Canadian Atheist
Athée Canadien
Canadians petitioning Pakistani Blasphemy Law ignore our own
Nov 2nd
Pakistani-Catholic Imtiaz Nadeem Bhatti is collecting signatures in Saskatoon to petition the Government of Canada to pressure Pakistan into repealing its archaic blasphemy law.
The laws allow sentences of life in prison for defiling a copy of the Qur’an and the death penalty for anyone who, "by any imputation, innuendo or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammed."
…
Hundreds of people have been imprisoned under the blasphemy laws in the past few years. But even those found not guilty are still in danger. Dozens have been killed by fundamentalist mobs after being released. Bhatti’s uncle, Shahbaz Bhatti, served as Pakistan’s only Christian cabinet minister and campaigned against the blasphemy laws before he was assassinated in March.
As pointed out on the Saskatchewan Skeptics website, however, Canadian’s hands aren’t clean in this matter. Our own criminal code still includes the following:
Blasphemous Libel
Offence
296. (1) Every one who publishes a blasphemous libel is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
While this section is likely never enforced, as it would quickly fall in a subsequent Charter Challenge, it is still on the books and should be repealed.
The key distinction is that the Pakistani law is causing measurable harm. While ideally both laws would be repealed, the priority needs to be on saving lives.
Secular family resources
Nov 2nd
One of the bigger shortcomings in the Canadian atheist community (in my humble opinion, of course) is the lack of resources/groups for secular families. As far as I know, there’s only one secular parenting group in Canada (though I would LOVE to be corrected in the comments!). That said, I realize that the secular parenting movement is still fairly new, so I’m hoping in the next few years we can build some momentum and get some more groups going up here in the Great White North.
Until that time, here are some great resources I’ve been coming across over the last few weeks that I’d thought I’d share:
- SocraticMama: a new website/community started by Anne Crumpacker, the mom of 9-year-old Mason (who infamously asked Christopher Hitchens “What should I read?” last month at the Texas Freethought Convention). The SocraticMama site is meant to be a “a place where ideas are judged on merit alone, where questions are explored, and where adults and kids can come together to puzzle about life’s wonders.” It’s still new, so go check it out!
- Speaking of Mason, here’s an inspiring interview with her in this past Sunday’s Dallas Morning News. My favorite bit:
Why did you decide it was important to ask a question of Hitchens? Because I had just found out that he was dying, and he’s a brilliant man. And I felt that his knowledge of the world shouldn’t be wasted, and that someone should continue what he started.
Where will he go when he dies?
Nowhere.
Did he answer you the way you expected to be answered?
Yes. He was very honest to me and very, very nice. I think all adults should be honest to kids with their answers and take them seriously. They’re living people, too. I especially hate when adults dumb it down for me.
- Like Mason, I’m also always on the hunt for good books to add to my secular parenting shelf. Recently I’ve come across some good resources that will help me add more book titles to my wish list. Check out Children’s Books for Secular and Progressive Families: Part One (more parts to come this week!) and the two episodes of Atheist Talk on Children’s books on science and Children’s books on religion.
- Another site to check out for musings on secular parenting is the Parents Beyond Belief blog. This is a resource for secular parenting groups and religion-free parenting approaches — the blog features posts by a variety of contributors, with topics ranging from the perils of secular homeschooling to Camp Quest experiences to reflections on teaching your child critical thinking skills. [disclosure: I help edit the blog -- so if there are any Canadian secular parents who would like to contribute, contact me!]
- Here’s another good blog on secular parenting: Relax, It’s Just God by Wendy Thomas Russell. I really like her writing style, and it’s a place where “you’ll find suggestions and encouragement for modern, secular
parents ready to talk to their kids about God.” Check it out.
- Finally, there’s a newly-formed Facebook group that’s targeted to secular mamas: Mothers Beyond Belief. It’s only been around for about 5 days, in in that time, we’ve gotten over 500 members! It’s a private group, meant to be a resource/support for secular moms. I help to admin the group, and I can attest to it being a great group of women to interact with!
So, there you have it. If you have any resources/links you’d like to share, feel free to pass ‘em along.
BC Humanists oppose Bill C-10
Nov 1st
At our most recent meeting, I passed around petitions from Leadnow.ca’s campaign to petition the government to reverse its omnibus crime bill, Bill C-10.
You only have to consider the fact that Texas is telling us this law is a bad idea to understand the stupidity that is Bill C-10. The nearly 50,000 word bill seeks to, among many things, impose ineffective mandatory minimums on a number of crimes and calls for tougher treatment of young offenders. The bill will put more people in jail with little effect on the overall crime rate.
I believe that humanist philosophy tells us that we need to base our policy on reason, evidence, and compassion. This proposed bill fails all three of these fundamentals, as it is an ideologically-motivated move to punish crime that doesn’t exist.
Based on these principles, I also asked the members if they would support the BC Humanist Associationsigning the petition as an organization, which was agreed by a majority. Here’s the text that we agreed to:
We want to make Canada safer, and agree that we need changes to our justice system. However, we believe that if the Government’s proposed crime bill, Bill C-10, becomes law then it will take our country in the wrong direction. We call for Bill C-10 to be stopped, and for the Government to establish a commission with diverse citizens and experts to create a 21st century plan for Canadian justice.
United and Unitarian churches have had the lead on humanists for a while. Humanists championed the abortion-rights movement in Canada in the 1960s-80s, but since then we’ve somewhat fallen off the map on social justice issues. Sure, we’re there making fun of fundamentalist Christians who protested gay marriage, but our organizational support was missing.
Hopefully as our movement gets going again, and as we build more communities (just don’t call them churches or PZ Myers will come after you), we’ll start to push for greater societal change. I want to see us tackle more than our standard issues – god in the Charter, prayer in schools, etc. – such as climate change, income inequality, and the right to die.
I realize that endorsing a petition is only a small step, but it’s still an important step to keep our movement growing and diversifying (remember: not everyone wants to talk about how there’s no god every week).
Get a job!
Oct 31st
Are you a blogger? Do you have a unique or non-redundant insight into issues related to atheism and freethought (hint: most of you are Canadian, so that’s something)? Can you produce interesting and compelling content on a regular basis? Then Hemant Mehta (the Friendly Atheist) might have an offer for you:
Me: Been writing here for a while and would love to introduce another voice or two to the interwebs…
You: A reader of this site who has a lot to say about religion/atheism/babies/etc, knows how to say it effectively, and would like to become a contributor on this site.
What’s in it for you?
The change to write for a large readership of awesome people.
Plenty of flexibility in what you talk about.
Money. Nothing crazy, but you would get paid. (Trust me, you don’t want to do this for the money. It won’t be worth it. But if you have a lot to say and think getting paid would just be a cool bonus, fantastic. In fact if you ask me about the money at all, I’m going to delete your email automatically.)
Who am I looking for?
Honestly, it’d be great to have a female voice on the site… or a student… or an expert in the law, or politics, or medicine, or the “atheist community at large”… or voices we don’t normally hear from in the blogosphere. But I’m more interested in how you write and what interests you than trying to fill a particular demographic. (Maybe that means I ask more than one of you to join.) So don’t let the beginning of this paragraph scare you away.
Speaking from experience, getting an offer like this takes your game up several notches and gets you exposed to perspectives and ideas that you might not have considered before. It’s also a giddy little thrill when your traffic increases.
Follow the link for what the application process looks like!
Occupy the Vatican
Oct 28th
I’ve been supportively following the Occupy protests, but have avoided any discussion of it here since I didn’t find it directly topical (not that I believe we need to just focus on atheist/religious topics). Now that issues out of the way since there’s an offshoot protest going on in Vancouver this weekend:
October 30th: Occupy the Vatican – Holy Rosary Cathedral (Dunsmuir & Richards) – Occupy Vancouver organizers have stated they intend to occupy the cathedral from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday.
This idea is brilliant. I’ve been thinking we’ve needed to push for an Occupy the Churches protest, which would coincide with the OWS protests. As church’s are private property we’d be more likely to get kicked out, but it would be a way to draw attention to a couple key issues – i.e corruption in the Catholic Church.
There’s more info from The Province:
A Facebook page, predictably, leads the charge, but locally organizers have promised to occupy the Holy Rosary Cathedral in downtown Vancouver this Sunday at 10 a.m., right in the middle of church services.
“Jail the Pope, Occupy the Vatican, Expel the Catholic church from our lands,” comes the none-too-subtle online call to arms, complete with a Photoshopped image of the pope behind bars. “Join the worldwide Occupy the Vatican movement this Sunday Oct. 30.
“Squamish elder Kiapilano has banned the Catholic church from Squamish Nation territory – Help us enforce this eviction order this Sunday.”
The Facebook page is pretty anti-Catholic, and it’s not clear how big Sunday’s occupation will be.
Anyone going to church this Sunday?
A Muslim Halloween
Oct 27th
A Calgary girl asks her imam if she can go trick-or-treating.
Whether Christians accept it or not, we Muslims should not accept this holiday. It is meaningless. Wearing costumes, going tricking and treating and decorating houses with witches, spider nets and wasting so much pumpkins, etc., are all repugnant things. It is strange to see reasonable people acting as weirdo and doing foolish things. It is also becoming quite dangerous nowadays. Some people really act like monsters and witches. Muslims should not participate in this holiday.
Muslims don’t get to have any fun? Yet another reason why I’m glad to be an atheist.
Editorial Addresses Two School Boards
Oct 27th
The editorial in Peterborough This Week on October 26, 2011, “OUR OPINION: Big questions about education,” presents an excellent argument for the merger of the separate and public school boards in Ontario:
The Canadian constitution protects Catholic education, but in an increasing multi-cultural province, how long can this be justified?
At a time when businesses and taxpayers are struggling to pay their bills, we see the tax burden of two school systems — administrators included — as an inefficient use of those dollars.
It’s simple math. And isn’t sharing one of the first things you learn at school?
Talking to the Pope
Oct 26th
I have to admit to finding the ongoing internet meme that compares the current Pope to a less than heroic Star Wars Senator amusing. And I’m not even a big scifi geek. There is lots to criticize in both the person of the Pope and the catholic church in general. But I’m a realist, the Pope is a powerful man, and church is not going anywhere any time soon. Sometimes you have to deal with the devil to get stuff done. And the fact that the Dark lord feels the necessity to deal with us, also makes me smile.
That is my dark side talking, from the point of view of the better angel of my nature though, I’m happy to see the conversation happening. Its easy to wallow in the security of your own echo-chamber of ideas, but even if they don’t see the light, I think religious people can benefit from hearing us, and we from talking to them.
The theorist and writer Julia Kristeva, the Italian philosopher Remo Bodei, the Mexican philosopher Guillermo Hurtado and the Austrian economist Walter Baier will attend the meeting
At the end of the day, we all still have to live on the same small planet… at least, for now.
Update – Prayer at City Council Meetings
Oct 25th
The issue of a Christian prayer being recited at the beginning of Peterborough city council meetings was not discussed at the October 24 meeting. I attended the meeting, despite my objection to prayer at a public meeting, because one of the topics on the agenda was the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board’s recommendation to close the only downtown public high school in Peterborough. The topic was successfully resolved:
Peterborough city council voted 8-2 to support the foundation’s request for an administrative review of the process by the Ministry of Education. . . .
Before the October 24 meeting, and after I wrote and posted “Prayer at City Council Meetings,” I emailed the URL to the mayor and my city councillor. Mayor Bennett replied that while the Lord’s Prayer is on the agenda, those in present in the council room are invited, not required, to recite the prayer. I replied to the mayor’s message by asking if Peterborough Council’s Procedural Bylaw complies with Ontario’s Court of Appeal decision of 1999. The mayor replied that it does.
While it was difficult for me to see all the councillors because they and the audience were sitting down, it appeared that all the councillors recited the Lord’s Prayer when invited to do so.
In a comment under my first post on this topic, Randy asked, “[D]o they refer to your mayor as ‘Your Worship?’” Yes, Randy they do, and every time a councillor asks a question of a person making a delegation, the councillor says “through your worship to . . . .” As DavidH pointed out, this practise certainly has “religious undertones.”
I remain convinced that reciting Christian prayers in a public meeting is illegal. I have contacted CFI Canada/Ontario for help and advice, and I hope the members of the Atheist Community of Peterborough will get together very soon, so we can address this issue.
Big Science and Bad science
Oct 24th
I remember watching Ben Stein’s travesty of a movie about how the grand conspiracy of Science was keeping creationism down… Its the same stuff I often hear from the alt.med people about how Big Pharma has convinced people they need expensive drugs, when all they really need is vitamin C. If a corporation, or academic does it, it must be bad. Better to listen to the quack who tells you what you want to hear.
This always makes me cringe, but just because people are paranoid and ignorant about science, doesn’t mean science doesn’t have its problems, and that it can’t get better. We can make it better.
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