Sermon Illustrations

Stephen Boissoin, is the director of the Alberta Youth Outreach Foundations “Cave” youth centre initiatives. In 2002, he was investigating funding opportunities for his ministry on the Alberta Human Rights Commission’s website. “To my disbelief” he states, “I came across a page that highlighted an initiative that the A.H.R.C. funded. This initiative stated that the gist of its agenda was to teach that homosexuality was “Normal, Necessary, Acceptable and Productive”. Boissoin says he “absolutely disagreed with this untruthful, dangerous and scientifically baseless agenda” and that he also “felt that as a taxpayer, and indirect funder of this initiative through my tax dollars, I had a right to communicate my opinion (Give a reason for the hope that was in him) which is reflective of my religious beliefs. In an attempt to do so, I decided to share my opinion at large by submitting letters to the editor in newspapers.

He wrote to the Red Deer Advocate in 2002 to complain about the presence of literature about homosexuality in school libraries. He wrote: "From kindergarten class on, our children, your grandchildren are being strategically targeted, psychologically abused and brainwashed by homosexual and pro-homosexual educators," "Your children are being warped into believing that same-sex families are acceptable." In that letter Boissoin called into question gay-rights curriculums permeating the province’s educational system. He said: “Children as young as five and six years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system; all under the fraudulent guise of equal rights”.

Darren Lund, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, whose intense interest is advancing “social justice” causes submitted a complaint to the Alberta Human Rights commission charging that Boissoin contravened the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act in the area of “Publications and Notices” on the grounds of “sexual Orientation.”

A three day hearing was convened this week before the commission. Should Boissoin lose the hearing he will be forced to pay $5000 to Darren Lund personally, and another $2000 to the pro-gay rights group EGALE Canada. An officer of the Human Rights Commission indicated that in publishing his letter, Boissoin had gone against the “position” of the commission.

Mr. Boissoin said that if he is found guilty, and not able to direct the fine to groups like Exodus International, which works with homosexuals attempting to leave the gay lifestyle, or an AIDS/HIV hospice, he will have no problem going to jail but will not apologize for what he wrote

When people consider the work of Apologetics, they confuse the word with its contemporary connotation of being sorry. It almost sounds like one is sorry for professing Christianity.