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Canadian church hosts baked potato bar and 'assisted dying' speaker
An Anglican church in Nova Scotia announced an evening to discuss medical assistance in dying (MAiD), featuring a baked potato bar as an incentive for parishioners to come and hear a presentation from a MAiD practitioner.
St. Timothy's Anglican Church in Nova Scotia regularly hosts "hot potato" nights for parishioners to discuss controversial or difficult topics.
Their upcoming hot potato night is set to discuss MAiD, with attendees provided with a hot potato "with all the toppings" and a "beverage."
The church posted an explanation on Facebook about the purpose of the event before seemingly deleting their page altogether.
St. Timothy's Anglican Church in Hatchet Lake announced plans to host a "hot potato night," an ongoing event series which offers attendees a baked potato bar and a beverage while they discuss controversial or difficult subjects. The next hot potato night was scheduled for October 5, with MAiD as the subject.
The flyer promoting the evening described MAiD as a "legally available, end of life option" and a "deeply personal decision." The church also said staff from Nova Scotia Health (NSH) who participate in MAiD were planning to "deliver a presentation on criteria, process, and the things people consider." Nowhere was there any notion of the taking of one's own life being a negative, or something to be discouraged.
The backlash was swift.
One person wrote on social media:
People should be able to walk into a church at their lowest point and find a reason to keep living. Helping the government make assisted death more acceptable is a betrayal of that responsibility.
Another person wrote:
No words can adequately describe how outrageous it is for a CHURCH to participate in something that has become so sinister. Canada is literally Marketing suicide to people who are simply depressed. God forbid. Literally.
And another stated:
So let me get this straight. The church is putting on an event about how you can legally end your own life, with a free baked potato and some sour cream? Is this country even real anymore?
Kelsi Sheren, a veteran who often speaks against MAiD, likewise called attention to the event, writing on X:
Let me be very clear, Nova Scotia and the Veterans Association RCMP did this to their veterans as well about a year and a half ago.
They were supporting and 'educating' people with PTSD on how to end their lives because there's actually no care and no support in Canada including health care.
After the backlash, St. Timothy's posted an explanation, seemingly in an attempt to quell the controversy.
The church said their hot potato nights had previously discussed topics like Israel and Palestine, human trafficking, mental health, advance directives, and more. The baked potato bar was meant to be an alternative to "the usual coffee and sweets."
Yet while the church insisted there was no positive or negative intentions surrounding the subject at hand, their verbiage suggested otherwise:
MAID is a difficult topic. It is absolutely not our intent to convince anyone that they should support it — that choice is deeply personal. It is absolutely not our intent to marginalize anyone who wants to learn more about that choice either.
... If you are interested in learning more about MAID, either for yourself or so you can better understand what someone else is contemplating — we hope you can make it and that the conversation is helpful.
There was no acknowledgement of why so many people found it to be distasteful for a church to host a discussion on MAiD, nor why it could be something to potentially avoid. Instead, the church presented it as merely a personal option, and had people who commit MAiD there to speak about it. There were also no anti-MAiD speakers, or pro-palliative care speakers, listed to give an opposing view.
After the backlash, St. Timothy's either deleted its social media pages altogether or made them private.
A church is the last place where suicide should be promoted or encouraged.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
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·Canadian church hosts baked potato bar and 'assisted dying' speaker
An Anglican church in Nova Scotia announced an evening to discuss medical assistance in dying (MAiD), featuring a baked potato bar as an incentive for parishioners to come and hear a presentation from a MAiD practitioner.
St. Timothy's Anglican Church in Nova Scotia regularly hosts "hot potato" nights for parishioners to discuss controversial or difficult topics.
Their upcoming hot potato night is set to discuss MAiD, with attendees provided with a hot potato "with all the toppings" and a "beverage."
The church posted an explanation on Facebook about the purpose of the event before seemingly deleting their page altogether.
St. Timothy's Anglican Church in Hatchet Lake announced plans to host a "hot potato night," an ongoing event series which offers attendees a baked potato bar and a beverage while they discuss controversial or difficult subjects. The next hot potato night was scheduled for October 5, with MAiD as the subject.
The flyer promoting the evening described MAiD as a "legally available, end of life option" and a "deeply personal decision." The church also said staff from Nova Scotia Health (NSH) who participate in MAiD were planning to "deliver a presentation on criteria, process, and the things people consider." Nowhere was there any notion of the taking of one's own life being a negative, or something to be discouraged.
The backlash was swift.
One person wrote on social media:
People should be able to walk into a church at their lowest point and find a reason to keep living. Helping the government make assisted death more acceptable is a betrayal of that responsibility.
Another person wrote:
No words can adequately describe how outrageous it is for a CHURCH to participate in something that has become so sinister. Canada is literally Marketing suicide to people who are simply depressed. God forbid. Literally.
And another stated:
So let me get this straight. The church is putting on an event about how you can legally end your own life, with a free baked potato and some sour cream? Is this country even real anymore?
Kelsi Sheren, a veteran who often speaks against MAiD, likewise called attention to the event, writing on X:
Let me be very clear, Nova Scotia and the Veterans Association RCMP did this to their veterans as well about a year and a half ago.
They were supporting and 'educating' people with PTSD on how to end their lives because there's actually no care and no support in Canada including health care.
After the backlash, St. Timothy's posted an explanation, seemingly in an attempt to quell the controversy.
The church said their hot potato nights had previously discussed topics like Israel and Palestine, human trafficking, mental health, advance directives, and more. The baked potato bar was meant to be an alternative to "the usual coffee and sweets."
Yet while the church insisted there was no positive or negative intentions surrounding the subject at hand, their verbiage suggested otherwise:
MAID is a difficult topic. It is absolutely not our intent to convince anyone that they should support it — that choice is deeply personal. It is absolutely not our intent to marginalize anyone who wants to learn more about that choice either.
... If you are interested in learning more about MAID, either for yourself or so you can better understand what someone else is contemplating — we hope you can make it and that the conversation is helpful.
There was no acknowledgement of why so many people found it to be distasteful for a church to host a discussion on MAiD, nor why it could be something to potentially avoid. Instead, the church presented it as merely a personal option, and had people who commit MAiD there to speak about it. There were also no anti-MAiD speakers, or pro-palliative care speakers, listed to give an opposing view.
After the backlash, St. Timothy's either deleted its social media pages altogether or made them private.
A church is the last place where suicide should be promoted or encouraged.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Bridget Sielicki
·Issues
Bridget Sielicki
·International
Cassy Cooke
·International
Angeline Tan
·International
Bridget Sielicki
·Guest Column
Right to Life UK
·International
Cassy Cooke
·Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·Pop Culture
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·Canadian churches -> new place to slow drip you into wanting to kill yourself Bonus -> they’ll give you a baked potato for coming.
