Athée Canadien
Religion
Letters to the Editor
Feb 4th
A resident of Sydney, Nova Scotia, who is a faithful reader of the Cape Breton Post, called my attention to two very different letters to the editor that, I suspect, are responses to this article: “Three Roman Catholic churches to close by July.” The headline made my day, and this statement made me even happier:
In a document released Sunday, the pastoral planning committee said the declining number of priests, church attendance and financial support, as well as increases in the cost of operating and upgrading aging structures, have forced the diocese to do something.
The fact that the number of priests, church attendance and financial support are declining is good news, and Robert Morley, the writer of this letter to the editor, agrees:
Perhaps part of the reason local churches are closing is that people are beginning to realize that the underpinnings of these edifices are based on falsehoods, myths and fairy tales, if you will.
Today ever-increasing numbers of people are at least exploring in earnest the doctrines and foundations of these various faiths that respectively ask us to suspend any objective analysis of fact and to instead place blind obedience in the belief that this vast universe was created by a being who supposedly knows our every thought and has ordained a divine plan for all of our actions.
Of course, there are those, like John Lyons, who disagree and want to make the broader argument: “All evil isn’t found in churches.” However, Robert Morley is not addressing evil; he is attacking the “falsehoods, myths and fairy tales” that are “the underpinnings” of churches:
Were these churches merely left solely for benign pursuits — such as suppers, festivals, concerts, and places for people to share celebration, grief, education and recreation — they would likely be better populated.
But when church leaders also insist on perpetuating myth as fact, exercising unjustifiable power over the weak and children, and telling all of us how to live with a retinue of ridiculous man-made rules dressed up to appear as divine direction, we should empty their pews and shed their authority as fast as would a mighty river flow down a mountainside. (My emphasis)
What the fatwa?
Feb 4th
The other day in the pub…we were talking about cannibalism.
Now, I’m generally against eating the flesh of other human beings, mostly because there are so few volunteers… but also, given my own reluctance to be eaten, it seems like a good place to draw the line. From a strictly rational perspective, one source of sustenance is as good as another, but society needs rules, and I think many people would see eating any human flesh as either repugnant, largely due to cultural norms, or at least wrong due to that slippery slope… to carnage.
If we were starving in a life boat, and I died, eat me.
If we were starving in a life boat, and you died, I’m probably gonna eat you. Permission or not.
If we were starving in a life boat, and you were near death… hmmm …would I hasten your departure into the void? Well, that’s one of those questions I think can only be answered in a lifeboat.
Being in a lifeboat is important here, because when its just you, or you and me, we’re not really bound by the ‘what’s best for society in the long run’ talk, and we can get down to what we would do… without such constraints.
There are of course other ethical arguments… does respect for human dignity includes dead bodies? Most people won’t even send their pets to the landfill… let alone granny. That said, I can’t honestly care about what is done with my own corpse, apart from thinking it would be good if some nice doctor cut it up and used the pieces in a transplant.
Having said all that, I do live in a society where you have to treat corpses with respect. And although I can understand it on a emotional level, it still seems somewhat strange. We are social animals, societal norms are important, and even living in a democracy, we don’t always get to decide what those norms are. I’m a proud canadian citizen, but I don’t agree with every law, nor do I view my passport as a straightjacket when it comes to disagreeing with the status quo. Disagreement is good, it forces people to think.
This is why I don’t think we can hold every religious person responsible for the acts of every other religious person, or even those who claim the same affiliation.
I don’t hold all Muslims guilty for 9/11, nor do I think all Catholics are responsible for the child molesters in their midst. What I do is give credit, or discredit, where it is due.
And the following is worthy of recognition.
A Calgary imam will take the bold step of issuing a fatwa — an official religious edict pronounced by a scholar of the Muslim faith — against honour killings and domestic abuse on Saturday.Imam Syed Soharwardy, who is head imam at the Al-Madinah Calgary Islamic Centre as well as the founder of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, will deliver the fatwa at a mosque in Mississauga, Ont. He will be backed by more than 30 imams and Muslim scholars from across North America who want to send a strong message to other members of their faith.
Honour killing is murder, and abusing a spouse, male or female, is a shitty thing to do, and we should punish the perpetrators of these crimes. We should also support those who stand up against such things.
The religion that cried “wolf”
Jan 25th
Okay, this is just getting ridiculous now. Those of you that know me best from my work decrying racist attitudes and unraveling the code of “politely” racist statements know that I have a fairly well-developed radar for bigotry. I am not one to shrink from making the call, even in those circumstances where the room is against me and I am forced to explain myself in excruciating detail. Racism is a serious problem, and I think we should be devoting more time and attention to it, not less.
If you’ve been involved in discussions of race-based (or really, any other kind of) bigotry, it’s a good chance that you’ve been accused at some point of being “the real racist”. The argument goes something like this: if everyone just acted like race wasn’t important, it would all of a sudden cease to be a factor. I will not bother detailing the number of reasons why this position is stupid - it’s the Wile E. Coyote school of debate:
However, the ubiquity and regularity of this completely facetious line of “reasoning” has left folks like me, who deal in racism on a regular basis, with a particular sensitivity about bogus “racism” calls. There’s nothing that undermines your completely legitimate argument faster than someone saying “yeah but soandso said the same thing, and ze was full of crap!” Then you have to waste time and precious consonants explaining the many ways in which your situation is not the same as theirs.
Which is why stories like this make me mad: More >
Enablers
Jan 23rd
Doug Thomas, president of Secular Connexion Séculaire (SCS), asks the question, “Is There a Line to Draw,” as the Email Topic Discussion for January 23. Thomas’ question and answer,
So, is there a line to draw between those theists whom we can see are peace-loving individuals and the fanatics? There may be, but it must be a blurry and faded one and it’s time theists stepped up and helped us draw it more clearly.
echo Jerry Coynes’ statement in the concluding paragraph to his post, “A bad week for free speech”:
As usual, Muslims who claim not to be extremists stand by silently while their coreligionists try to dismantle freedom of speech via threats of death. The silent ones are enablers.
I reserve a special censure for men and women who attend Catholic services, or send their children to Catholic schools, public or private. They are enablers; they enable The Roman Catholic Church to continue its nefarious activities and spread its damaging propaganda.
Eppur si muove (and yet, it moves)
Jan 18th
In 1633, Galileo was charged and found guilty of the crime of heresy for suggesting the earth was not the centre of the universe. He was sentenced to life imprisonment (reduced to house arrest) and forced to read and sign the following:
Meanwhile, in Sweden
Jan 12th
I’m an atheist, but I sometimes partake in whorship… I mean worship of such divine entities as the flying spaghetti monster, the Invisible Pink Unicorn… and of course Hail Eris!
Never really felt the need to identify as a Jedi, I guess I’m more sithy, but whatever floats your boat.
This, however, is a religion I think I could actually get behind.
Registering the Church of Kopimism is a way to avoid “persecution,” said the website of the group, which was given official recognition by the Swedish state last month.Kopimism’s name is derived from the words “copy me” and as its website makes clear it strongly supports all forms of downloading and uploading files and sees copyright laws as violating freedom of information.
ctrl+c foeva1
Awww, how embarrassing for you.
Dec 26th
The following photo was posted by @LoveGod50. He’s been one of two people (the other is @GodsWordIsLaw) who have been openly harassing Ricky Gervais on twitter. More >
God and football
Dec 12th
James Christie writes:
Denver Bronco linebacker Wesley Woodyard said it best: “For all you Tim Tebow haters: you’d better start believing.”
You can’t argue with the 24-year-old Tebow’s success – a factor which could take the devout quarterback and the Broncos all the way to the Super Bowl. He seems too righteous for the tough-guy’s game of American football, with scriptural passages on his personal website, trips in high school to work at his father’s orphanage in the Philippines and professed pride in being a virgin until he marries. In 2009, Tebow appeared in an ad funded by the socially conservative organization Focus on the Family, putting him under fire from the pro-choice set.
Dan Gardner summarizes.
Today, 2,139 people were killed by malaria because God was too busy helping Tim Tebow win another fucking football game.
50 Top Atheists in the World Today
Dec 9th
The website, The Best Schools, has published a list of the top 50 atheists in the world today.
Larry Moran who brought the list to my attention says, “I’m not a very good atheist ’cause I’ve never heard of most of the top 50 atheists.” I recognize 44% of the names on the list. Does this make me “a very good atheist”?
Check out the list, see how many names you recognize and be prepared to be surprised, perplexed and amazed.
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