Canadian Atheist
Athée Canadien
God Loves Canada
Dec 15th
In an article about Canadian politics, Richard Gwyn says
But governing Canada, in the sense of steering it past reefs, is a snap. With oceans on three sides and the U.S. on the other, the country couldn’t be more secure. Affluence comes as easily to us, thanks to nature or God.
While “thanks to nature or God” may be a throw-away comment, it is symptomatic of the arrogance of winners. To say that Canada and Canadians are affluent relative to the rest of the world because God put the country and its people in one of most resource wealthy areas of the globe is arrogance.
Gwynn goes on to say,
As a last bit of luck, Scottish virtues — common sense, pragmatism, conservatism — entered early into our national DNA.
If Canadians have common sense, they know that Canada’s affluence comes from its geographical position on the map of the world, not from God. I’m getting increasing frustrated by people who give credit to God for their own or their country’s success rather than to chance or hard work.
The continuing story at CFI Canada
Dec 13th
The drama never seems to end as the story at Centre for Inquiry Canada takes on a few new twists. For those looking to catch up, check out my first long post on the situation, followed by a few resignations, and finally my thoughts on where freethought can head in Canada.
The War on Christmas
Dec 13th
Michael Coren, who hosts a panel on VisionTV that consistently features former CFI Canada National Executive Director Justin Trottier, has a piece in the Ottawa Sun (naturally) on the “War on Christmas”.
It’s typical garbage about Christian persecution, but you can get a sense of where he’s going from the intro:
I have friends who are conscientious objectors in the war on Christmas. They don’t celebrate the birth of Christ, but they’re not so neurotic that they will actively fight against it.
Then there are people like me, who joined the resistance years ago, and carry out combat actions behind enemy lines.
But I’ve hardly ever met any members of the occupation forces, those people who hate the season and want to expunge it from our calendar.
Yet while I’ve not seen the soldiers, I’ve seen their destructive work.
It’s a sad and pathetic piece about how there is “an outright blitzkrieg against” Christmas, which is not only anti-Christian, but anti-Western. Apparently only good white Christians only ever lived in Europe and North America (sorry First Nations and the many doubters of history).
A good rebuttal was written in 2007 by the ever-enlightening Dan Gardner. He notes the many religious relics of our language, but also the cultural imperialism and privilege enjoyed by Christianity. In the end he argues that we just shrug the whole thing off. He’s one heck of a militant secularist.
Generally, the “War on Christmas” is never anything more than an increasing number of people realizing that there is an increasing number of different beliefs in this country and that maybe it would be the good Canadian thing to do to recognize that pluralism. It’s more about ending the cultural dominance rather than oppressing Christianity.
Multi-Faith Secular?
Dec 12th
There are some phrases that are so oxymoronic that you know that what follows will be some vacuous attempt to violate rules of logic and common sense. At least, that’s how I felt before, and after, reading a piece on the Canadian Educator’s Association blog about “The Multi-Faith Secular” which tries to argue for “spiritually inclusive schools.”
The post is by Nadir Shirazi, who as far as I can tell has created a company to push religion back into schools and workplaces in a politically correct fashion.
He argues that since people derive meaning from religion that we need to meet them where we are and accommodate them. Depending on which side of my atheist lair I climb out of, I am either sympathetic or hostile to this view. Let’s try to continue with an open mind though.
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.
Face coverings outlawed during citizenship oaths
Dec 12th
“The oath of citizenship is basically a public gesture. It is a public declaration which shows that you are joining the Canadian family and this has to be done freely and openly, not secretly,” Kenney said.
“Separating a group of Canadians or allowing that group to hide their faces while they are becoming members of our community is completely counter to Canada’s commitment to openness and social cohesion.”
The new rules will require women wishing to become Canadian citizens to show their faces at public ceremonies as they swear the oath of citizenship or remain permanent residents.
It seems cruel to welcome immigrants but then ask them to strip before a judge, especially since these public ceremonies are useless. Oaths, if necessary, should be able to be done online, by telephone, or in private.
And if showing your face at a citizenship ceremony is mandatory, what reasons are there not to expand it to everywhere else? Reasonable accommodation is a reoccuring debate within atheist circles but as someone who doesn’t see any need to ban the burqa from our streets, I can’t see why the government can outlaw them during a public ceremony. The new rules aren’t consistent. If banning the burqa is necessary for citizenship oaths, it should be banned everywhere else too.
via Toronto Star
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.
Three jeers for Christian charity!
Dec 8th
In response to the American Atheists “What myths do you see?” billboards, the Catholic League just launched a new holiday campaign of their own — Adopt an Atheist:
Today we are launching our “Adopt An Atheist” campaign, the predicate of which is, “We want atheists to realize that there may be Christians in their community, even if those Christians don’t even know they are Christian.”
Here’s what our campaign entails. We are asking everyone to contact the American Atheist affiliate in his area [click here], letting them know of your interest in “adopting” one of them. All it takes is an e-mail. Let them know of your sincere interest in working with them to uncover their inner self. They may be resistant at first, but eventually they may come to understand that they were Christian all along.
If we hurry, these closeted Christians can celebrate Christmas like the rest of us. As an added bonus, they will no longer be looked upon as people who “believe in nothing, stand for nothing and are good for nothing.”
Where to begin? JT does a good job untangling most of the dreck above, but the last lines of the campaign’s page are what get to me the most.
First of all, “closeted Christians?” Um, no. I’m not sure how much clearer I can be when it comes to Christianity — I didn’t “lose” my faith, I rejected it. Plus I resent the implication in those last lines that as a non-believer, I’m somehow not able to celebrate Christmas like “the rest of us”.
But the most revealing part of the campaign is the last few words of the release — atheists are people who “believe in nothing, stand for nothing and are good for nothing.” Wow.
I suppose I should expect no less from the likes of Bill Donohue, the same man who said that atheists should apologize for the “anti-religious” impulse that motivated Stalin, Mao and Hitler’s actions.
That said, if there’s a multimillionaire Christian out there who’s willing to take me on as his or her pet project, do feel free to contact me. Fair warning: I’ve been told I’m a bit of a problem child.
Why Atheists Are Angry
Dec 7th
The video of Greta Christina’s presentation at Skepticon IV was posted by tildeb on his blog, Questionable Motives. Every second of the video merits close attention, but here are some highlights:
I’m angry that people are dying of AIDS in Africa and South America because the Catholic Church convinced them that using condoms makes Baby Jesus cry. (8:40)
I’m angry about the girl in the Muslim family who was told . . . by her teacher . . . that the red stripes on Christmas candy cane represented Christ’s blood, that she had to believe and be saved by Jesus Christ or she’d be condemned to hell, and if she did not convert, there would be no place for her in his classroom. (12:02)
For the purposes of her talk, she defines religion as a
belief in supernatural entities or forces that have an effect on the natural world, the belief in entities or forces that are invisible, inaudible, intangible or otherwise undetectable by any natural means (26:32)
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