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Posted by eleanor

Maybe if they imprinted the words 'no homos' onto crackers? Then we could all be subliminally seduced

The weekend National Post brings not one, but two full page anti-same-sex marriage ads.

Ontario's Ken Campbell, who you might say is "well known" to the province's homosexualists, continues apace with his endless and endlessly entertaining anti-gay ad campaign. In production values and text font, in its overwhelming amount of text and impossible logic, it resembles the front page of the newspaper published by the Communist Party of Canada, Marxist-Leninist.

This ad calls for Prime Minister Paul Martin's impeachment because he favours gay marriage.

One good thing. I was happy to read, in very small print at the very bottom, a note reading: "Ken has recently overcome two attacks on 'freedom of speech' and 'freedom of religion' in Canada from 'gay activists' who filed complaints to the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the BC Human Rights Tribunal over a full-page ad Ken published in a national newspaper in response to the Supreme Court decision in Vriend [that decision required that sexual orientation protections be added to the Alberta human rights code]. The headline to that ad read 'Supreme Court has no business imposing 'bathhouse morality' on the churches and in the living rooms of the nation.' Both complaints were dismissed."

That kind of attempt to stifle the opposition is no doubt why Focus on the Family's full-page ad includes the sentence: "We believe it's healthy to have an exchange of opinions, and we believe diversity makes our country richer." The diversity line is too funny.

I originally thought it pathetic that the religious right feels a need to plead for its right to speak. But now having visited their site, I see this is part of a full-fledged martyrdom campaign (though I still do think that gays filing human rights complaints against religious folk is a stupid and offensive maneouvre).

In the ad, the text overlapping the large pic of a nuclear family reads: "We try to be open-minded..." And yet, not.

Comments

# re: Maybe if they imprinted the words 'no homos' onto crackers? Then we could all be subliminally seduced
April 28, 2005 5:49 PM
I can't resist -- here are some fave Ken Campbell moments.

In the April 16, 1993, Toronto Xtra (and written by Ed Jackson), Rev. Ken Campbell is listed in as a key player in the anti-gay movement in Toronto, and Canada: "National leader of the Christian Freedom (formerly Social Credit) Party, formerly Renaissance Canada until deregistered as a religious charity after Revenue Canada investigated its political activities during Toronto's 1980 civic elections. A proponent of 'apostolic confrontational evangelism.' Metro Renaissance (formerly Metro's Moderate Majority) is a branch of Christian Freedom. It's 'an organization of born-again Christians' offering seminars on how to enter politics to 'those with high moral standards.' The video The Gay Agenda, used widely by the Christian Right in the US, is being distributed by Metro Renaissance."

These next two were written by, er, me.

From the June 11, 1993, Xtra: "Evangelist Ken Campbell appears to be playing fast and loose with receipts for tax deductible donations. A donor who recently sent money to one of Ken Campbell's charities got an income tax receipt from another.

"According to Revenue Canada, receipts don't work that way. 'If you write a check out to A, then B isn't supposed to issue a receipt,' says Revenue Canada spokesperson Michel Cleroux."

A check was sent in (by a gay man testing Campbell's book keeping, and he's undoubtedly still cackling about his coup!) to the Ken Campbell Evangelistic Association. The receipt cam back from the Golden Horseshoe Christian Youth Centre Inc."

Campbell said there were in fact two groups with the same name, and that everything was kosher. There was more, but it was headache-inducing accounting blather.

From the Dec. 10, 1993, Xtra: Ken Campbell's Christian Freedom Party was "deregistered [as a political party] after it did not field the minimum number of required candidates in the last federal election. In a Nov. 6 letter, Campbell congratulates Prime Minister Jean Chretien for his cabinet picks, but laments the lack of a voice for the '100,000 helpless, voiceless and voteless pre-born Canadians and their mothers who will be victimized by the 'kill the unwanted' philosophy presently dominating Canadian culture."

# re: Maybe if they imprinted the words 'no homos' onto crackers? Then we could all be subliminally seduced
April 26, 2005 4:24 PM
Oh wow! Ken Campbell, there's a name I haven't heard in a long time, wasn't sure if the silly old fart was still around.

I remember back in the eighties I used to get his "newsletter", seems he did mass mailings in the Church/Wellesley area in Toronto. Then I heard he moved to Prince George or some far away exotic locale like that. Haven’t heard anything in over ten years.

I’ve also been following the kind of martyr stance that the religious right seems to be adopting lately. After all these years of bigotry and hatred they want to play the hurt card? I don’t think so…
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