The telephone shocked us out of sleep at 5:00 a.m. “This is the Criminal Investigations Branch of the Canada Revenue Agency,” a grim male voice threatened. “This is to advise you that the CRA has decided to institute legal proceedings against you for non-payment of back taxes.” We hung up. Canada Revenue Agency doesn’t use recorded messages, and doesn’t threaten. (Although Ottawa bureaucrats do sometimes forget that Canada covers five time zones.) But as income tax deadline drew closer, the threatening calls continued: “We will be placing a lien on your assets and accounts. If you have any questions, you may phone our customer service line at 613-434-1554. I repeat, 613-434-1554. If we do not hear from you or your attorney within 24 hours, you will be responsible for all legal consequences. Good bye.” Income Tax Day brings out scammers the way dusk brings out mosquitos.
Unwilling consent I wondered how many people, numbed by sleep or frightened by the threats, did provide information about their bank, their account numbers, their social insurance number -- all required to confirm their identity, of course. Does voluntarily providing confidential data constitute consent to have their assets plundered? That’s not a frivolous question -- consent lies at the heart of several current controversies. In general terms, consent is always conditional. Consent can be withdrawn, at any time. Under B.C. law, a Power of Attorney is only valid as long as the donor is capable of revoking consent. When the capacity to revoke ends, so does the consent. That’s an essential principle. A drunk or drugged party-goer cannot withdraw her apparent consent to sex. Her incapacity nullifies any previous agreement. Consent doesn’t have to be explicit. I don’t have to sign a consent form to order a pizza or get a haircut. Because I can refuse the pizza; I can leave the barber’s chair. Even legal contracts often include a cooling-off period.
Almost always revocable I contend that consent is always revocable -- with a few notable exceptions. Skydivers can’t change their mind after leaping out of a plane. Nor can soldiers, after they’re dispatched to Bosnia or Afghanistan. Sex, unfortunately, is often still treated as another exception. Once you agree, many assume that you have to go through with it. Even if you’re not treated the way you expected. As an extreme example -- the women who climbed into Robert Pickton’s truck clearly consented to having sex with him. That was their trade, after all. Did that also imply consent for dismemberment and disposal of their remains? I argue that consent for one thing doesn’t -- and mustn’t -- mean consent for something else.
A British organization named Tea Consent illustrates the principle with an invitation to tea. If you change your mind, you don’t have to drink the tea. And your host cannot force you to drink it. No means no, even if it was yes earlier. Which makes perfect sense. Except that what works for tea doesn’t necessarily work for sex. The Jian Ghomeshi case suggests that foreplay interruptus is still not acceptable.
Questions of competence And then the most difficult question -- who’s considered capable of giving consent? The Canadian government’s proposed legislation on assisted death says that patients must be of sound mind to give consent to termination of life. Patients with dementia don’t qualify. But definitions of mental competence have changed dramatically over the last century. Canada did not considered women capable of voting until 1918; Asians until 1949; aboriginal people until 1960. In fact, until 1993 Canadian electors were not even trusted to put their own ballots in the box. So who can be trusted to make their own life and death decisions? Ezekiel Stephan, the 18-month-old son of David and Collet Stephan, did not consent to have his meningitis treated with naturopathic remedies. But he died, anyway. The most commonly expressed fear, about assisted death, is that an incapacitated elderly person could be similarly treated without consent. Syndicated medical columnist Dr. W. Gifford-Jones tackled that issue head on: “I’m tired of hearing how the vulnerable must be protected…. If opponents [of assisted death] want to suffer, it’s a simple matter to wear a wristband or necklace saying that they wish to die a prolonged painful unassisted death. Or sign a living will stating this fact, and provide copies to their family, doctor and lawyer.” Shouldn’t being kept alive require just as much consent as being helped to die? Consent is a much more complicated matter than we commonly assume. ******************************************************** Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved. To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca ********************************************************
YOUR TURN
Last week’s column, about helping the knitters in Bolivia, was not controversial, so there wasn’t much mail. 
Isabel Gibson wrote, :”Few of us get into the sort of direct contact that Bev Edwards-Sawatzky has done so well, but these days there are other options. “Years ago, volunteers from Silicon Valley set up Kiva, founded on the micro-finance principles brought into international renown by the founder (and eventual Nobel peace prize winner) of the Grameen Bank in India. You can loan money in $25 increments to projects all over the world. When it's repaid (as it usually is), you can get your money back or let it ride, loaning it to someone else. “I like to add to my donation pool as a memorial gift. It lightens my heart a little to know that folks will go on (and on) being helped to help themselves as a final contribution, as it were, by someone I knew.”
Karen Ingvall identified in a different way : “I enjoyed your article especially since I am a knitter. How much better we would all be if we could cooperate and work together.”
June Blau lamented her travel schedule: “I am still managing to just miss every sale! Was in Kelowna last week, home now.” June asked for Bev Edwards-Sawatzky’s contact info so that she could order items directly. 
John Shaffer A wanted to respond to the anonymous writer, last week, who described moving to a very conservative retirement complex: “Our move to Auburn Lea Hill Retirement Community takes place tomorrow. I have no clue as to the nature of the community religiously, though there are several progressives there, so I will not be lonely. We decided not to go to one community that was much closer due to the fact that it would have been very uncomfortable. Over the years I have talked to many people there who know everything about God that there is to know. “I prefer to live with more mystery, I suppose. While the institution was founded by United Methodists (think United Church but much more timid -- we left ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ in our hymnal to avoid splitting the church). Now we may split over something more significant in a few weeks in Portland, Oregon. Pray for us. “The community's chaplain is Episcopalian. Many of the residents are Roman Catholic. And the top Administrator is Lutheran. So there will be some ecumenical spirit to our living situation. :But life will not be as different as I would suppose. By some measure unknown, there will be nine persons living there from the church where we have been active for 16 years (eight as the pastor, one when I disappeared to give my replacement a chance to bond with the congregation, and then seven as a participant). How that happened I do not know. They still relate to me as ‘Pastor John’ in some ways. “Anyway, we had the chance to pick ultra-conservative, but passed.”
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TECHNICAL STUFF
This column comes to you using the electronic facilities of Woodlakebooks.com.        If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, at jimt@quixotic.ca. Or just hit the “Reply” button.        To subscribe or unsubscribe, send me an e-mail message at the address above. Or subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message) to sharpedges-subscribe@quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at sharpedgesunsubscribe@quixotic.ca.        You can access several years of archived columns at http://edges.Canadahomepage.net.        I write a second column each Wednesday, called Soft Edges, which deals somewhat more gently with issues of life and faith. To sign up for Soft Edges, write to me directly, at the address above, or send a blank e-mail to softedgessubscribe@quixotic.ca
PROMOTION STUFF…
 Ralph Milton has a new project, called Sing Hallelujah – the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at www.singhallelujah.com Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up,  http://www.hymnsight.ca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)  Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://www.churchwebcanada.ca>  Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, www.traditionaliconoclast.com  Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town – not particularly religious, but fun; alvawood@gmail.com to get onto her mailing list.  Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” – ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatso@gmail.com or twatson@sentex.net
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