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Canada's Supreme Court gives approval for same-sex marriage
"Several centuries ago it would have been understood that marriage should be available only to opposite-sex couples," the Supreme Court of Canada ruled this morning. "The recognition of same-sex marriage in several Canadian jurisdictions as well as two European countries belies the assertion that the same is true today."

Canada's federal government may therefore change the legal definition of marriage in that country, the court said.

Those opposed to same-sex marriage are heartened that the Supreme Court did not rule that Parliament must change the definition of marriage. Many such groups in the U.S. have argued that the chief issue in this country's marriage debate has less to do with sexual ethics than with judicial overrides of the democratic process.

"The Court has clearly indicated that any changes to marriage must be made by Parliament and not through the courts," Focus on the Family Canada president Terence Rolston said in a press release. "Surely the Court would have ruled differently if traditional marriage was an attack on someone's basic human rights."

Religious groups may also be happy to see the court's extensive reiteration that "officials of religious groups [can] refuse to perform marriages that are not in accordance with their religious beliefs." Watch the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada's website for response on this point.

But though the blow may have been softened, some Christian leaders are still troubled by the decision.

"It's a sad day for our country," Gordon Young, pastor of the First Assembly of God Church in St. John's, Newfoundland, told the CBC (quoted by the Associated Press). "God is in the DNA of this nation. We believe that changing the definition of marriage is changing the divine institution that God put in place for the order of our society."

Dozens arrested after Cairo Copts stone police
Thousands of Christians rushed Sunday to the main Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo to protest the abduction and forced conversion of Wafaa Constantine, the wife of a priest in Abou al-Matameer, Beheira province. Security officials say she converted to Islam and left her husband voluntarily.

The demonstration broke into a riot, with about 55 injured as the Copts threw rocks at police. The police reportedly retaliated in kind.

"The government is attacking Christians," priest Matyas Abdel Maseh told the Associated Press. "The army outside the gates is attacking us with stones."

Last night, Constantine's brother-in-law appealed for an end to the violence, saying the woman returned home.

"My brothers and sisters: my brother just told me that she arrived in a safe place and she is in good condition."

Thirty-four people were arrested during the clash.

"It was the second incident of sectarian strife in less than a week in Egypt," reports Reuters. "On Monday, police said they arrested 25 people and were keeping apart Muslims and Christians in a village south of Cairo after violence erupted. Muslims had set ablaze two Christian-owned pharmacies and a book store, thrown stones at Christian homes, and destroyed three police cars in Munqateen, 140 miles south of Cairo."

Baylor must cut $2 million from budget, won't fill many faculty positions
Lower-than-expected student retention rates, increased scholarship spending, and high energy costs are forcing Baylor University to cut $2 million from its annual budget, which is about $340 million, university spokesman Larry Brumley announced yesterday. That means that several open faculty positions will go unfilled in the next school year. Ordinarily, such cost-cutting measures might be seen as everyday business, but the news comes as faculty members debate the results of a faculty senate vote on university president Robert Sloan. For the third time in about a year, the faculty senate said they wanted to see him removed from office. Sloan opponents claim success, saying 85 percent of the senate members voted against retaining the president. But Sloan supporters say the vote was a joke: Only 59 percent of eligible faculty members even bothered to vote, and many other faculty members are not part of the senate.

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December (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48