Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wayne Wilson on July 16, 2010 at 9:50am

i agree to a point, but i question the sense of the claim to be 'the best country in the world.' this kind of thinking has been part of the mindset of many for too long and simply continues the competitve struggles that are the souce of endless conflict.
one of the things i love about canada is that there is, in government, a true separation of chuch and state.
if you look at the nations that have some religious influence in their government, you will see that they are also very warlike nations. that is not a co-incidence.
the problem i see with religion is that those who follow it are more concerned with maintaining old traditions and rituals that progress of any kind is severly hampered. but people will cling to what makes them feel comfortable and safe. as atheism grows we will see a change, i believe, but the clingers will cling for some time. who wants to admit that they've been following an illusion for so long?

Permalink Reply by pat on July 16, 2010 at 11:07pm

Thanks for the reply Wayne. Just to clairify in my post I did say "one of the best countries in the world" and you have to admit as far as education, heathcare, life expectancy,income and infant mortality we gotta be in the top ten. It doesn't make canadians any better than anybody else, However it should make some of are ideas useful and valuable to the rest of the world .

Permalink Reply by kris feenstra on July 23, 2010 at 7:35pm

Depends on what funding you are talking about. My understanding is that churches receive tax exemptions based on their status as charitable organizations. This charitable status can be, and has been, revoked based on a given organization's activities.

I would be opposed to funding or exemptions specific to religion, but I'm not aware such a thing.

Admittedly, I don't know all that much about Canadian law, but there are only a couple relevant items I can think of. There is a blasphemous libel law that should be taken out of the books, in my opinion, simply based on principle; however, this law is never enforced. Actually, it seems pretty much unenforceable in practice.

Aside from that, we have protection under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Under fundamental freedoms we have the freedom of conscience and religion. Under equality rights we have the right to be treated equally before and under the law, regardless of religious beliefs (or lack thereof).

I don't really have take issue with religious references that have historical significance. I never felt a need to remove religious references from the National anthem (in its current iteration). I know it pops up in a few other places.

Permalink Reply by keltik on September 24, 2010 at 8:06pm

Having just returned from a 3 week holiday in Africa, including visits to Johannesburg, I am deeply grateful to be a Canadian and to be a part of our society. I felt much more threatened in the South African cities I visited than in any of my many close encounters with nature. I am in awe of the driving force of evolution that was clearly evident in the safaris I enjoyed and more deeply disturbed than usual of the myths and misinformation our religious communities continue to propagate.

I believe we need to have a clear separation of church and state - legally based would be most appropriate in today's realities. although the details of the such issues involved are beyond my personal experience . I think change will be gradual, but I believe we need to approach these issues with a "revolutionary" attitude rather than with the usual "revisionary" approach that is often implied.

We need to discuss and agree on the most important factor in the current situation and work together to bring about the necessary change. We would be much more influential as coordinated and visible group. I have had administrative experiences in my profession and I am well aware of the some difficulties involved - the metaphor of "herding cats" is often very appropriate in my experience - but I believe the long term gain would be worth the short term pain.

Ian

Permalink Reply by kris feenstra on September 24, 2010 at 9:43pm

Well, Alberta is... still struggling with the concept that gay people are, in fact, people. Not all of Alberta, mind you -- just enough of the province to thoroughly embarrass those who don't have their heads up their asses.

The terminology is awkward, in my opinion. The language, if I'm not mistaken, states that parents must be notified and reserved the right to coddle their children from materials explicitly concerning religion, sex ed., and sexual orientation. That, in and of itself, really isn't a big deal, but it's a little concerning that it may raise the expectations of some parents to unreasonable levels. It gives them a new opening to kick up a fuss, no matter how misguided the basis of their claims.

The inclusion of religion here is nonsensical. The inclusion of sexual-orientation should be flat out removed. They need to stop giving homophobic fuckheads credence on the notion that homosexuality is a moral issue. Parents still have the right to be every bit as ignorant as they damn well please, but schools should not be affected by these antiquated, unfounded beliefs.

Permalink Reply by T A A on December 21, 2011 at 8:24pm

We've been living in lalaland. With our increased immigration, religions are pouring into the country and we have zero ground to fight any of it. Canada has lost its status as 'one of the greatest'. Our government is extremely authoritarian (as again attested by this week's BC police looking to use image recognition technology to identify people in gatherings) and a majority of us Canadians are just big pushovers and never fight for anything. The corporate government is in complete control of Canadian brains. Yukon is in theory the least religious place in Canada, but everyone here is very 'religious', just not in church, they just do the 'spirituality' thing instead. Canada depresses me.

As for the atheist component... I don't think there are more in Canada than in the USA. In Yukon, our catholic schools have equal funding as the public schools, and practice hiring discrimination, for religion of course.

Canada's small numbers has precluded us from true competition in the communications field, and CBC used to have intellectual integrity. So english Canadians have mostly been fed only one moderate-liberal message for our modern lives. Now with increased access to right-wing lunacy, Canada's general levels of knowledge will more tightly align with the USA diaspora of available information, which in our lalaland world, will be even more dangerous, Canadians are not critical enough.

Permalink Reply by Bob MacVay on January 14, 2012 at 9:21pm

I can't speak for all of Canada but in Nova Scotia it appears religion is gradually fading away.Most churches are having difficulty maintaining operations and are relying on senior members for support.Forty years ago religious affiliation was a factor in a lot of things like hiring, etc but today it is more of a non-issue.I don't see religion being a big factor in government here either.It scares me to see the religious bullshit being put forth by the candidates in the US elections.

Permalink Reply by pat on January 15, 2012 at 12:02am

I think its the same across the country. In Manitoba we have lots of churches going or have gone belly up. Unfortunately there is only one religion thats growing,its the xtian mega churches.I went to one here ( for  research on a article ) and there the bookstores sell the same crap message as what you hear from the republican candidates.

What worries me is The Harper gov and their $20 million office of religious freedom. If its anything like the american  version , and signs are poiting that way, were in trouble.

Permalink Reply by T A A on January 15, 2012 at 2:01am

Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms states: Under the supremacy of God... I've heard of a few individuals across the country who've considered launching a push to get that out of there... I'd participate in such a campaign.

Permalink Reply by robert mcbean on April 19, 2012 at 8:07pm

i live in alberta. in one public school i know of the school starts the day with communal reciting of the lords prayer. in another school district public secular education is not available, just the catholic schools.  (alberta is required constitutionally to offer catholic schools wherever requested). secular parents get nowhere trying to get answers on these issues.

also, the government gives tax dollars to private charter schools, most of them religious. 

so an establishment clause of some type here would warm my heart.

Permalink Reply by robert mcbean on April 19, 2012 at 8:11pm

sorry, didn't notice this was an old thread.

Permalink Reply by T A A on April 29, 2012 at 8:47pm

A thread is never old!

I much prefer ongoing long discussions than constantly starting new threads about things already discussed!

Alberta will get even funnier during the next term: A right-wing government, with an extremist-right-wing opposition. This ought to be hilarious! We won't need to talk about USA politics at all, we've got all the USA style right there in Alberta!!!

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