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Ottawa Imam speaks…
Aug 28th
In the wake of recent arrests with regards to an alleged terrorist plot, the Ottawa Citizen has this report on an Ottawa Imam speaking out to muslim youth in an appeal for them to keep away from “acts of violence or terrorism or other criminal behavior”
Since Ian is away, and I know he’d see this as positive, I’ll play the optimist today.
And, I actually did like reading this part:
Ehab El-Komy, a member of the board of the Muslim Association of Canada[...] said some Canadians harbour fears and suspicions in the wake of the arrests, and some are well-founded. “It’s our responsibility, not theirs, to understand those fears and deal with them in an appropriate manner.”
I think its the responsibility of all people of conscience in our society to try and understand the fears of others. Some of those fears are not rational, but we all have them, from time to time.
The culture of offence
Aug 27th
Another prominent Canadian liberal Muslim has come out in opposition to the mosque. Irshad Manji finally chimes in. While not overtly against the construction, she has a few questions, mainly regarding how the centre will operate once opened.
Like Manji, I’ve also wondered what the freedom loving liberals, who have bent backwards supporting the construction, might think if the centre ends up segregating the sexes or hosts talks by people critical of gays, atheists, apostates, etc. Since the centre will always be under intense media scrutiny, the organizers will have to be careful what they say and do so I don’t anticipate any problems. But this presents a new problem since if they know they are being watched, do they ever really have any freedom? And if they do present a moderate, tolerant face to the world is it because they are genuinely supportive of these ideals or is it just a pretty picture for the cameras? There is no way to tell and both sides will remain convinced they were right all along.
Personally, I think the removal of prime real estate from the tax rolls is enough justification to cancel the project if anyone actually cared to do so. The rezoning of a commercial property to religious will cost the city millions in lost tax revenue. But real criticisms have always been irrelevant since people have chosen their sides and are unlikely to change. I wonder if the centre has been able to bypass the regular application process because the idea that a religious group can skip a standard government process should concern any of us.
We need more Wills
Aug 26th
What have you done with your life?
At 10-years-old Will Phillips didn’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance because the USA still doesn’t allow gay marriage and he wants to see “liberty and justice for all.”
Now he’s speaking out at protests against the National Organization for Marriage which opposes equal rights.
Canada has had gay marriage for over half a decade now, and society looks pretty good for having completely collapsed.
But with voices like Will’s, it won’t be long before the USA follows suit.
(h/t Friendly Atheist)
How tolerant are you?
Aug 25th
This video, uploaded to Youtube, shows part of an incident which involved christian parishioners preaching and singing on a residential street. Some of the locals took offense, allegedly because a gay couple’s house was being targetted.
But the story isn’t quite so simple, as this article from the Toronto Star shows.
First, although the man who posted the video titled it as:
“Neighbourhood comes together and kicks out religious haters.”
He admits in the article that he himself is new to the neighbourhood, and did not in fact witness any homophobic statements.
Adding to this, one of the men allegedly targetted is defending the parishioners.
He said the parishioners preached on the street long before he and [his partner], arrived 13 years ago. Moreover, he said, [they] have never felt personally targeted by the parishioners, have never heard them say anything homophobic, and have not even been present for three years on the summer Sundays when the infrequent sermons occur.
The parishioners also claim they were not targetting anyone, and after this incident would not return.
Not saying I’d really want that in my neighbourhood, but I’m also not sure where to lay blame here. Seems like an over-reaction. People should be able to peacefully demonstrate, but a residential street seems a strange place to do it.
The Fox News Link… and Hitchens
Aug 24th
John Stewart makes fun of how Fox News is ‘following the money’ with regards to the new ‘Terror Mosque’ in New York, and Hitchens points out why being tolerant should go both ways.
So the question is: Is Hitchens stupid, evil… or correct?
In my opinion Hitchens seems to be taking the rational middle ground, whereas Fox is typically…. well…. Fox.
What do you think?
Wasted activism :(
Aug 23rd
Objectivists usually annoy everyone when they show up at atheist gatherings (although I don’t find them as bad as the communists who threaten me with death by a Cuban firing squad). I at least admire this guy’s dedication as he drove across America with a Google pen + GPS.
Just think of what atheists could accomplish these people could dedicate themselves towards something useful. Now that he’s home, I hope he has time to read a different book, any book.
Moderate Muslims do condemn extremists
Aug 23rd
Forgive me that this article’s a week or so old, but I’m on vacation so I canned a bunch of articles to make it look like I’m contributing at a continual rate to this blog (whoa, meta).
The Canadian Council of Imams has recently released a statement that they read at hundreds of mosques in the country to start Ramadan (their holy month) which condemned extremist and violent Islam.
They claim to speak for “the silent majority of Canadian Muslims” in these views and I hope that’s true.
Specifically, they affirm that
- all human beings are equal and that “The best Muslim is the one who is good to his/her family and neighbours and one who avoids harming others with his/her hand or tongue,”
- peace is fundamental and “Islam does not permit the killing of innocent people, regardless of their creed, ethnicity, race, or nationality,”
- “the sanctity of religion, life, intellect, family/society, and property,”
- Muslims should be law-abiding citizens,
- gender equality and equal (divine) rights to “education, social contribution, work, and treatment with respect and dignity,”
- the right for people to run their own lives “(for example, in matters of dress or good manners)…as long as their conduct does not threaten the common good,”
- Muslims should “engage in civic life and contribute” as much as they can.
The statement is signed by 38 clerics, however there diversity is limited to Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. I’m not sure why their representation misses the 10% of Canadian Muslims that live in BC or the 19% in Quebec, but I can’t claim to have much knowledge of the various Islamic associations of Canada and their demographics, so they may be counted under national umbrella organizations.
I am very impressed that they make the effort to use both “his” and “her” pronouns and unequivocally affirm gender equality.
While I think this is a very positive step forward, we should not forget that honour killings happen in this country (12 since 2002 by one report). Luckily, we have very strict laws prohibiting genital mutilation to the point where it is illegal to take a child out of this country to perform the operation. Unfortunately, there is no data or estimates on how many criminal cuttings occur.
Australia’s winning the secular race
Aug 18th
Canada’s not doing too good in the race to be the most secular member of the Commonwealth.
Australia has an atheist for prime minister, and it’s not a big deal there. Australia also has a secular political party.
Now, their godless heathen of a PM is announcing that Australia should drop the monarchy when Queen Elizabeth II dies.
This isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds, Australians were actually in favour of a republic in the lead up to a 1999 referendum to drop the monarchy, but the awkward questions and alternative systems didn’t win the support needed to pass.
At least Canada fully recognizes same-sex marriage and doesn’t have any claim to Ken Ham.
Modest or meaningless…
Aug 16th
Its an old argument; which is more effective, being agressive and demanding, or tolerant and accomodating. Richard Dawkins gets criticized a lot for the former, and I can’t say I always disagree. I’ll venture that its always a judgement call, and depends on the situation, but I’m an old relativist, so I guess I’m somewhat biased towards tolerance.
Tarek Fatah is another such instigator, but in his case, I find his arguments more compelling because he seems like more of an insider, compared to Dawkins’ barbarian at the gates routine. In this article from the National Post, he criticises “a declaration of fundamental Islamic values” created and then signed by a number of muslim groups.
It doesn’t include a strong affirmation of the separation of mosque and state or that the mosque is no place for political activity; it doesn’t demand that women be allowed to sit in the front row of mosques or be allowed to become imams; and most importantly, the declaration doesn’t denounce the theory of armed jihad, Mr. Fatah said.
Was this fair? Isn’t even a “modest” first step a good thing?
Unfortunately, I know just enough about Islam to know that its the things that aren’t said that can be the most important. And, this declaration, comes across as more of a lecture to ignorant outsiders than any kind of statement of principles that muslims should follow.
Is Islam a religion of peace? Is any religion? And if its not, what can we do about it? Certainly trying to force change seems a strange way to bring about actual peace, but leading by example, has its dangers too. Sometimes letting the other guy swing first means you wont be getting up from the canvas… at all.
Engaging the creationists
Aug 15th
In a lot of science circles the common wisdom is not to engage creationists because taking what they say seriously is actually a “wedge” issue, that gives them credibility, and really gains nothing for real scientists, since god-of-the-gaps-types are looking only to preach biblically literal drivel.
In this short article from New Scientist we have a scientist with a different take on things. He uses creationist terms, and concepts to make actual scientific points, accepting that there are places where they won’t agree and focusing on where common ground can be found.
Contrary to the previous creationist view that these animals were separately created, their own pet technique shows that these animals shared a common ancestor
I remain skeptical about this kind of strategy, as it sounds like a move friendly to “Teach The Controversy” nonsense, but as long as its framed as a dialogue between religion and science, and not taught in actual science classes, I find there is less to object to.
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