Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chris G on July 7, 2011 at 6:25am

Why does England, Jordan, Morocco, Denmark,Saudi Arabia, and etc.  still have monarchies?

Permalink Reply by T A A on July 7, 2011 at 1:08pm

Our governments are today run like monarchies... so old style monarchies aren't much of a concern to me.

Permalink Reply by Chris G on September 27, 2011 at 4:48pm

How much of that went on in Canada?

Permalink Reply by T A A on September 27, 2011 at 7:51pm

"Canada" never did "dechristianise". English Canada is at its roots a British royalist religious country, with not a shred of separation of church and state in our constitution.

 

Québec did however grow though a significant amount of dechristianisation, following the "Quiet Revolution". Up until that point, religious/British Canada had Québecers completely under its thumb. Our quiet revolution lead to a strengthened separatist movement, very much grounded in a sentiment of anti-royalism, financial autonomy, bioregionalism, collaboration with First Nations, and a very healthy kick up the butt to all things religious. This state of secularism in Québec lasted right through the years the PQ (the most educated intellectual politicians you could ever find) had the political reigns.

 

Unfortunately, in the last 15 years, Québec has experienced  a quite severe shift to the right, breeding/natality policies, the rise of "spirituality" and mosques and sinagogues.... (Catholicism I don't think will ever recover... but that doesn't matter because with the numbers of immigrants pouring into all of Canada, secular Québecers are losing more and more ground every day), thugs pretending to be politicians/economists, getting back in-line with ROC (English Canada) and the USA. Those years where Québec was taking a different intellectual path than the rest of North America were the best years in Québec's history.

 

People MUST put their pockets where their mouths are, instead of putting their mouths where their pockets are :)

Permalink Reply by Chris G on September 27, 2011 at 8:39pm

I need to learn more about that. I've read some stuff about the indoctrination of Indians in the British side of Canada and how indigenous children were separated from their parents and placed in religious schools. My understanding is the French were kinder to the 'Indian' population. In the U.S. that story hasn't been told.

Permalink Reply by T A A on September 28, 2011 at 3:26am

The Australian movie Rabbit Proof Fence gives a fairly good sense of what it felt like for First Nation peoples to be removed from their families to be placed in the religious institutions of religious miscreants. Some indigenous peoples living in Québec did end up going to "residential schools" but those were generally run in English, by the Government of Canada, specifically geared for the more Northern tribes, the Cree around James Bay, and Nunavik's (not Nunavut) Cree and Innu. These people were sent mostly to residential schools in Ontario. Per capita (during those years Québec was over 1/4 of Canada's population), Québec by far had the least residential schools and for some reason the "kidnappings" were less thorough. Most of the Montagnais and Mig'mah were spared the horrors of residential schools. Nevertheless, they have been heavily christianised. During colonial times, Southern Québec's tribes split their allegiances between the English (Iroquois) and the French (Mig'mah) and participated in many battles which later determined the political boundaries of today's North America. Both factions were weighed upon heavily by the religious forces of colonialism.

 

Canada has a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but it has nothing of South Africa's "presence". The post Apartheid Commission occupied a large sphere of political activity which got nearly daily attention from media all over the country. Canada's Commission is a bit of lip service in my eye. Lots of testimonials, an "official apology" from the government of Canada in 2008. The Commission should be finished next year. There has been incredible costs for our cultural genocide... for which we as a society will continue to pay for a couple more generations.

Permalink Reply by Chris G on September 28, 2011 at 3:41am

I liked how the Rabbit Proof Fence was told. 

I'll look at the Truth  and Reconciliation Commission. 

Thanks for the recommendations.

Permalink Reply by Chris G on October 13, 2011 at 7:29pm

Wasn't a lawsuit recently won for taking indigenous children away from their parents in attempt to christianize them?

Permalink Reply by T A A on October 14, 2011 at 12:27am

?? not aware.

Permalink Reply by Chris G on October 14, 2011 at 2:29am

By recently i meant within the last ten years.