XPost: can.politics, nanaimo.general   
   From: politico@astraweb.com   
      
   All you "militant atheists" listen up!   
   Also all you "ignorant and biased and bigoted people" !   
   _________________________________________________   
      
   Daily News - April 10, 2015   
      
      
   Lunney exits early from his own news conference   
   MP asserts views on evolution, Christianity   
      
      
   Independent MP James Lunney launched a fiery defence Thursday of his decision   
   to resign from the federal Conservative caucus last week to defend his   
   religious beliefs.   
      
   But the Nanaimo-Alberni MP also walked out of his own press conference at his   
   constituency office after becoming agitated with reporters' questions, several   
   of which he refused to directly answer.   
      
   Lunney lashed out against journalists and critics and maintains he is standing   
   up against "bigotry" levelled against Christians in Canada, and also claims he   
   fears others will be a targeted as he says he has been.   
      
   His resignation from the Conservatives came after a post he made on social   
   media site Twitter in February, where he said: "No problem with 'scientific   
   theory;' Just stop calling evolution fact."   
      
   The tweet was posted in defence of an Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP who   
   had told reporters he did not believe in evolution.   
      
   On Thursday, Lunney maintained he was forced by uproar from the comment into   
   making the choice to sit as an independent. He blamed members of the media and   
   online "trolls" for the controversy.   
      
   He repeated those views at the press conference.   
      
   "It's clear that evolution is a theory, not a fact, and apparently words do   
   matter," he said.  "But my question is, who is funding the campaign by militant   
   atheists to discredit a Christian world view in Canada?"   
      
   Lunney cited bar associations that refused to accredit future law school   
   graduates from Trinity Western University - a private school that prohibits   
   sexual intimacy outside of heterosexual marriage - as an example of   
   discrimination against Christians.  The B.C. government has also revoked   
   approval for the TWU law school.  Lunney also cited criticism leveled against   
   him by Ian Capstick, a former NDP strategist and self-professed "militant   
   atheist."  He also pointed to a challenge by Ontario doctors to a provincial   
   policy requiring them to prescribe birth control.   
      
   "I want to ask this question: What is the role of the MP for one, but what's   
   the role of the media in stirring up controversy?" said Lunney.   "A few words   
   on Twitter, inflated on social media got wrapped up by the CBC, became a   
   national story on March 2, which of course spread intolerance and bigotry from   
   another century down on this MP, and I think it's a trial run for what they're   
   attempting to do others across the country."   
      
   Reporters had questions of their own.  One asked how he would respond to   
   concerns from constituents.   
      
   "I am representing something that is important to millions of Canadians," he   
   said.   
      
   "Truth is important to all Canadians, and an MP is not elected just to   
   represent the views of his riding. .. and MP's role is to stand up for what's   
   right on behalf of all Canadians," said Lunney, who has represented the riding   
   since 2000 either as a Canadian Alliance or Conservative.   
      
   "I did not ask for this fight, I didn't ask for it," he said.   
      
   "It was put upon me by the most belligerent, ignorant and biased and bigoted   
   people in the country that tried to target me because of my beliefs," he said,   
   adding he has not campaigned on the issue in the past.   
      
   When asked repeatedly if he agreed with the scientifically accepted view that   
   humans and apes evolved from a common ancestor, Lunney said: "I'm saying this:   
   that it's a false construct to say that you evolved from slime. .. ."   He   
   later added: "Everybody agrees that all human beings are related."   Lunney   
   laughed when asked if he believed Adam and Eve were the first humans on earth.   
      "Scientists believed we came from common ancestors, so you figure it out and   
   give them whatever names you want," he said.   
      
   Lunney began removing the TV microphone from his suit as reporters asked   
   questions. He offered a final response: "It's important for people to be who   
   they are. It's important to people to stand up for what they believe when they   
   are challenged and called an idiot for believing what they believe."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)