not the minority.

We don’t have a right to speak up when we aren’t sinless ourselves.

•

There might be repercussions for me and my family.

One of the fundamental responsibilities of Christians is to stand up for God’s truth and stand up against what He says is wrong, regardless of our personal emotions. It is our duty to trust in His wisdom, because there are dire consequences when we do not. Jesus has warned us that the battle is not against men, but against the powers of darkness and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms 5. But He has commanded us to battle and equipped us for it with spiritual weapons 6. No matter how much so-called “scientific evidence” is presented to oppose the laws of God, or what the conventional arguments of love and tolerance are, we have to submit to His authority and rebel against sin and darkness with courage. 5

Ephesians 6:12

2 Corinthians 10:3-4

There was a time when the Christians were ignorant and foolish, and allowed the forbidden doors to be unlocked. But now that you know, what would YOU have done if you were a Christian in Canada in 1969?

“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent.” ~ Acts 17:30

ith gay marriages being legalized

ISBN-13: 777-020-00-0771-2