Why a Mennonite pastor stopped wearing a cross, replacing it with a Pride flag

For years, Jamie Arpin-Ricci, a Mennonite pastor in Winnipeg, wore a cross around his neck as a symbol of his faith. But then one morning last year he put it in a bedside drawer and decided never to wear it again. Instead, he replaced it with a Pride flag pin.

What caused him to stop wearing his cross for a Pride pin? “As a queer activist, I was also increasingly aware of how triggering Christian symbology and language could be to people traumatized by the church for their sexual orientation and/or gender identity,” he said.

 

But it wasn’t only his concern for queer people that caused him to remove it. Arpin-Ricci also thought about Indigenous people, many of whom suffered as children in church-run residential schools where crosses would often be found on the walls or worn around the necks of abusers.

“Now my daily ritual includes putting the pin onto my shirt or jacket with the same care and intentionality that I once reserved for the cross,” he said. “It was an important decision for me, one that I feel absolutely no regret over.”

Read about Arpin-Ricci’s thoughts on no longer wearing a cross, and how it has become a challenging symbol for others (especially some indigenous people), in my latest Free Press column.

 

You can also read his full essay on taking off his cross in favour of a Pride pin here.

Beyond heaven and Hell: Many Canadians believe in the afterlife, but what do they mean by that?

A growing number of Canadians are leaving religion behind. But when it comes to the afterlife, many continue to believe in it. But what do they mean by that? That’s the question scholars who study religion are asking after the release of an Angus Reid/Cardus poll showing that 60 percent of Canadians either believe there is an afterlife, or think it exists.

As one scholar put it: "When people say they believe in life after death, we need to know more than yes or no. They may mean that bodies decompose and become a different kind of energy. This too is life after death, in their view.”

Read about it in my latest column in the Free Press.

Image from Forbes Magazine.

In a post-Christian and secular Canada, is the Good Friday holiday discriminatory?

Is Good Friday a discriminatory holiday? That was the question raised by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) last fall when it published a discussion paper on religious intolerance. 

In the paper, the Commissions suggested Good Friday and Christmas are not only “grounded in Canada’s history of colonialism” but are “an obvious example” of religious intolerance—being the “only Canadian statutory holidays linked to religious holy days.” 

The result, the paper went on to say, is that while Christians are privileged by getting days off for their religious observances, non-Christians may experience intolerance or discrimination since they need “to request special accommodations to observe their holy days and other times of the year where their religion requires them to abstain from work.” 

So why is Good Friday still a statutory holiday in our very secular and post-Christian country? And how could Canada make people from other religions feel more included? That’s the question I address in my most recent Free Press column.

 

Many church leaders in U.S. on wrong side of power, new book asserts

 

“There’s something desperately wrong with the church in America.” 

That’s what David Fitch, author of the new book Reckoning with Power: Why the Church Fails When It’s on the Wrong Side of Power, says about Christians in that country who support Trump and are part of what’s known as Christian Nationalism in the U.S. 

Fitch, who teaches at Northern Seminary near Chicago, made the comment about those Christian leaders, mostly evangelicals, who seek to use the power of the state to force their version of Christian faith on that country. 

“That is so different from when God’s power is at work,” he said. “But many seem willing to exchange God’s power for worldly power to make the state do what they think should be done.” 

Read about Fitch’s new book, and the way some Christian leaders are trying to shape America according to their Christian beliefs—and what Canadian Christians can learn from the mistakes of their American neighbours—in my recent column in the Free Press.

 

 

 

 

"The fact is that I am a Christian." Alexei Navalny's faith underreported by media following his death

Accolades and tributes have been pouring in for Alexei Navalny, who died Feb. 16 in a Russian penal colony at the age of 47. 

The many media reports about his death mentioned his years of criticism of the authoritarian rule of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the widespread corruption and lack of freedom in that country, and how he spoke against Putin’s war against Ukraine. 

One thing that did not get much mention was Navalny’s Christian faith. By leaving that out, media coverage summing up his life’s work missed “a key part of what made his opposition to Vladimir Putin so powerful.” 

Read more in my Free Press column.

New documentary shows how a mistranslation by the RSV Bible committee shifted a culture and caused harm to LGBTQ+ people

No Bible translation is perfect, but the scholars who created the Revised Standard Version in 1946 got something terribly wrong when—for the first time ever in a Bible translation—they used the word “homosexual” in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, verses that identify those who “will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

It was the wrong word. It would have gone unnoticed except for a 1959 letter from a young Canadian seminary student to the head of the translation committee, who acknowledged the error and promised to make a correction.

Due to an agreement with the publisher, a new version could not come out until 1971. By then, tens of millions of the uncorrected version of the RSV were published and sold and the damage to LGBTQ+ people was done—as 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture, a new documentary film, shows.

Read about it in my Free Press column, including a link to watch the documentary.

Your invitation to fund Canada's only faith beat at the Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg is known for many great things: The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Folk Festival, Folklorama, the Leaf, the art gallery, the Blue Bombers — even for being the Slurpee capital of Canada. 

Add one more thing to that list: Winnipeg is the only city in the country that has a newspaper that covers religion on a regular basis. 

That’s right; no other daily media outlet in Canada dedicates resources to covering religion. CBC Radio used to do it through Tapestry, a program about religion and spirituality. But the broadcaster cancelled it in December when host Mary Hynes retired. 

So that leaves the Winnipeg Free Press, which has been covering faith since 2019 when the Religion in the News project was created. 

Since that time, over 1,100 stories and columns about faith in the province and beyond have been published — not only on the Saturday faith page, but every day through the whole newspaper and online. 

And it’s all thanks to the financial support from 25 faith groups and organizations, together with the hundreds of people like you who contribute annually to the Crowdfunder campaign. 

As we kick off the 2024 Crowdfunder campaign (see giving info below), here are some endorsements to remind you of how unique and special this is. 

“Sharing positive and engaging stories about how people of faith contribute to the larger Winnipeg story helps build community pride and encourages others to get involved,” said Jeff Lieberman, Chief Executive Officer, Jewish Federation of Winnipeg. 

“We appreciate the awareness that it raises about news, events, and initiatives taking place in our community, allowing us to reach Winnipeggers of all backgrounds and beliefs.” 

“Faith coverage in the Winnipeg Free Press offers us all an opportunity to counter prejudice and hate with factual reporting in a compassionate and empathetic format,” said Tasneem Vali of the Manitoba Islamic Association. 

“The stories shared are personal, real, and impressionable, encouraging all communities to collaborate to benefit our neighbourhoods and all Winnipeggers . . . Faith reporting is crucial for our communities to connect with each other creating a safe space for us to ask questions that may not be otherwise addressed.” 

“I strongly support the Winnipeg Free Press and its brilliant initiative to provide faith reporting since it provides a space where people of diverse faiths can share their histories, ideas, and initiatives to positively promote what we have in common,” said Payam Towfigh, President of Manitoba Multifaith Council and Public affairs representative of the Winnipeg Baha’i Community. “This discourse can unite us and create a sense of harmony within our communities.” 

Added Christine Baronins, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “Faith stories in the Free Press provide a counterbalance to the often negative portrayal of the world by the media. Hearing positive and inspiring stories of individuals from different backgrounds striving to make a difference gives me hope, even in these challenging times . . . I commend the Winnipeg Free Press for their innovative approach to faith reporting.” 

“At the Manitoba Buddhist Temple, we support and are grateful for the Free Press coverage of religious news,” said sensei Tanis Moore. 

“We feel it is most important for the general reader to understand the viewpoints of various spiritual and religious temples, churches, and mosques in our city. It reflects the diversity of our population and helps to foster understanding between these groups as well as those who do not follow any form of organized and traditional religions.” 

“Reporting on religion in an ongoing way allows people to come to know their fellow citizens better, to understand the deeper motivations of others’ public words and actions, to grasp the complexity of the interface of differing values, and to grow in a desire for a fruitful public discourse and dialogue,” said Albert LeGatt, archbishop of St. Boniface. 

“Hopefully then reconciliation is fostered, hate is countered, complex poverty is addressed, and civic engagement and peace is advanced. For these reasons, I have a deep appreciation for the robust faith reporting of the Winnipeg Free Press.”

Today we are launching our 2024 Crowdfunder to raise funds to keep the project going. Your contribution of $20, $25, $50 or more will help us keep producing stories about faith in Manitoba. With your support, we will be able to continue reporting about the important role religion plays in the province — in politics, culture, education, health and other ways, and also in the lives of people in Winnipeg and beyond. 

To make a contribution, go to https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/support-faith or mail a cheque to Religion in the News project, c/o Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB R2X 3B6. And thanks!