By Andrew Mayeda, Canwest News ServiceOTTAWA - The Harper government is prepared to defend the constitutionality of Canada's criminal ban against polygamy, arguing the practice represents a "clear challenge" to Canadian values, newly released federal documents show. In January, the RCMP charged Winston Blackmore and Jim Oler, two prominent members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect in Bountiful, B.C., with practising polygamy. Since then, Mr. Blackmore's lawyer has vowed to cite his client's religious freedom as a defence, leading some legal and constitutional experts to speculate the case could go all...
How long will it take until the Supreme Court has a decision? Can an argument of “religious freedom” succeed in removing polygamy from the Criminal Code? Here are some answers.by Don Hutchinson - EFC (From Christianity.ca) Charges have been laid. Debate in the media occupies page after page, both print and electronic. The issue will proceed into the courts in a process likely to take years to unfold. Over the last few days, some of the questions most asked have been the following: [continue reading this article here.]...
Charles Lewis, National Post: January 08, 2009Canada's courts ultimately might have no choice but to rule that polygamy is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, legal experts say. [Keep reading this article from the National Post here.]...
by Devon Williams, associate editor, Focus on the Family's Citizenlink.com 'Marriage is a gateway into family life, and family life, in turn, is often a gateway into church attendance.' A dramatic decline in marriage, particularly among young adults, has led to a decline in church attendance over the last three decades, according to a study by Robert Wuthnow, a sociology professor at Princeton University. Read the whole article here. ...
By Mark Penninga “Married people outnumbered for the first time” rang out a recent CBC news headline. The story came in response to Statistics Canada releasing its survey of the Canadian family. That survey revealed that for the first time ever in this country, unmarried people over the age of 15 outnumber those who are married. Some other findings were that: - For the first time ever there are more families without children than with children. - There are 1.4...