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Posts tagged christianity
Preach at Calgary City Hall and go directly to jail
Jan 6th
The past few weeks have been a bit of a blogging blackout from me. I finished my thesis, passed my defense, became an official Master of Science, and then buggered off to Alberta to visit family for Christmas (that’s right). Now I’m unemployed and can start to catch up on blogging.
To begin, here’s a story that was mostly missed before Christmas where a Christian evangelist was arrested by the City of Calgary for trespassing on their City Hall.
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.
Christian prayers in Alberta public school
Sep 27th
Here’s a bit from a story that sounds like it belongs in the Deep South, but rather comes from the edge of St. Albert, Alberta, just outside of Edmonton.
A school council meeting was scheduled for anyone concerned to discuss or provide input. Myself and the other dissenting family were directly asked by the Principal to attend to share the ‘other side’ of why this was happening. In retrospect, I wish I had never attended.
The school council meeting set a record for attendees at around 50. It was a nasty, personal, aggressive attack on myself and the other family. The anger and vitriol was incredible – and of course, everybody blamed us personally for coming to “their” school and forcing them to give up their religion.
The fact that they were contravening the Alberta Human Rights Act, The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom as well as the United Nations Charter for Human Rights did not seem to matter. Nor the fact that we were entering our 3rd year at the school with two children enrolled, making it as much ours as any bodies. I really struggle to convey how nasty that first meeting was and how it set the tone for a downward spiral of events.
This was the hottest topic around the school and as you could imagine the rumour mill was in overtime. We began to notice we were beginning to be ignored, given the cold shoulder or receiving glares from people we did not even know.
The story is from Luke Fevin, and is completely transcribed on the Society of Edmonton Atheists website (go and read it!).
The Armageddon Factor Blog goes live
May 13th
A year ago yesterday, Marci McDonald’s expose on the Christian Right in Canada hit bookstore shelves to controversy.
The softcover version came out a month ago, during the federal election, and was noticeably absent from national bookstore Chapters.
Now, McDonald’s taken to the internet and launched The Armageddon Factor Blog:
On the eve of the 2011 federal election, as the updated paperback edition of the book is being released, complete with a new afterword, it seemed an apt time to launch a blog on the leading issues and players who make up the complex and constantly-shifting kaleidoscope of the emerging Canadian religious right. Others are already working this beat and hopefully together we can help shed some light on one of the most intriguing and influential new movements on the political landscape. Stay tuned___…
She’s got one massive post up already documenting the shift in Canada’s Christian Right from WASP to “very ethnic” (as some Conservative Immigration Ministers might say).
So add this to your blogrolls (and don’t forget Religious Right Alert).
Taking the wrong side
May 11th
As the resident American on Canadian Atheist, I’m usually keeping one eye on what’s going on back in the States. Earlier this week Ophelia Benson posted on Facebook the following article: LGBT “Welcome” Ad Rejected by Sojourners, Nation’s Premier Progressive Christian Org. Here’s the rejected video in question:
This video shouldn’t be controversial — but if you’re forced to view the world through the eyes of a Bronze-Age morality, suddenly this welcoming video becomes a threat.
From the article:
you can imagine our dismay when Sojourners refused to run our ads. In a written statement, Sojourners said, “I’m afraid we’ll have to decline. Sojourners position is to avoid taking sides on this issue. In that care [sic], the decision to accept advertising may give the appearance of taking sides.”
Taking sides? What are the sides here? That young children who have same-gender parents are not welcome in our churches? That “welcome, everyone” (the only two words spoken in the ad) is a controversial greeting from our pulpits? That the stares the young boy and his moms get while walking down the aisle are justified? I can’t imagine Sojourners turning down an ad that called for welcome of poor children into our churches. So why is this boy different?
Sojourners is one of the most prominent progressive-Christian organizations in the States — and if they can’t stomach the message of this ad, what does that say about their views toward the LGBT community? I’m fascinated by the resistance of religious people to giving full rights to ALL members of our society: whether they’re fighting it tooth and nail like the Mormons and California’s Proposition 8, or being more subversive in their rejection, like Sojourners.
It’s just another example of the imprisoning and hurtful power of religious dogma. I’m glad I got out when I did.
Christian feeding frenzy!
Mar 1st
Yesterday a post on the Friendly Atheist alerted me to a new book by Rob Bell (über-hip Christian pastor): Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.
To get a quick look at what the controversy is over, here’s a three-minute video where the author gives a preview of his book’s argument. From the author’s website:
Rob Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing, would a loving God send people to eternal torment forever…? With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly hopeful—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins.
Keep in mind that the book itself will not be released to the public until the end of March, but its promotions are already causing *quite* the storm in the Christian blogosphere/Twitterworld. Various websites have called Bell an “apostate,” a “false teacher,” and one even referred to him as a tool of Satan and quoted this verse: 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Why?
For daring to question the doctrine of eternal damnation.
As a proud apostate myself, I have to admit I’m rather enjoying the evangelical feeding frenzy that’s taking place. When I read aloud some of these online Christianese responses, here’s what my partner said: “I love it when Christians are forced to fight for the doctrine of hell”.
Even “America’s Pastor”, Rick Warren, weighed in on the debate yesterday when he tweeted: “I believe in hell because Jesus says it’s real & he knows more about it than anyone.”
Stunning, isn’t it? It’s crazy to read some of the vehement reactions to Bell for daring to vocalize universalism — part of me thinks that not even Dawkins or Hitch have been on the receiving end of such barbs. Stay tuned, folks, because I have a feeling this book is in for a bumpy ride!
Our government only funds the Right religions
Feb 18th
I have very mixed feelings about this KAIROS controversy.
For those who haven’t been following the news recently, KAIROS is a liberal Christian social justice agency that, until recently, has received a lot of funding from the federal government to perform aid work in the third world. In late 2009, the Canadian International Development Agency (or CIDA, the group responsible for KAIROS’ funding) denied KAIROS’ request for continued funding. KAIROS was dependent on CIDA for over $7 million worth of cash, so this denial was quite the heavy blow.
At the time, Bev Oda, the Minister for International Cooperation, stated that it was CIDA’s choice to deny funding. It was later uncovered that the word “not” had been scribbled into the request for funding, which Oda initially denied writing, but now takes responsibility.
The opposition is understandably furious. This minister, who has not been asked to resign by Stephen Harper, either lied in Parliament or at the earlier commission, and essentially denied funding to this group for no obvious reason.
Now, I’m fine with our government cutting funding to religious organizations, since I don’t believe we should be involved in them, but that’s not what’s happening.
Under Harper’s government, funding of religious organizations has skyrocketed with over $26 million in economic stimulus being disbursed to conservative Christian colleges like Trinity Western University which received $2.6 million of that money. [1] Another $2.5 million went to build a Evangelical Christian community centre in Winnipeg for the group Youth for Christ. And another $5.6 million has gone to religious groups in Hamilton.
So it looks like our government is okay with funding religious activities – just so long as they’re the right (and Right) kind of Christian.
[1] M. McDonald, “The Armageddon Factor.” Random House (2010) p. 245.
The Bible’s unlikely ally
Jan 5th
The King James Bible will celebrate its 400th birthday later this year, and to commemorate the occasion, Richard Dawkins wrote an op-ed where he praised this particular version of the Bible as literature:
Let’s celebrate the 400th anniversary of this astonishing piece of English literature. … Warts and all, let’s encourage our schools to bring this precious English heritage to all our children, whatever their background, not as history, not as science and not (oh, please not) as morality. But as literature.
I find that many nonbelievers are divided over the issue of religious literacy — you’ve got some (like me) who think it’s important to have a certain level of knowledge of religious ideology/dogma/literature in order to combat it. But there are others, I’ve found, who would just as soon discard anything having to do with religion, and think that paying *any* attention to it is the same as condoning it. 
As I’ve mentioned, I’m more of the persuasion that you need to know your opponent, so I often advocate for a certain degree of religious literacy — for Christianity, that means knowing something about the Bible.
One book that I found that gives a pretty entertaining overview of the Bible is the book Biblical Literacy: The Essential Bible Stories Everyone Needs to Know by Timothy Beal. If you were fortunate to escape the binds (and flannelgraphs) of Sunday School growing up, this book helps to give a quick overview of some of the more important stories of the Bible — plus it also helps to give context to many of the everyday sayings we have in our culture today, that come straight from “the good book.”
Majority to Minority: Shut the Hell Up!
Dec 21st
By Andrew Komar
Tom Sears has a new op-ed up in the Daily Star proclaiming that the numbers of the atheist movement ‘doom us to irrelevancy’. I’m not going to spend my time here debunking the numerous attacks, misconceptions and smears against non-theists, but the mere fact that Sears felt it necessary to write it is yet another example of the persecution complex that many Christians seem to have.
Sears mentions the American Atheist recent billboard put up in New Jersey- The “You Know its a Myth” campaign, as yet another example of our shrillness. For the record, the stated purpose of that particular campaign was to reach out to closeted atheists, which has NOTHING to do with Christians. Here are their words :
Millions of atheists are closeted, choosing to go along to get along, and feigning religion to their friends, family, and coworkers. American Atheists understands the pressure to fit in, but we maintain that for people to love you, they must know the real you.
Evidently, Sears thinks the stated motives of the campaign are ‘really’ an attack on Christianity. Look, sir, if your faith is such that a billboard challenging it is enough to destroy it, you must not have had much there in the first place. And if that was the case, you’re lucky that Bill Donahue and the Catholics are there to reassure you on the other side of the tunnel with this billboard:
I applaud these billboards for reaching out to this silent minority. Whether the size of that minority is 3% (as repeatedly asserted by Sears) or closer to 30% the fact is that atheists are not nearly as organized as our religious brothers and sisters. Lacking any cohesive ideology beyond an agreement that there is probably no god(s), we are a diverse group, with many different reasons for that general conclusion. Believe it or not, Mr Sears, but there is no atheist religion. We’re human- and we crave a community that understands us. The billboards are a (repeatedly stated as such) effort to reach out and build that community.
If your a Christian and you read the billboard, I don’t expect you to magically lose your faith. For all I care, you are welcome to continue believing in Jesus, God or Santa Claus; they are all the same in my books. However, when we have the audacity to speak up for ourselves, I’d be nice if we weren’t challenged at every step by the majority that already has every damn privilege.
As for ‘ tear[ing] down one more longstanding tradition and belief’, I’ve never met any atheists who are actually interested in getting rid of Christmas. I happen to love Christmas, the celebration of which obviously predates Christianity.. The midwinter celebration is a human tradition as old as civilization- why shouldn’t we want to pull together and celebrate warmth and fellowship during the darkest days of the year? If you’d like to claim that it’s all about Jesus, go right ahead. But in the interests of mutual understanding, don’t expect everyone else to agree.
So, to Mr Sears and like minded Christians: Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the bottom of my loving, godless heart! I hope you’ll take a greater effort next time in actually understanding our position before you decide to dump on us during this season of mid-winter joy. I doubt it, but I’m always open to evidence that shakes my beliefs. Are you?
The Christmas Carol Dilemma
Dec 20th
By Andrew Komar
I was raised Catholic, carrying on the intense Catholic tradition of my father. He is an accomplished organist, and he uses his talent primarily as the organist at our parish’s 8 o’clock mass. With our heavy musical background, it was inevitable that my brothers and I would eventually be recruited to play our own instruments during the mass. At the height of it, my brothers would play violin and viola, and I would be on the trumpet. We would accompany our Dad on the organ every Sunday of the year. The little old ladies who came to the 8 o’clock were our biggest fans (because there never seemed to be anyone else up at such an hour), and they would always compliment us.
As any good Catholic knows, Christmas Mass is the biggest mass of the year. It’s when you see the rare but profitable “Christmas-and-Easter” Catholics. The music of Christmas Mass is actually fun to sing, too. My Dad always gets to play music for one of these masses, and my brothers and I are inevitably recruited to help out. The familiarity of the music combined with the thousands of parishioners makes for a hell of an exhilarating performance. Seriously though, who doesn’t like to sing Christmas carols with thousands of people accompanied by a trumpet and a giant pipe organ?
But herein lies the dilemma. Since I’m a writer for this blog, it’s pretty obvious that I don’t buy into any of the associated religious dogma, and I feel the same way as the Crommunist with his looming nightmare. The church is evil, unquestionably, but my participation in the mass has nothing to do with supporting the church; I only want to support my family. I’ve already been hauled to church since returning home for the holidays, but I have not participated in the mass (praying, taking communion, etc). The Christmas masses are coming up, and I have a non-negotiable familial obligation to participate in the music liturgy.
Back in Montreal, my a cappella group took a gig at a synagogue to provide entertainment during one of the nights of Hanukkah. As a member of the group, I had an obligation to participate, even though I disagree with as much of the dogma underlying the Jewish faith as I do Catholic dogma. I don’t think the Jewish community in Montreal is evil any more than I think that my parish in Calgary is, but in both cases I’m using my musical talent to explicitly support a religious community which which I disagree.
So, my dilemma is this: am I a hypocrite for musically participating in the mass? I don’t contribute any money to the church by playing, but I am not exactly opposing it either. As musicians, my family is definitely providing joy and entertainment to thousands of people, but is the fact that this entertainment and joy occurs during mass enough to make the whole thing evil or at least wrong? From a musician’s point of view, is the fact that I personally think it is wrong enough for me to ignore my familial obligation? What do you think?
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