Church nixes native dancing at Habitat for Humanity event

[Bluebear]

A Winnipeg church prevented aboriginal dancers from performing at a Habitat for Humanity event this week, saying the performance was not an expression of Christian faith.

Habitat for Humanity invited Kim Houle and her children to perform at its annual volunteer appreciation night, which was held Tuesday in an auditorium Habitat had rented for the event inside the Church of The Rock. But the afternoon before the performance, the church told Habitat it could not allow the dancing.

Pastor Mark Hughes said he was sorry for Houle and her family, but he agreed with his staff's decision to prevent them from dancing in his church. "Native spiritual dancing has its roots in a different spiritual belief system that is incongruent with traditional Christian worship," Hughes said in an e-mail. "I don't think a Buddhist temple would allow a Christian pastor to speak about Jesus." Houle and her children, who live in a Habitat home, were allowed to attend the event, but not to perform...

Habitat is "heartbroken" by the situation, Nyhof said. "What we do here is, you know, totally inclusive of everybody. We work with people from all backgrounds, all walks of life — it's part of our mission statement," she said. "We build homes for families from every nationality and every religion, so for this to happen, it's quite upsetting to us."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/11/08/habitat-church.html

[Bill McBlueState]

1. heh, what a terrible example!

"I don't think a Buddhist temple would allow a Christian pastor to speak about Jesus."

Of all the religions he could have named, it seems like the Buddhists would be among the most willing to invite someone from another religion to speak.

[Dhalgren]

4. As a matter of fact, most Buddhists would never consider preventing

someone from speaking or expressing their faith. Christianity is more politics than spirit...

[Cleita]

2. From what I understand about Buddhism, they would allow

a Christian pastor to speak to them about Jesus. It's a different approach to religion. The Buddhists are always questioning and open to new knowledge.

Also, Native dances are allowed in the South West of the USA as part of Christian religious ceremonies especially around Christmas. There really is no conflict of spriritual tradtions here other than the tight asses of the Christians involved.

[Der Blaue Engel]

6. There are some lovely ceremonies held at the San Xavier del Bac Mission

outside of Tucson on the Tohono O'odham reservation. The Easter ceremony held by the tribe is stunningly beautiful and spiritually moving, no matter what your beliefs. (I'm an atheistic pagan.)

[blondeatlast]

21. Indeed. You just reminded me that I haven't been there in years.

I may trek down for Christmas Eve services since you reminded me.

del Bac place is just stunnungly beautiful and what an incredible setting..

[NMMNG]

3. The irrational fears some people have of differences!

As if the dancing would lead any Christians who might be present astray, or offend God.



"I don't think a Buddhist temple would allow a Christian pastor to speak about Jesus."


I think many Buddhist temples would. They're not so rigid in their conception that Buddhism is THE path, and that other philosophies/religions must be shunned. They're quite open, typically, to the idea of people who follow Buddhism and other paths simultaneously. So very different from the fundie wingnuts who live in fear that a new or different idea will destroy them.

[Der Blaue Engel]

5. I guess this is that "Christian" love I keep hearing about

That pastor would have been horrified by my neighborhood church, Noe Valley Presbyterian. The first time I set foot in it was for a Spiral Dance held by Z Budapest as a blessing for midwives.

I'm glad there are some churches out there that are more enlightened than the one in this article, and I'm glad to hear that this is not Habitat for Humanity's policy.

[Chulanowa]

7. Could they be any more blatantly racist?

That's what this is about, not religion. "They are different, they can't show their differences in here"

[izquierdista]

8. Unsaved not welcome!

Where have I seen that before??



http://www.landoverbaptist.org

[barbtries]

16. wow

wwjd

[SammyWinstonJack]

26. "WHERE THE WORTHWHILE WORSHIP. UNSAVED UNWELCOME!"

:rofl: Organized religion...:puke:

[Bucky]

9. I wonder if they know how many Native Americans are also Christian

Go visit an Indian church in Oklahoma or New Mexico. You'll find a lot of Native cultural behaviors integrated into quite thoroughly Christian congregations. Blending a religious doctrine into the cultural traditions of a converted people is one of the strengths of Christianity.

Christians have been doing that ever since they started painting Jesus to look like a Viking hippie.

[MasonJar]

10. It is not incongruous to Jesus, just to his misinterpreters, who unfortunately

span from horizon to horizon, perpetrating ignorance and folly in the name of the Lord.

[BoneDaddy]

11. One more example of

how the Christian leaders shoot themselves in the foot, time and time again.

It would be TOTALLY withing the Christian "spirit" to allow another expression of faith.

[applegrove]

12. No kidding. I'd be devastated if I worked for HfH.

[Canuckistanian]

13. Wow

Is the Christian church built on such weak intellectual foundations that a few minutes of native dancing could damage it?

I have a feeling this "Pastor" is going to hear from his community about this.

[immoderate]

14. Yes it is.

--IMM

[barbtries]

15. hypocritical religisists

i think i may have just invented a new word?

[deutsey]

17. We should send him a copy of Thich Nhat Hahn's "Living Buddha, Living Christ"

Sigh.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. Hmph, and my church commemorated the first Native American

Episcopal priest (from the 19th century) with a service that included a drum circle, sweet grass instead of incense, and a shawl dancer as part of the procession.

[0007]

19. Les sez it all here;

You do understand that Gene Roddenberry was a atheist?

If you still think that Klingons are supposed to be Arabs, lets think about the times when the show came out. The biggest threat was the Russians and the Klingons were made to emulate the public idea of the "military society" that we thought russia was at the time. we were not worried about arabs with airliners, we were worried about russian nukes destroying our society.

so if anything the Klingons are a political commentary of the soviet union...not a faith based commentary of arabs.

I find your ideas pretty racist and very narrow minded...it makes me glad to be a atheist if this is what it means to be baptist or christian or whatever you call yourselves.

Not all arabs are monsters and I hope not all christians are either.

Yore friend,

Less Seemore

[PollThis]

20. I guess if your religion is that weak and fragile you need to protect it . nt

[Naturyl]

22. A Buddhist temple would not only allow it, but encourage it

Especially if some element of the membership wanted it.

[coffeenap]

23. Shall we tell them what we think? Email address here:

[e-mail]

[donsu]

24. may racist Pastor Mark fall down and not get up

nt

[starroute]

25. 2 Corinthians 3:6

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

[Toasterlad]

27. Hopefully, HfH Have Learned Their Lesson: Stay Away from the Church.

They should have rented a non-religious hall, and left the Christians to their voodoo.

[LWolf]

28. He wears his ignorance proudly. n/t

[DCKit]

29. Xenophobic, ignorant, intolerant, dogmatic Xtians

And they wonder why liberals are abandoning and actively opposing their hateful institutions?

Every time I hear something like this, I am ashamed that many of us are impugned by association - religious, ethnic or geographic.

Mean people SUCK and Jeebus is gonna get them.