well, it does in the fact that it is an aid group made up of various faiths.  however, its focus is not to 'spread the gospel of jesus christ' or anything, but to provide physical and monetary aid to countries where needed.

i heard one of the tory mp's say something awhile back about how KAIROS is 'giving out bibles at the taxpayers expense', and i just laughed... the conservatives really have no idea what is going on, do they??

Should being a religious organization block you from funding?  Would this mean that only atheists could do good?  What would happen if it came out they were atheists?  Does this mean that they are trying to convert people to atheism? 

Wait, if a group comes from Canada...and is doign volunteer work, does that mean we are trying to make them Canadians, or....wait...if they are lesbians, are they trying to make all women lesbians?

I sooo sooo sooo dislike that argument about them being Christian...

The belief system may be the motivator...ie, to help others, to do justice , to walk humbly

It influences what you do, and possibly how you do it, ...ie the walk humbly.

Hi Pinga,

Difficult question.

First, I have to say that if CIDA is being accessed for operational funds (administration) then requests for assistance, religious or otherwise, should be  bumped to the back of the line in terms of priority.

Second, I think it is fair that governments approve or reject funding requests for political reasons.  I would prefer that those political reasons be made known and that they be based on factual rather than fantastical interpretations of events.  I am mindful, however; that politicians place a greater stock in rhetoric (defined as bombast) than simple fact or detail.

Third, I'm not sure all of us would say that "religious" groups are uniformly benevolent.  Westboro Baptist (admittedly American) is a religious group I would not condone funding.  I recognize it is poor form to use an extreme case to make a general point.  We should not block religious groups because of folks like Westboro.  At the same time we should not give a green light to religious organizations precisely because of folk like Westboro.

Every application should be considered according to its merit.  Does the application further the work that CIDA exists to support?  Politics should be extra.

Grace and peace to you.

John

agreed, and that is my point.

It should be what they do, and how they do it, rather than a general descriptor, unless that general descriptor is an indication of intent.  Example:  Committee for the encouragement of childhood prostitution. ...yup odds are that their mandate won't fit cida plans.

if what they do and how they do it and all the standard checks for any group/project work....then.....it should go.

I think Bev was away, sitting with a bunch of cronies who knew nothing about Kairos, and ignored the wisdom of her ministry....

 Perhaps in the future Kairos should insist that the government make an application and be approved by Kairos in the event that government should again wish to piggyback on Kairos efforts in order to to "punch above its weight" in delivering international aid.  The Government of Canada (back in the days before it became "the Harper Government") was once a world leader in this area and Canadian diplomacy counted for something in world affairs.  Like the diplomats of other nations, Kairos only wants reliable partners whose moral and ethical performance matches their own high standard.

The reason I brought the previous question up was because i was reading this article: (which actually gives reasons why possibly Kairos was cut?) I did cringe when I read "accountability" towards the end of article, but tried to read what Oda was actually trying to accomplish:

http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/acdi-cida.nsf/eng/NAT-5208469-GYW

Then I read the outline of what Kairos Justice Initiatives Are:

http://www.kairoscanada.org/fileadmin/fe/files/PDF/WhoWeAre/GPP/KAIROS_G...

Then I wondered, is this 7 million, that was supposed to go to Kairos still being applied elsewhere to help irradicate hunger and poverty etc....

Oda aside, does it matter if the funds are directed elsewhere, so long as there are people being helped with the money?

And if Kairos isn't particularly concerned with imposing their faith or replacing others faith, is it necessary to be a separate entity?

considering the amount of red tape that is involved in government actions, that would be a resounding YES from me...

i recall when the earthquake hit in haiti, and canada deployed the DART - supposedly our rapid deployment force for disaster assistance.  by the time everyone had signed off, i think they arrived what, 1-2 weeks after the earthquake?? 

that ain't a rapid response.  as my husband said at the time... 'by the time DART arrives on the scene, everyone there is drinking russian water and recieving american health care...'

True enough - though the US has still not sent any of the aid to Haiti it promised when the earthquake hit. Only private organizations like the Red Cross have been active.

I don't understand this question

Give all the money to Kairos and let them decide if thet want to support the Harper government.

LOL!!!

this is a new keyboard i just spit coffee all over because i was laughing so hard...

For those of you on Twitter, the @AutoPenInfoamy (tweets from Bev Oda's autopen)  twitter stream is quite hilarious...maybe you have to be a supergeekypolijunkie (me!) but, just so's y'all know.