Athée Canadien
Posts tagged Saskatoon
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never enforced, as it would quickly fall in a subsequent Charter Challenge, it is still on the books and should be repealed.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 While ideally both laws would be repealed, the priority needs to be on saving lives.
Skeptivism: yay or nay?
Feb 21st
This afternoon Deepak Chopra stopped his woo woo train speaking tour here in Saskatoon to give a seminar on “Healing Transformation and Higher Consciousness.” [I find it really telling that the website for the event describes the afternoon in this way: "Dr. Chopra’s seminar begins at 2:30 pm. The onsite bookstore will be open at 1:30pm. Arrive early for a chance to browse Deepak’s latest titles." -- note the plug for consumerism! Ah, so much for transcendence.]
I’m not a fan of Chopra, though several of my friends are. And while I view most of his claims with rolled-eyes, I don’t see the harm in some of what he says. If reading his books makes you a better person, then more power to ya. But that said, if reading his woo woo causes you to forsake medical treatment for serious physical ailments, then we run into problems.
This afternoon several people from CFI Saskatchewan stood outside in the freezing cold to hand out flyers that questioned the legitimacy of Chopra and his claims. [there's a bit about Saskatoon's response to Chopra on the February 20th broadcast of Global Saskatoon (clip starts about 8:30 in)]
I feel kind of conflicted about this skeptivism (skeptical activism). While I agree with the content of the flyers that were passed out, and would happily discuss this issue with someone, there’s a part of me that doesn’t like the idea of standing in front of the entrance to an event, handing out this kind of material. It feels — dare I say? — evangelical. How is it any different than a bunch of Ray Comfort-esque folks handing out flyers in front of a venue where an atheist/skeptic is speaking? Do people who paid to attend such an event even take this kind of activism seriously?
This isn’t to say that I’m against vocalizing dissent, speaking out against pseudoscience, or talking one-on-one to others about where Chopra goes wrong. I’m just not a fan of this particular approach of skeptivism: blanketing ticketholders with pamphlets the day of a show.
But I’m up for being persuaded that I’m wrong.
[picture taken from this Skeptic North post on Chopra, which you all should read]
Reasonable, not sexist
Feb 11th
I’m someone who’s not afraid to stir the pot, so I went and did something that may be considered controversial (particularly in light of recent events) — on Wednesday night I started a single-gender Meetup group for Saskatoon, Reasonable Women. The group’s description sums up why this group came to be, and why the group should exist:
Why a group for atheist/agnostic/skeptic/freethinking women?
After reading this BlagHag post about the troubles some women faced at a recent American Atheist conference, we got the idea of forming this group. Don’t get us wrong — the local atheist groups in Saskatoon are not sexist in their treatment of women members, but we thought it may be fun for the women of these groups to have a place of our own. And, maybe, having this kind of group available could encourage other female-minded folks to join the movement!
Are you anti-men? Why aren’t you allowing men to join this Meetup?
Well, this group’s purpose is meant to engage one particular subset of the larger atheist/freethinking movement: the women. We welcome the men to start their own “Reasonable Men” Meetup!
So much of the current “new atheist” movement is dominated by its male voices — this little group is meant to counteract some of that testosterone by inserting estrogen into the mix!
So far there’s been a mixed reaction to the start of this group — some people love the idea of it, others feel torn about a women-only group, and a few others don’t understand why such a group needs to exist in the first place.
There’s even been the dreaded label of “sexist” thrown at us, mainly because we want the group’s membership to be women only.
I’m not sure how I feel about all of this. I’m resisting the urge to get defensive to objections of the group, because I don’t think escalating matters would be productive — AND we haven’t even had our first meeting yet, so why get defensive over something that’s only just begun?
It could be that such a “Reasonable Women” group isn’t needed in the community … but how will we know unless we try? That said, the enthusiastic response we’ve received so far makes me think that some people see a need for such a group in the larger godless community. And for the people out there who don’t see the need for such a group, that’s fine too (I’m not out to change your mind, per se) — but I don’t think your disinterest should disqualify the group’s existence.
I’m open to being told why having a single-gender group could be detrimental to the larger atheist movement — because that’s what I see the objections boiling down to. Maybe I’m naive, but I see this group as being just one sub-community in a larger community, and a way to help make us stronger.
Darwin Day 2011
Feb 2nd
It’s the most wonderful time of the year — to be a naturalist, that is. Well, strike that “most wonderful time” comment if you’re in Saskatchewan, where we just had -45 windchills! (brrr)
February 12th is Charles Darwin’s birthday, and marks the celebration of “Darwin Day,” a global celebration of science and reason.
What’s going on in Canada for Darwin Day? Leave your group’s activities in the comments.
The big news for Saskatchewan is that Education Minister Donna Harpauer has proclaimed February 12, 2011 as Darwin Day in the province.
In Saskatoon, we’ve got a big Darwin Day event on February 12th that is being sponsored by CFI Saskatchewan, the Saskatoon Skeptics, and the Saskatoon Secular Family Network.
The activities for the day include watching part of the PBS documentary What Darwin Never Knew, guest speakers, family activities (for all ages), and of course, birthday cake!
Since I’m the facilitator for the Saskatoon Secular Family Network, I’ve been rounding up volunteers to put on science demonstrations and experiments for the kids. So far I’ve got volunteers in the areas of biology, chemistry, physics, and epidemiology. One activity I’d like us to run is a station where people can see what they look like “devolved” into an earlier stage.
2011 marks the 202nd birthday of Darwin, and I’m already looking forward to a great day celebrating science and reason.
December dilemma, revisited
Dec 18th
A couple weeks ago I wrote about my qualms in preparing a December celebration party for our secular parenting group. Part of my worries were thinking that educating kids about religious traditions/practices could be an act of inadvertently condoning religious belief. I wrote more about my dilemma here:
I asked myself: if I set out a bunch of nativity sets for the kids to play with, am I reinforcing the idea that there really was a virgin birth?
I think I may have been overthinking things a bit — especially considering most of our kids were more interested in spinning the dreidel than debating the pros and cons of the Torah. But I’m glad that I have these inner struggles when it comes to raising my little freethinker. I want to raise my little girl with an awareness of how human beings have used faith and dogma in an attempt to answer life’s hard questions — but I also want her to have the critical thinking skills to recognize where these faith systems have failed in their answers and have hurt others. Teaching her about religion isn’t the same as indoctrinating her into a belief system.
If you’re interested in the activities we ended up doing for our December celebration night, here’s the post where I elaborated on what we did to learn about Kwanzaa, Chanukah, and Christmas.
The post is a part of the Parents Beyond Belief blog, where I’m a contributor, along with other facilitators of secular family/parenting groups in the States. We’re in need of more Canadian voices, so if anyone out there looking to start a secular parenting group in your area, contact me!
Raising Canadian freethinkers
Nov 13th
A quick update on what’s happening lately with the Saskatoon Secular Family Network:
- I’ve been asked to be a contributor on the Parents Beyond Belief blog, and my first post is about our successful Freethinker Family Camp, Camp Hoodoo. Keep an eye out on the PBB blog for more posts by different parenting groups across the US and Canada.
- Later this month our group is having a book club discussion about the parenting classic: How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk. I can tell I’m going to love this book, especially after reading its first line: “I was a wonderful parent before I had children.”
- In December we’re hosting a December Celebration and Cookie Potluck night, where we’ll celebrate many aspects of the season that don’t necessarily evoke the supernatural or virgin births. Does anyone have any suggestions of atheist-y or humanist activities/crafts we could get the kids to do? The Friendly Atheist posted a link to an Atheist’s Xmas coloring book (PDF) that looks like a lot of fun.
The other big secular parenting news is that I’m going to be working in conjunction with CFI Canada to help start secular parenting groups across Canada. Right now I’m compiling some materials to make an information packet to send to people who are interested in getting a group going in their area. If you’re interested in receiving some of these materials or are looking to swap ideas, feel free to email me at sksecular.parenting at gmail.com for more information.
The religious right … in Canada?!
Sep 20th
As an American living in Canada, I have to admit that I’m always a little amused when I hear people up here complain about the religious right. I mean, I grew up as a Bible-thumpin’ girl in deep South of the US, where “voter’s guides” are periodically inserted into church bulletins and preachers have no shame in saying, from the pulpit, who is “God’s candidate” to vote for.
But as much as I want to claim Canada as a godless socialist paradise, the fact is that there is a movement of the religious right amongst us. Earlier this summer Marci McDonald released a book that detailed these right-wingers in Canada, The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada. (if you’d like a quick taste of some of her findings, read this Walrus article: “Stephen Harper and the Theo-cons” or listen to her interview from CBC’s program The Current)
Yesterday the Saskatoon Freethinkers group met to discuss some of the findings of McDonald’s book, and our afternoon’s talk was led by one of the author’s research sources, Tim Thibault. Tim is the webmaster behind The Miracle Channel Review website, which serves as a type of watchdog for the station The Miracle Channel. Tim has also filed several reports and inquiries with the CRTC and the Canadian Revenue Agency over the unethical practices of this religious network.
McDonald claims that her book is a precursory warning to what could happen to Canada, if the current trajectory of the religious right continues. She quotes one of the leaders of the Canadian religious right as saying that their movement is one that is “burgeoning” and that they are currently “30 years behind the States,” in terms of putting their activism into action. It would appear that her main concern is with the lobby groups that are gaining more influence and access in Ottawa.
I’m not entirely sure I agree with some of McDonald’s concerns — maybe it’s the newfound apathy I have for Canadian politics (a malaise I think I ‘caught’ from other apathetic, politically-disinterested Canadians), but I just don’t see the same kind of influence of the religious right here in Canada as I do in the States. For example, take this exchange from this interview with McDonald (around the 11 minute mark):
Steve Paikin: it’s probably fair to say that [Stephen Harper] is the most evangelical prime minister we’ve ever had, and he’s a huge disappointment to the evangelical movement. And if that’s the case, do people who don’t want this country to move to a socially-conservative agenda in their public life, do they really have that much to worry about?
Marci McDonald: I don’t know whether they do — it’s up to them to decide. But it’s important that somebody write about this, [to] connect the dots . . . people can do with it what they may.
I suppose what I find the most frustrating about what I’ve read/heard from McDonald (full disclosure: I haven’t yet read her book) and from yesterday’s talk is that there doesn’t seem to be anything specific to focus on, in terms of a “right wing agenda” at work in our government. McDonald herself seems hesitant to aim her focus in any one direction. I guess the skeptic in me wants something more concrete to focus my efforts on, other than the possibility that the religious right in Canada could turn out as ugly as it is in the US, 30 years from now.
That said, I’m open to being persuaded out of my ignorance and apathy (so feel free to correct me in the comments).
Anyway, here’s hoping that Canadians up here will keep up the mantra of separating their identity from the “big brother” to the South — and will reject the allure of the James Dobsons and John Hagees of the US religious right.
“Sometimes insiders make the best outsiders”*
Sep 8th
One of the local groups I help facilitate in Saskatoon is Café Apostate. Here’s how the group is described:
Are you a recovering religionist? A former fundy? Someone who grew up deeply involved in the faith, and now has gone all heretic? Or did you escape any religious indoctrination, and are just interested in hearing stories from the formerly religious?
If so, then you should come out and join us for coffee and religiously-based rants at Café Apostate. It’s a low-key way to interact with other freethinkers who have “left the flock,” and share stories and maybe even brainstorm some strategies of how to deal with religious friends and family members who don’t understand your godlessness.
Café Apostate: A cupful of heresy!
The intention of our group isn’t quite along the lines of the Recovering from Religion groups, or even the Living without Religion group out in Ontario — while we do have similar aims. Maybe it’s the rebellious ex-evangelical in me, but I wanted the name of our group to be less support-group oriented. I also didn’t like how the other two names gave the (unintended) impression that the ex-believer’s life is now disempowered or is lacking something.
The little group we’ve got in Saskatoon is growing quite well, and at each of our monthly meetings, I’m always surprised at the range of people we have attend. We’ve had everyone from former evangelicals (*cough*me*) to retired Catholic priests, former Hindus, past new-Agers, and there’s always a few from-the-cradle atheists attending, too.
You can imagine that this kind of melange makes for many interesting conversations! I love how our group is open to both former-believers AND never-been-believers. I find that having the mix of the two really helps to open up conversations and disseminate stereotypes, for either perspective.
As someone who once was an active Christian, and is now turned an active heretic, there have been times where my background of being a former believer has been considered a liability by a few fellow nonbelievers.
Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I hate it when there’s needless hierarchies and us/them divides, especially when you are all heading in the same supposed direction. This isn’t to say that I find myself in a place of privilege over someone who has never been in a faith system — but, likewise, I don’t think it means that I’ve been forever marred with a deluded/indoctrinated mind, just because I was once an evangelical Christian.
If anything, there’s a need for both types of us atheists — those who have not been in a faith system and those who have. We each have different perspectives to lend to our movement, and if anything, the two groups make for one hell (pun intended) of a tag-team against irrational religious belief!
[*I'm pretty sure I heard this quote attributed to Dan Barker, a fairly prominent apostate leading the Freedom from Religion Foundation in the States]
Freethinker Family Camp
Aug 12th
This weekend, the Saskatoon Secular Family Network is hosting its 1st annual Freethinker Family Camp, in the bustling metropolis of the R.M. of Hoodoo, SK.
It’s shaping up to be quite the event! Here’s a list of activities we’ve got planned, so far:
- nature scavenger hunt
- earth weaving craft
- face painting
- slough exploring
- star gazing with telescopes & planispheres
- meteor watching (this weekend is the tail end of the Perseids)
- cooperative musical chairs
- digging for fossils in potash
- outside fun with horseshoes, boccie balls, aerobie, soccer, etc
- listening to a talk from an entomologist
- campfire time and s’mores (I bought a bag of GIANT marshmallows)
- “ghost photography”
I’m excited our group can provide an alternative to all the Bible summer camps that surround our area.
If anyone has any fun games or suggestions for camp activities that you’d like to pass along, feel free to leave ‘em in the comments. Next week I’ll be sure to post a recap of how much fun we had.
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