This is part of a series of articles intended to illustrate the usefulness of treating atheism as a social justice issue, rather than trying to wall atheist discourse off from social justice discussions. Read the introductory post here. As I intimated in the panel discussion of masculinity we had last weekend, the fight over women’s …
Category Archive: religion
Feb 13 2013
B.C.’s premier speaks about her faith
And into the charged atmosphere that is Canada’s current grappling with the theocratic urges of its federal government comes this statement by British Columbia’s premier, Christy Clark: During her informal 50-minute talk before the ethnically mixed audience, Clark discussed what it means to be a lifelong Anglican, her support for “faith-based” social services, her views …
Feb 13 2013
Canadian government funds anti-gay group to work in Uganda
If you don’t watch the Rachel Maddow Show, you really should. She is unparalleled in her journalistic excellence, and her self-deprecating wit is matched only by her insightfulness. If you’ve watched The Newsroom and longed for a hard-hitting newsman like Will McAvoy, the good news is that Rachel Maddow has been doing exactly what Sorkin fantasizes about, …
Jan 25 2013
Movie Friday: Voices United for Mali
Music has been, and continues to be, an integral part of my life. I picked up my first musical instrument at age 6, and since then there hasn’t been a time when I wasn’t doing something musical in my free time. I went through private lessons, string ensembles, chamber orchestras, symphony orchestras, rock bands, solo gigs, string …
Dec 20 2012
Supreme Court of Canada rules on niqab case
Back in the early days of this blog, I talked about an Ontario court case involving a woman who did not want to be compelled to remove her niqab (a Muslim face covering) in order to testify against two of her family members who she accused of sexually abusing her over a number of years. …
Dec 17 2012
The best laid plans of mice and small minds
One of the fascinating aspects of the denial of privilege is the pirouettes one must turn in order to square the denial with observed fact. “Black people have just as many opportunities as white people!” “Well, here’s an assload of evidence that suggests that’s not true” “…culture of poverty! Single moms! Phrenology!” This is the …
Dec 05 2012
God, Jesus, Dad, and Me (part II)
I was asked to contribute my ‘deconversion’ story to a book project about black non-belief. Since it’s (in my opinion) a pretty solid piece of writing, I thought I’d add it here. You can compare it to a previous occasion when I wrote this story, albeit in less detail. Read part I here. I had been enamoured of …
Dec 05 2012
God, Jesus, Dad, and Me
I was asked to contribute my ‘deconversion’ story to a book project about black non-belief. Since it’s (in my opinion) a pretty solid piece of writing, I thought I’d add it here. You can compare it to a previous occasion when I wrote this story, albeit in less detail. I can’t tell the story of …
Dec 04 2012
Hilarious parody site skewers Catholic sainthood
I am not sure why, I assume it has something to do with the fact that my name and e-mail is out there and searchable, but I regularly get spam e-mail from people hawking a book or offering me an “exclusive chance” to interview someone I’ve never heard of for my blog. Usually I reply …
Nov 22 2012
The terrible burden of religious persecution
Part of the reason I have such a difficult time taking complaints about the “persecution” of Christians in North America (and indeed, most of the world), is because by degrees they demonstrate again and again that they have simply no fucking clue what persecution looks like. To wit: Jamaica’s public transport authorities have banned lay …
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