News & Views

World attention has been focused for some time on the Bilin community in the West Bank whose farmland was being walled off from them by the building of what they have called the "racial segregation wall" but that Israel calls a "security fence".  Ordered to redraw the line by the courts, the Israeli government has yet to do so.  Now, attention is increasing and fast as those opposed to the wall, Palestinians, Israelis, and others, have been painting themselves blue and drawing references to their plight from the blockbuster hit Avatar.

Read more Na'vi and Goliath

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After claiming that the absence, in the publication of the new study guide for immigrants, of reference to Canadian equality rights as they pertain to gays and lesbians was the result of an oversight , homophobic Immigration minister, Jason Kenney, is found to have personally wielded the red marker that struck sections on gay equality and marriage from early drafts.

More from The Globe and Mail

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Is water a human right or is it a commodity to be bought and sold like gold and oil?

This is the question at the heart of the new documentary by filmmaker, Liz Marshall, called WATER ON THE TABLE.

Following World Water Day on Monday, March 22nd , TVO will be airing a week of water-themed programming featuring the world-premiere of  this Canadian documentary, WATER ON THE TABLE, on WEDNESDAY, MAR 24TH  and repeated on SUNDAY, MAR. 28TH.

During the Olympics Games massive amounts of bottled water have been made available . Is this not an energy-intensive and water-wasting practice that commodifies water? 

 

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Join us for an exciting evening.  Stimulate your senses with aromatic coffee blends and help us choose the perfect blend and roast for West Hill.  Our Fair Trade coffee selections are roasted by Alternative Grounds. Then stimulate your mind with an incredible new play by Munroe Scott, performed by Rick Miller and based almost entirely on interviews with the Great Infidel himself, a.k.a. The Orator, Robert Ingersoll.  February 23, beginning at 7:30.

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The Canadian Diabetes Association is asking the Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, for a renewed and enhanced commitment to the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (ADI) in this year's federal budget.

Diabetes in the Aboriginal communities of Canada has reached epidemic levels. Aboriginal People require the critical diabetes programmes and services due to expire if their funding is not renewed in this budget.

I am one of some three million Canadians living with diabetes.

Be a diabetes advocate! Participate in this campaign. It's easy. Click on http://www.diabetes.ca/  Under the bottom title of the second picture that flashes on your screen are the words: 'Take Action'. Click again and follow the prompts.

Those of us taking part in the current study of A FAIR COUNTRY: TELLING TRUTHS ABOUT CANADA by John Ralston Saul are learning that we are a people of Aboriginal inspiration that lifts our respect for the present day Aboriginal communities. Advocating for them is important and rewarding.

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The February edition of the Saltshaker is now online.  Click here for a taste of what`s inside and to download the pdf. 

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Beginning on Monday evening March 1, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. (to 9:30 p.m. with a short break) in the Lounge is a six (6) week Lenten/Easter series on: Faith.

Lent is traditionally a time of reflection, of giving something up - in anticipation of Easter.

This series is a Conversation with you. What have you given up regarding your faith journey ... BUT more importantly, what are you choosing to keep!!! What does your faith journey look like these days - what inspires you and connects you to/ with 'mystery, the divine, the spirit, gaia, wisdom, your inner-knowing, the transcendent, god, creation, love, and so on ...'?

The weekly conversations are hosted by Janice Meighan, chair of wellness & care. There are no books to read, simply because, YOU are the 'book of faith' being shared during this conversational program!

Some topics for the Conversations include:

Faith/Spiritual/Religious Journey - are they the same thing, different and does it really matter?; Death & Dying - the afterlife?; Creativity As An Expression of Faith - music, art, poetry, drama, pottery ... do you "connect" through creativity? ... AND Much More....!!

Come out to one, several or all weeks ... it's your choice. Please do sign-up (initially) if you are interested in attending any week in this series. Sign-up sheet is on the Wellness & Care board directly across from the church office. Or speak to Janice if you have questions.

Mark your calendars and see you Monday March 1, 2010!

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Let's do it!

Saturday January 16^th, 1-4pm,

West Hill United Church Auditorium

 

"As individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and with a diversity of viewpoints, we come together in community, holding in common a reverence for life that moves us to pursue justice, seek truth, live fully, care deeply, and make a difference in the world."

VisionWorks, 2009

 

That one key sentence from our mission statement, encapsulates what it is that we do at West Hill United Church.  This Saturday, January 16^th at 1pm, we invite you to join us.  This is no ordinary gathering!  We are gathering to learn what we need to do now so that we can continue to be the West Hill that we are today, and to grow into the West Hill that we will become tomorrow.

 

At last Sunday's service, we handed out little pamphlets that not only give a sneak peek at the 2010 budget, but also outline very concrete and practical actions that we, as a group of people deeply committed to the values of West Hill United, can take to ensure that our future is strong.

 

That pamphlet is just the start. Please come to the Church on Saturday and join the discussion.  Come with your questions. Come with your ideas.  Come with an open mind.  Come with love, and energy, and see how you might participate in keeping love and light and life alive not just at West Hill, but everywhere.

 

Sincerely,

Moira French, on behalf of the Board

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From time to time, in the heat of debate, we find ourselves uttering something that, given a moment or two of reflection, we either might not have said or we would have qualified in order to clarify our intent. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to be challenged by someone who has heard us, thereby allowing us the opportunity to correct or clarify what we meant. Exactly that happened this morning when, following the Culture Wars segment on the John Oakley show, I was contacted by a listener who challenged a statement I made while intending to point out that there are bad realities within relationships sanctioned by the church, not just in those maligned by it. In so doing, however, I said that spousal abuse is a "heterosexual issue". It is, of course, an abhorrent reality in many relationships and not at all exclusively those that are heterosexual. Indeed, its prevalence in homosexual relationships may be neglected because of the heterocentrist assumptions about abuse that are prevalent in society and are reinforced by media representations of it. Please take a moment to visit the site managed by AARDVARC, An Abuse Rape Domestic Violence Aid and Resource Collection. I thank my listener for sending me the link and giving me an opporrtunity to explain myself and apologize for potentially reinforcing a stereotype that needs to be diminished in order that we are able to see reality more clearly.

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