Humanists blast BC Builds housing partnership with homophobic church
Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
Publisher Founding: September 1, 2014
Publisher Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Publication: Freethought Newswire
Original Link: https://www.bchumanist.ca/humanists_blast_bc_builds_housing_partnership_with_church
Publication Date: September 11, 2024
Organization: British Columbia Humanist Association
Organization Description: The British Columbia Humanist Association has been providing a community and voice for Humanists, atheists, agnostics, and the non-religious of Metro Vancouver and British Columbia since 1982. We support the growth of Humanist communities across BC, provide Humanist ceremonies, and campaign for progressive and secular values.
Secularists are calling on the Government of BC to reverse a recently announced partnership between BC Builds and a Burnaby church that opposes same-sex marriage.
On Monday, the Government announced its support for The Neighbourhood Church’s plans to build a 45-storey apartment complex. The building will include a new church and the 430 units will be rented at $2,100 to $3,800 monthly.
BC Builds is an initiative by the provincial government to provide low-interest repayable loans and grants to other levels of government and non-profits to deliver more housing.
The Neighbourhood Church’s Pastor Cam Roxburgh is VP Missional Initiatives with the North American Baptist Conference (NAB). The NAB’s “affirmation of marriage” defines marriage as between “a man and woman” and condemns “sexual intercourse outside of marriage, promiscuity, common law relationships, adultery, homosexual acts…”
These beliefs are reflected in Roxburgh’s own sermons, including a recent sermon on relationships and a 2016 sermon on “sex outside of marriage”:
“Those of us that take the covenantal view, which is the typical evangelical view or typical of Christians, is that intercourse is left for marriage between a husband and wife.”
Ian Bushfield, Executive Director, BC Humanist Association (BCHA):
“This announcement sets a troubling precedent where British Columbians are paying for a new sanctuary and apartment building that will be owned and operated by a church that thinks common law and same-sex relationships are sinful. Even worse, we don’t know how much money we’re on the hook for!
“At the very least, voters deserve to know what guarantees BC Builds has that these units – and the touted community space – will be available to all residents without discrimination.”
The Government has not provided specific details about its support for the Church’s housing project, pending a rezoning application that will be made to Burnaby City Council.
The BCHA has called on the government to ensure that public funds only support secular projects.
License
In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on work at www.in-sightpublishing.com.
Copyright
© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-Present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen, or the author(s), and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors copyright their material, as well, and may disseminate for their independent purposes.
In-Sight Publishing 