Restoring Canadian Democracy - Are we winning or losing?

Are we winning or losing?

I just saw a post on Facebook from a friend in British Columbia, a simple proclomation of": "WE WON"!!! I was wondering if the Canadiens had managed a win against Tampa, or if it was a personal victory against a lockdown ticket.

From the comments I'm inferring that it's in reference to BC lifting the so called 'state of emergency' and ending things like masking mandates. Other parts of the country like where I am of course, we're still living with draconian and overreaching measures that violate both the constitution and the charter of rights and freedoms.

Any victory that restores our God given freedom should of course be welcomed, but we've been fighting battles that never should have been needed. Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms lays it out plainly in the preamble, one single sentence which says:

Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law....

The word "supremacy" means just that....supremacy, that God is Supreme. It strikes me that for the past 15 months (longer actually, but the past 15+ months in particular) we've ignored this simple fact.

Our freedom to assemble, worship, operate a lawful business, travel ....these are rights that come not from government, but from God. These rights can be limited the Charter says, in the case of a justifiable emergency....and back in March 2020 we were told that such an emergency was unfolding.

After hearing in January and February of 2020 that Covid was nothing to worry about, suddenly in March the script changed. Now we were told that 200,000 Canadians would be dying as a direct result of this virus in the first year, on top of the ususal deaths that occur. Instead of 295,000 deaths we'd be approaching half a million just in the first 12 months.

That was if we did nothing. But even with lockdown measures it was still going to be 100,000 excess deaths, directly caused by Covid in the first year. Even with shuttering, businesses, schools and vital life saving support services for the marginalized and vulnerable, even with all that we were going to be lining up eight deep to get a critical care bed in our ICUs.

Two weeks to flatten the curve?

Some of us knew that was never in the cards. Viruses spread, it's what they do, germs are ubiquitous. Closing everything down would invite the Zombie Apocolypse. Hosptials had to stay open, retirment homes and LTCs couldn't just be closed, Fire, police, sanitation, water treatment, the electrical grid and internet connectivity....all the workers in these industries would be out and about, transit and gas to get them to and from work was also needed.

A lot of dim bulbs have said we should have just shut everything down, forced everyone to stay in their homes. It's the kind of low resolution thinking usually expressed by double digit IQ types who think the supply chain is as simple as a light switch that you just flick off and then back on.....real life is obviously more complicated.

Besides, the science was wrong....incredibly wrong. SARS-CoV-2 we found out is not the major health threat it was made out to be. Overwhelmingly the only people getting seriously ill and dying were those who were already in that state to begin with.....people who would be compromised by ANY virus or bacterial infection.

That's borne out by the numbers. Roughly 16 months in and less than 4% of Canadians have even tested positive for this thing. Over a year down the road of living with a virus that is reported to be spreading like wildfire, and more than 95% of Canadians haven't even tested positive for it. And that's using a PCR tests that gives off false positives "nearly half the time" as per Ontario's Associate Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Barbara Yaffe.

There never was an emergency, but don't tell that to the Covid Karens and Karls who have been traumatized by fear. They're convinced the only reason they're still alive and breathing, that it's because we locked down....they can't let go. These mensa drop outs look at people lining up at a hot dog stand outside without masks on and they start hyperventalating.

Canada, like most of the western world was founded on what can broadly be termed the Judeo Christian ethic. On the belief that there is a God, and ulimate good. But we've been chipping away at the foundation of our society for decades. Lately it strikes me that we've taken a jack hammer to the very foundation of our society.

It's now believed by many that this earth, the universe as a whole, that it's simply a random accident. Science has put forth the theory of the big bang, of energy and matter just blub blub blub....floating around in space, and then by some accdident that life magically came into being.

It's interesting to me that people use science to contradict science. Louis Pasteur conducted experiments which have so far proven that spontaneous generation (life out of nothing) is impossible. Nobody has been able to disprove the fact that only life begats life. As for evolution, that flies in the face of the laws of thermodynamics respecting entropy....that things decay, devolution is what science says happens, not evolution.

But crazy or not, it's what many believe....our educational system has been indoctinating our youth for over 50 years with this thinking, and it's accelerating.

What does it mean if there is no God? If there is not God then logic dictates that there is no ultimate truth, no ultimate right and wrong. Human systems of law become fluid, there is nothing fixed. We're sailing in ancient times without the North Star to guide the the ship that is our society.

This is our new reality. Everyone is encouraged to find "THEIR" personal truth, because there is no unifying central truth anymore. And it makes us easy to manipulate, because rather than having that North Star to guide us we start worshipping individuals.....and human beings are anything but divine.

Today's saints are tomrrow's demons. Women who were venerated for advocating for the rights of women are now burned at the stake if they dare believe that a man can't declare himself a woman and use the women's locker room at the local fitness centre. A 5 year old boy who sees his mother and father paying more attention to a developmentally challanged sister can declare that he's a girl and society has to affirm his choice.

And now, if Dr. Theresa Tam says something, she has to be believed and followed with the same reverence that scriptural wisdom used to command. Every time she's wrong, she hides behind data and says "the science has changed, it's evolved" and society has been conditioned, like a Pavlovian dog, to salivate at her feet and listen to whatever bell she's ringing.

Have "we won"? Nope, we're losing and we're going to keep losing so long as we put our faith in flawed and corrupted government officials, and that includes health officials. The Dr Hinshaws, Yaffes, Williams, Henrys and all the rest.

It includes our judicial branch as well. Asked to provide proof of the state of emergency justifying these life destroying measures, the health officials have constantly refused, and the men and women behind the benches have bowed low and let them get away with it.

There is victory to be had in the end of course, but not by putting faith in flawed men and women, forget Trudeau and O'Toole....and Trump and his crew as well. Victory comes only through God, something society used to broadly accept and at least acknowledge, but not any more.

We haven't won, we've been granted a reprieve. Like that older sibling who delights in dunking you, forcing your head under water....then after struggling lets you up to grab a few mouthfuls of air before plunging you under again.

Ultimate victory only comes when we put ourselves into relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It's something I'm still working at, and it isn't easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is.

Don't sweat it Pope Francis, Jesus pissed off the rich and powerful too...

Pope Francis has recently been harshly criticized for bemoaning the imbalance that exists in our world, an imbalance between the rich and the poor.  Some, like Rush Limbaugh, have accused the Pope of being a Marxist, while demonstrating a total lack of understanding of what Marxism even is.

Good for the Pope.  I'm not a Roman Catholic, and some would say I'm not even a Christian because I don't swallow hook line and sinker every word printed in the Bible.  But I do consider myself a Christian, and I do believe there was a guy named Jesus walking around present day Palestine a couple thousand of years back who stirred things up.  Jesus rattled the apple cart, and undermined his society's power structure.  He spoke of the kingdom of God, he said there was a better way of doing things.  Things like us being our brother's keeper, loving others as ourselves.

We all know what happened to Jesus.  I would argue his message was warped and perverted to entrench the inequality he preached against.  We were told to worship Him, and to obey the dictates of those who wrapped themselves in his mantle.  

Nice to see a Pope returning to the message instead of just glorifying the messenger.   

Who wants to make a movie depicting Judasim as a cancer?

I saw maybe half of Sasha Baron Cohen's movie ' Borat', I thought it was ignorant and stupid. When his latest movie, `The Dictator' was released I watched the trailers and took a pass. 

Jokes and gags about racial, religious and cultural stereotypes aimed at marginalized segments of our society don't hold much appeal. 

Do you know how copper wire was invented? Two Jews were fighting over a penny. Ha ha, I bet that went over big in Germany seventy or eighty years ago. 

Given Jewish history of the past hundred or so years I would have hoped that members of the Hebrew faith might have some sensitivity over such things. 

Well, those hopes appear to have been wasted with likes of Mr. Cohen. And also with Sam Bacile who is in the news because of his film "Innocence of Muslims'', which he wrote and directed. It depicts Islam's prophet Mohammad as a fraud with insulting claims that he approved of sexually abusing children. Violent reaction to the film is being blamed for the murder of U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens as well as three other Americans. 

You can read the full story here: Vancouver Sun Story

I wonder what the reaction would be if an American Muslim film maker wrote and directed a film claiming that Moses was a pedophile who faked the whole scene at Mount Sinai to gain political power over the Hebrew people and then used that power to make himself and his closest friends rich. 

Imagine the reaction if this film maker then gave interviews claiming he was merely exposing the evils of Judaism and expressed a belief that the Jewish faith is a cancer that needs to be exposed and eradicated. 

We've already seen how some Christians reacted to Martin Scorsese's `The last temptation of Christ'. And that movie was pretty tame in my view. How much stronger would that reaction have been if it portrayed Jesus as advocating sodomy among his disciples? 

Personally I don't think any one faith has all the answers. But I know many Muslims, Christians and Jews regard their faith as the one and only path to God and heaven. Still, I will pray that fervent Muslims will borrow from a teaching of Jesus, regarded is Islam as a prophet, and turn the other cheek. 

Gandhi put it best, when you fight fire with fire, all you end up with is more fire. Or even better, taking an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

University of California Prof and author calls Sikh temple bombing 'Christian Terrorism'...and I agree

A funny thing happens when people get old, many lose their sense of fairness.  Something you hear from children almost every day is: "That's not fair", and oftentimes they're one hundred per cent right.

Of course they're just kids, and as we grow older many of us come to accept that the world isn't fair, because...well, that's just the way the world is.

Some people are born into wealth, power and influence and can achieve almost anything, even if they're drunken drug users who have bankrupted previous business ventures.  And others of course are born into abject poverty, with only a slim chance of success hinging on iron clad will, self confidence and perhaps a measure of divine providence.

But as I digress, as I so often do.

The words terrorist and terrorism get bandied about a great deal these days in our mainstream media.  And in almost all cases the stories being reported are about adherents of the Muslim faith.

Ask someone what images come to mind with the word terrorist and you're likely to get a description of a male Muslim, probably bearded and wearing a turban.

That's the way the our world is.

Many Muslims will assert that terrorism is against the tenets of Islam.  That those advocating violence or jihad have perverted the teachings of their prophet Mohammed.  Okay, but that doesn't matter, our mainstream press will still brand any atrocity committed by a nominal follower of that faith as 'Islamic Terrorism'.

So what about Wade Michael Page?  You know, the guy who just gunned down six innocent members of a Sikh Temple.

This man has been revealed as a Neo-Nazi white supremacist who was on his own 'jihad', if I may borrow the Islamic term for holy crusade.  A holy war against those outsiders who were polluting his white Christian Ah-Muhr-Ica (that's the way you pronounce it in red neck).

Shouldn't this news story be treated as Christian terrorism?  If Mr Page had been an Arab from the middle east, and had the victims been attendees at a Christian church, do you think the media would have refrained from calling him this an act of Islamic Terrorism?

Yeah right!!!  Let's be fair, what's good for the goose after all.

And I'm not alone in thinking this, Mark Juergensmeyer thinks so too.  He's a Professor of Sociology and Director of Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the winner of the Grawemeyer Award for his book "Terror in the Mind of God".

You can read his piece here:  Christian Terrorism Comes to Milwaukee

Christian churches speaking out on Northern Gateway- Why are evangelicals silent?

Some of Canada's Christian churches are giving voice to concerns over the Northern Gateway pipeline, in particular to the potential hazards it poses with respect to aboriginal peoples and wildlife. 

Kairos Canada has put out a primer for its member churches called: Ethical Reflections on the Northern Gateway Pipeline 

Kairos is a interdenominational organization with a mission statement that calls on Canadian churches to work for justice and peace. 

Member churches include: The Anglican Church of Canada, the Christian Reformed Church in North America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Mennonite Central Committee of Canada, the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the United Church of Canada. 

United, Anglican, Lutherans, Catholics, Presbyterians....Where are the fundamentalist and/or born again evangelicals? You know, like Baptists, and Pentecostals, the churches that proclaim to be gospel and faith based. I don't know why they're not speaking out, (if they are please comment and link it up) but I have some thoughts as to a possible reason. 

I've written before about the marriage of the neo-conservative ultra pro-business lobby with evangelical Christianity, and I think that's why I haven't been reading about prominent fundamentalist Christians voicing concerns over this pipeline.

One such post was: Is Evangelical Chrisitanity the Trojan horse of neo-conservatism. And another was the review of a book by Yale graduate Jonathan Dudley:  "Broken Words" Understanding the grip Neo-Cons have on evangelicals. 

I'm not expecting evangelical Christians to lend their voice to those taking issue with the Northern Gateway pipeline, because that would mean breaking ranks with their neo-conservative and very pro-business masters. 

Perhaps there's nothing to be concerned about anyway.I mean its not like pipeline leaks and breakages occur very often. Okay, a couple happened back in June of this year in Alberta, and you can read about Enbridge's leaking pipelines in the Financial Post -HERE-.

But that's still only six in about a two year time span, which means only one every four months. In other words, NO LEAKS three months out of every four for the past two years. Hey, with a batting average like that you get a ticket to Cooperstown!!! 

After all, the Bible tells us to conquer or subdue the Earth. While we're at it why not cover it with black ooze? If you'd like to read the Kairos report: CLICK HERE. 

I'm betting many evangelicals don't consider Kairos member churches really Christian anyway. If you're a real Christian you sit down and obey authority and power, just like Jesus did.

Note to Roman Catholic Church - If you take public $ you have to answer for it

Ah Rome and her church, the last crumbling and rotting vestige of a once powerful global empire.

The Toronto Star is reporting that Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop of Toronto, has his robes in a knot over not being able to discriminate against students with a homosexual orientation.

Go cry to an altar boy.

Well Mr. Collins...there's a simple solution to your problem. If you don't like Catholic schools being dictated to by elected officials, then stop accepting public funds for the running of your schools. Its that old saw about not being able to have your cake and eat it too.

Hopefully the church will eventually see the errors of its ways. The church has made enormous strides over the years after all. Rome now realizes that our sun doesn't revolve around this planet, and they've stopped murdering people for refusing to accept Rome's authority. Heck they don't even shuttle pedophile priests around anymore so they can prey on new victims, at least I hope they don't.

You can read the whole story here: Dalton McGuinty tells Catholic church he’s in charge of schools

The church has been wrong about so many things so many times, and that continues to this day.  Thankfully in our modern enlightened age we have human law to counteract inferior religious dictates. 

Christian crackpot radio and useless Bible prophecy

I've been doing a fair bit of driving lately, often between the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Québec City.  Entertainment while behind the wheel is typically my car stereo as my vehicle is over 15 years old and doesn't have a CD player.  Anyone remember cassettes?

I make good use of the seek button and often find myself tuning into American stations which are dedicated to spreading God's word, or the narrow fundamentalist Christian take on it.

Such was the case this past week as I found myself listening to some yahoo expound on Biblical prophecy and specifically what it says about the nation of Israel.  You know the story in all likelihood, God's chosen, a master race if I dare invoke that term. 

Interesting stuff, and certainly good for a chuckle.  You see God, in his infinite wisdom, decided he'd give the Hebrew people the land of Canaan, a nice little present.  If you have trouble wrapping your head around the concept of God worrying about who lives where on this planet, try thinking of him as a Re-Max agent.

But what is Canaan?  Well, God is pretty specific on that point. In Genesis God promises Abraham and all his descendants certain boundaries, lands occupied by certain peoples.  In chapter 15 it says: 

To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites

It probably would have been nice if God, being all powerful and everything, if he had let all those people know he was taking their land from them.  Then again, it looks like God overstepped himself given that the Jewish or Hebrew people have never occupied all the land that is supposedly their's by divine authority.  Don't you hate it when divine beings don't stick to their word?

If God had kept his promise Israel would have included a massive chunk of what we currently call the Middle East.  But then the God of the Old Testament could be pretty erratic.  God had no problem with Moses ordering the killing of women and children, or with the keeping of slaves, or with taking conquered virgins as sex toys....or if you prefer the more polite term...concubines.

So why do I listen to this garbage when I don't believe a word of it?

Well, it does provide a decent window into the minds of many of today's ultra right wing neo-conservatives. 

And it also helps explain why some Conservative bright bulbs, like failed GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, have such a hate on for higher education.  Going to schools of higher learning that teach students the art of critical thought flies directly in the face of the blind obedience that so many fundamentalist Nimrods, (a little Biblical nod for those who get it) demand.

God and his prophets say and advocate many things which civilized people would never tolerate.  Stoning disobedient children is one good example, condoning the seduction of a friend's wife and then murdering that friend to hide the infidelity is probably an even better one...An eye for an eye?  Uhm, only some of the time. 

Any rational thinking person would take these writings for what the truly are, and would dismiss the God crap as leaders seeking justification for the atrocities they've committed. 

Its okay, God says we're cool, kill 'em all...the land is ours.

Fundamentalist, evangelical Bible beating holy rollers used to cast their franchise in the United States mostly with the Democrats.  Not hard to understand, it was because of Jesus' teachings about compassion and being your brother's keeper.  At least that was the case until senior American evangelicals were seduced into putting their pulpits to work for the Republican  party.  And we're seeing the same thing take place north  of the border in the last 10 years or so with our Conservative party.

Do Republicans want a religious extremist as their nominee?

The U.S. has troops in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, and numerous other countries, and there's some definite sabre rattling happening right now in the direction of Iran from some quarters.  Often times western powers are battling with religious extremists, Islamic fundamentalist with an extreme interpretation of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

You might expect to see quotes like this from leaders in countries like Iran or from the Taliban in Afghanistan:

"This is not a political war at all. This is not a cultural war. This is a spiritual war."

Oooops, that was from Republican presidential nominee Rick Santorum.  Okay, let me cite a quote from a U.S. right-winger then.  Something which speaks to what we've come to expect from the Theo-Con camp of the GOP.

"This is a war between two willpowers: the willpower of the people and the willpower of their enemies". 

Almost sounds like it was taken from a speech by G.W. Bush himself doesn't it?  Um, oops again.   That isn't Santorum or Bush, that quote is from Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah. 

Ah well, that's what happens when you try to sift through extremist rhetoric, its hard to tell the opposing sides apart because...well, with religious nuts, they're all convinced they have the All Mighty's blessing. 

Tories to social conservatives...thanks for the votes, now bugger off!!!

Members of Canada's socially conservative religious right fraternity must be looking on the Harper government like the insurance salesman who attends church to drum up business.  I mean sure he's on the membership role and tosses his cheque in the plate every week.  But is he a true believer or just there to network?

From where I sit the issues of importance to social  conservatives are as follows:

• A return of the death penalty
• Abortion back in the criminal code
• Ending the legal status of same-sex marriage

I'll state my opinions and bias up front as I often do.  I'm opposed to the death penalty in all cases.  While I consider myself ardently Pro-Choice, I would not be averse to some limitations being placed on late term procedures provided access would never be  impeded in cases of maternal health.  And as for same-sex marriage, I really don't give a rip, keep it legal or ban it...it doesn't matter to me one way or another.

I'm not looking to argue any of these points, just giving you my opinion.  Ain't democracy grand?

I wonder though if some in the evangelical crowd are beginning to feel like they've been taken.  It must be like taking a whole life insurance package from that nice 'Christian' sitting in the pews every Sunday only to find out he's been trolling down Church St. in Toronto and availing himself of bath houses.

 Scannning So-Con blogs it seems our PM could be losing the flock.

 

Socon or Bust

He came to power on the (dismembered) backs of the unborn. Now he’s become paranoid about not debating the issue or even allowing others in his own Party to do so, even to the point that he will permit infanticide to protect abortion and his political career.

 

Big Blue Wave

Stephen Harper: Not the conservative he once was

 

The Conservatives have a five year mandate, plenty of time to toss a core constituency a bone or two.  Otherwise principalled MPs might decide to leave and set up their own party.  Its happened before.

 

Are Canada's conservatives a house divided?

Here's a question dear reader. 

Are you conservative or liberal? 

It might seem a straight forward, but I imagine responses would vary widely based on the context of the question.  Are we talking about political parties, money, human rights...all three?

In terms of party politics, the Conservatives are hot.  Sure they're not yet garnering a majority of votes in any recent election, but their numbers keep going up and they are the single largest minority by a good margin.

If you're on the left hand side of the political spectrum you have a lot of choice in this country.  You have the Liberals who many consider to be fiscally conservative based on the Chrétien/Martin record of balanced budgets and paying down the national debt.  Then  there's the NDP for those who strongly support the labour or union movement.  The Greens present themselves as fiscally conservative with a strong emphasis on protecting the environment.  And Quebecois have the added choice of the Bloc, generally  speaking a very socially progressive party, albeit one determined to take Québec out of the country.

For conservative minded voters on the right...uhm, you've got Harper's cons or a few fringe parties with no hope of winning a seat anytime in the foreseeable future.  Sorry that's it, and that's all.

Stephen Harper has achieved electoral success by bringing in divergent groups into the Conservative tent.  Fiscal conservatives enraged at the Liberal Ad-Scam scandal, social conservatives looking for action on things like abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage.  Even libertarians who want to see government reduced to providing only core  bare bones services.

And from where I sit I don't see how any of these groups can be happy with the job our Prime Minister has done. 

So-cons have seen zero action on any of the initiatives on their agenda, with MP Brad Trost saying Harper isn't even Pro-Life, the PM's membership to an evangelical church notwithstanding.

Fiscal conservatives can't be happy with record setting deficits and the elimination of all the gains made in paying down the national debt by the Chrétien/Martin Liberals.

And the libertarian element of the party must be just thrilled with all the corporate welfare being doled out.  $2 million for a fake lake, I'm sure that went over huge with the less government constituency. 

The only thing that all CPC members can be happy with is victory, they've won the last 3 elections and now finally have a majority mandate.  But what is victory worth if the issues which drew voters and members to the party aren't being addressed?  At least with a minority mandate Harper had some cover.  The Conservatives had to appease at least one of the opposition parties to ensure they remained in power, such is no longer the case.

The saving grace right now is the damage they've inflicted on the Liberal brand with the constant stream of negative attack ads we've seen on successive Grit leaders.  Will conservative voters upset with the PM be able to bring themselves to support a party that has been so denigrated over the past several years?

Time as always, will tell.

Is the U.S. conservative movement on drugs?

I realize very well that the conservative movement in the U.S. has gone and basically co-opted the fundamentalist, born again, bible thumping, man walked with dinosaurs Christian crowd.  Fair enough, they're a great constituency to have.  They're used to doing as they're told, and they don't worry about obvious contradictions or warped logic. 

And that's a good thing for Rick Santorum, the new golden boy of the religious right. 

President Obama wants higher college enrollment in the United States.  Sounds good right?  You know, the globally competitive marketplace we now live in requires an intelligent and adaptable work force.  Unless of course you just want burger flippers and Wal-Mart greeters tossing their 10% tithes into the minimum wage collection plate. 

Ahhhhhh but wait.  Its all part of a huge left wing conspiracy.  Mr. Santorum was recently quoted saying that 62% of students who enter college and university with a faith commitment, leave without it.  Students learn to think critically, they gain knowledge, and they begin to question the religious teachings about the invisible man in the sky.  You know....God.  They become less malleable, more independent in their judgement and less easy to manipulate.  Heavens, they learn that they don't have to listen to Rush Limbaugh and some conclude that the bombastic radio host is really nothing more than a trailer park blow hard.

Conservative leaders sure don't want that. 

Thank heavens things haven't gone that far north of the border, at least not yet.  I wonder if our Prime Minister still holds to views he had back in 1997, when he said to an ultra conservative U.S. think tank:

"....your country, and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world".

Seems to me that "light" is running seriously low on juice. 

I'll end this entry with a YouTube clip of the late great George Carlin.  If you've had post secondary schooling you might find it amusing.  Warning, it has the (gasp) Eff word in it, but that's  Carlin :-)

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Visions of Moses, Jesus and Mohammed walking hand in hand

Just for clarification I would like it known that I chose the order in the title of this post based on the age of these respective faiths, with Judaism being the oldest and Islam the youngest....and Christianity in the middle.

Personally I don't believe in religious visions, frankly I think they're the product of over active imaginations and other factors like lack of sleep or even narcotics.  

But for the sake of argument, let's say visions are real, and that people all around the world start seeing images of Moses, Jesus and Mohammed walking hand in hand. 

What would it mean?

Let's look at the Jewish faith.  My understanding of Judaism is that at its core, adherents believe that the Jewish people are God's chosen, a lineage destined to be masters of basically the entire region often referred to as the 'Holy Land'.   I hesitate to use the term 'master race' for obvious reasons, but that does seem an apt description.

The writers of the Torah or Old Testament have God giving the Hebrew people sanction to commit all manner of atrocities in their efforts to subdue their enemies.  Its not much different when you look at Christianity and Islam when you consider the wars that have been waged in so called Holy Crusades and Jihads.

Imagine religion being removed from the equation as a justification for armed conflict.  If Moses, Jesus and Mohammed can join hands...why not the rest of the human race?

While the separation of Church and State is an often cited ideal of western democracies, religion and politics were joined at the hip when these three faiths started.  The political leaders in ancient times were also religious leaders.  Very convenient when waging war and seeking to control illiterate and ignorant populations.

Imagine if all Christians started believing that Jesus isn't the ONLY path to God.  If Jews started believing that all human beings are equal in the eyes of the Lord.  If Muslims started believing that Mohammed wasn't the most accurate prophet, just one of many.

Imagine humanity coming together.  Others have suggested it, Gandhi, John Lennon...even John Denver.  I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs by John Denver, no its not 'Thank God I'm a Country Boy' its called "Its About Time".

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Mitt Romney...Can a Mormon become President of the U.S?

The Canadian political scene is relatively quiet now that Stephen Harper and his Conservatives have finally attained majority status.  For a political junkie that means looking south of the 49th for a fix, and let's face it...no country does politics like the United States. 

The Republican race is heating up and looks to be a two way race at the moment, with Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich duking it out.  Interestingly it is Romney's faith which is drawing the most scrutiny, not that of Gingrich who is on his third marriage and also his third religion in Roman Catholicism. 

I know a bit about the faith of Latter Day Saints (LDS), the official name of what is commonly called the Mormon church.  My father's grandmother was a convert, and I used to play basketball with a couple of elder missionaries, and yes they tried very hard to bring me into their fold. 

While my opinion and a bus ticket will only get you a ride downtown, nonetheless I will express my view on a Mormon in the White House. 

Why not?

Religion plays a huge role in American politics these days.  One need only look back to the furor over Barack Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, for proof of that fact.  And you can be certain that for many Americans, particularly evangelicals, Romney being a Mormon is a huge issue. 

Many consider the LDS faith a cult, I do not ascribe to that view.  Those who know a bit about the faith consider Mormon theology to be screwy, but then many fundamentalists think men and dinosaurs walked together on the Earth and that this planet is only 4 or 5 thousand years old....pot to kettle. 

For those who are curious, the Mormon church was started by one Joseph Smith who claims to have discovered golden plates buried somewhere around Palmyra New York.  These plates were said to have contained accounts of Jesus visiting the America's after his ascension into heaven. 

Okay, I see some shaking their heads saying...."Yeah, rigggggggggggggggght".  Fair enough.

But many of those same people also expect to see Jesus coming back some day riding on a cloud.  So if Jesus can come back riding on a cloud, why couldn't he have beamed himself down to this side of the Atlantic to preach the good news to Native Americans?

If morality is an issue I think evangelicals would find they have more in common with Romney as a lifelong Mormon than with Gingrich,  a twice divorced, three times married Lutheran/Baptist/Roman Catholic.

Say what you will about Mormon beliefs and practices, but in my experience you will never meet a more down to earth, friendly and genuinely wholesome religious community.

My own preference is to see Ron Paul win the nomination....yes, yes I know, snowball's chance.  But at least with an Obama/Paul race there would be a clear and definitive choice, big government versus almost no government. 

But if its a choice between Romney and Gingrich, I don't think Mitt's religion even warrants consideration. 

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Feeling a bit depressed and needing a lift, Church revived my spirit

Its been an eventful couple of past weeks for this blogger readers, since I last updated my little corner of cyber space I celebrated yet another birthday, my 45th. But that's not the reason for my recent funk, at least not directly.

I'm currently situated in Kingston Ontario, and travel back to the Toronto area most weekends to see my father, my kids and my girlfriend. The past two weeks however provided me with a much appreciated break as the course I'm on shut down for a fortnight.

Wanting to give my kids a super holiday I rented a place here in the Limestone City and had them with me for seven full days, ending this past Friday. My girlfriend spent most of the week here as well, and on Sunday almost the whole clan came down for a get together. The Princess Raspberry and I even baked a cake, with a little help from a guy named Duncan.

Old Fort Henry, swimming almost every day, playing some hoops with Buddy basketball star, hikes to the lake, catching fireflies. What reason would I have to be depressed? None, well not until this past Friday at least. After having breakfast my ex came to pick up the kids, which is super of her, I'm glad we're getting along well.

But then, I was alone, and that's when a bit of depression set in. Being a divorced father is tough, especially when you're away from your kids. Friday night I was back in my room, no Honey Bunny to read 'The Secret Garden' to before tucking her into bed. No games of cribbage with the big guy before hitting the sack, just me and my thoughts.

Saturday to keep busy I took a long walk downtown , about 3 hours in total just shuffling around. Kingston has a number of beautiful old churches, and that's when I decided that a little worship time might just be what the doctor ordered.

Now, dedicated readers of this blog will likely be aware that I'm not big on religion. But with that being said I think my writings do give evidence to a strong spiritual side every now and again. Those of the fundamentalist persuasion will view me as something of a heretic given that I don't consider the Bible to be the irrefutable and undeniable word of God. As a matter of fact I don't even believe in the Trinity or in as Jesus as Lord. What I do believe in is a Higher Power, and calling that power God is acceptable to me given the limitations of human language.

So how does a heathen such as myself find peace and comfort in a Christian church service? I'll tell you.

One of the scripture readings yesterday was from Mathew, it was the story about the loaves of bread and the fishes. Readers of the Bible will know it well, thousands had gathered to hear Jesus teach and to be healed. Later Jesus' disciples came to their teacher and said the crowd was hungry, and Jesus instructed them to bring what food they had to him. It totalled five loaves of bread and two fishes, (or the other way around, it doesn't really matter though). The food was distributed to the multitude and all were fed with and abundance left over.

A miracle? Maybe, but personally I don't believe it, something doesn't need to be miraculous to have meaning. Probably some exaggeration from where I sit, that or a hidden cache of extra food. But miracle or not, the story still has spiritual meaning.

What this passage says to me, and the point the pastor drove home with his sermon, is that God provides. God, the Higher Power, (chose your own definition) is both a part of us and all around us.

Life throws things at us we don't expect, in my case divorce, for others it might be a death, job loss...life can be stressful. As stressful as trying to feed thousands with only enough for food for two or three.

The peace I walked away with Sunday morning was the peace that comes from knowing I'm not alone, that I'm part of something much bigger. Instead of being depressed about being alone, I rejoiced in the time I had with my kids, with more plans for the future.

Those of us who identify ourselves as progressive and liberal also tend toward being very humanistic and secular a lot of the time. That's all well and good, but sometimes religion can provide a much needed boost and a tonic for a depressed spirit.

It beats Prozac.

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Time for the post Rapture headcount....

May 21 came and went with no earthquakes or other disasters to speak of, unless you think this blog qualifies.  The Rapture was supposed to happen on Saturday, and near as I can tell we're all still here.  For those unfamiliar with what the Rapture means, some Christians believe they'll be beamed up to heaven before the rest of us are subjected to destruction. 

But even the Christian clergyman who raised and spent millions to warn us, Harold Camping, is still among us...so I guess we'll dispense with the head count.

Should this lead some Christians to re-examine their faith?  Perhaps it should.  Those who believe the Bible to be God's authoritative and final word might do well to engage in a bit of re-think me thinks.

Taking words written down by human beings, and then translated over and over for thousands of years...and trying to discern some divine message from them certainly seems even more dubious now than it did before May 21, 2011.  And I'm sure that's especially true for those who emptied their bank accounts to plaster the message on billboards all over the world.

Apparently millions were spent on this marketing blitz.  What a waste.  That's money that could have gone to feeding the hungry, for food and clothing for the indigent.   But then Christianity has evolved into something far different from what the reputed words of Jesus professed. 

If you're one of those still hung up on the meaning of some 2,000 year old writings...consider this.  Jesus hand picked 12 disciples to deliver his message, and even they didn't understand what he was talking about most of the time.  Many Christians believe that Jesus predicted his own demise by saying the temple would be destroyed and that it would rise again on the third day. 

But his own disciples didn't understand what the heck Jesus was talking about, they expected the temple mount to be razed and rebuilt.  Only after the fact did they supposedly understand it....

"OHHHHH!  Remember when he called the body a temple?  He was talking about himself"!!!

Prophecy isn't really very useful unless you understand what it means BEFORE the event happens, not after.

If any future religious leader wants to pinpoint the day for the end of times...I suggest they pull a number out of a hat that's at least 100 years in the future.

And seriously, would God really end the world so soon after Stephen Harper and his Christian base finally got a majority? 

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Market research for a new religion

Having looked into various religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam I've decided that the marketplace is in bad need of a new faith, but given our modern age I think some market research is in order first.  After all, new products and services almost always involve the taking of surveys and an examination of things like demographics so as to tweak offerings.  The goal is to maximize public appeal and obviously profits. 

I don't yet have all the details worked out, just a sort of sketch in my head.  The overhead view, from say 100 miles up, is of something along the lines of "The Force" of Star Wars fame.  Unfortunately it doesn't look like I'll be able to incorporate the word Jedi given that it is a trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd, so there goes the name '1st Galactic Jedi Church - Reformed'. 

It doesn't matter, I'm sure I can work around it.  Religions have been borrowing from one another for thousands of years after all.  I know I've got a lot of work ahead of me, and that other faiths won't take kindly to a new messiah on the block.  I'm already anticipating stiff competition from the entrenched faiths and can envision them re branding themselves to avoid losing customers.  I wouldn't be surprised to see: Improved Christianity, The New Islam, or even Judaism II The Sequel.

The core elements that I've worked out are:

-It will be monotheistic, one God or supreme being/entity.  When you put Christians, Jews and Muslims together you have over 3 billion people in total, so why mess with success. 

-Taxes will be paid.  Instead of seeking tax exempt status like older religions, this new faith will pay its share.  This is part of a marketing ploy, given these tough times I think people will gravitate toward an organization that doesn't seek to avoid paying taxes.

-I'm not actually looking to assume a Mosaic or Messianic role myself, I'd prefer to work behind the scenes.  Jesus, Mohammad, Gandhi...too many murders.

-I'm open to the idea of franchising, so long as I retain ultimate control. 

As to the market research I'm inviting readers to answer a few questions in the comment section.  The questions are:

1)  Would you be more inclined to worship/venerate a supreme being that is portrayed as male, female or non gender specific?

2)  Should contributions be required at 5% or 20% of gross income?  I've decided that the price of salvation/enlightenment will be monetary, but can't settle on the amount.  While 5% is certainly more affordable, I'm thinking that making it 20% might bring with it some snob appeal..you know like, "Oh I don't go to one of those cheap faiths that only asks for 10% of my income, my religion costs 20%...but its worth it".  

3)  What would be the best day/time to gather?  Sundays are real busy now what with Sunday shopping and all.  What about maybe a Wednesday evening around 8pm?

4)  Should followers of other  faiths be condemned to hell?  I don't like idea personally, but I do think it could be an effective tool in bringing in converts.  What better to persuade people than to tell them that rejecting this new faith will lead to an eternity of misery.

Okay...that's the outline.  Don't feel constrained by the questions asked, use the comments function to chime in with any ideas you might have.

May my force be with me.

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Is Christianity an evil religion?

It has become something of a common practice for those of the Christian faith to ask whether Islam is an inherently "evil" religion.  I've even heard fundamentalists question whether Muslims worship Satan.  Just type "Is Islam an evil religion" into google and you'll get over 42 million hits. 

Given that the golden rule, 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' is a core belief of Christianity...I think its only fitting to apply the same question to the Christian faith. 

Rather than pulling quotes from the Koran let's look at the Bible and see what Christians regard as God's revealed word.  Now, before commencing with this task a basic understanding of the Bible and Christianity is warranted. 

The Bible is of course divided into two principle sections or testaments, the old and new.  The old testament, among other things, prescribed a set a rules and ordinances for observance and service to the God of Abraham...this is often referred to as a covenant or agreement. 

For someone wishing to get into heaven it was necessary to adhere to the laws set forth so as to be 'clean' because nothing 'unclean' would ever be allowed in paradise.  Of course given that pretty much everyone sins and becomes unclean, there were rituals and practices for cleansing oneself, and thus ensuring a place in heaven.

The New Testament is said to be a new covenant, one where God provided his only son as a sacrifice.  Jesus is a kind of like white-out for sin, belief and acknowledgment of Jesus as lord is offered as the ultimate cleansing which ensures salvation and a place with God. 

Of course the old testament is still God's revealed word...but if you look at it in legal terms it might be said that: 

In cases where the old and new testaments are in conflict the new testament shall be taken as law.  In cases where a law of the old testament is not in conflict the old testament shall retain its authority.

That's quite the preamble.  Alrightee then, what does the Bible reveal about the God worshipped by
Christians.

From the laws written in Deuteronomy 21:18-21 it says:

 

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard." Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death.

Holy child abuse Batman!!!  The Christian God actually advocates stoning???  Okay, maybe not now, the courts would toss God in jail.  But this is still pretty harsh, even for a supreme deity. 

Slavery can be a pretty touchy subject, the concept of "owning" another human being rubs most people the wrong way...but not the God worshipped by Christians.  According to the revealed word of the Lord slavery was honky dory.  Here's what it says in Exodus 21:2-6:

If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years.  Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom.  If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year.  But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him.  If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master.  But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children.  I would rather not go free.'  If he does this, his master must present him before God.  Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl.  After that, the slave will belong to his master forever.

I know slavery still exists in parts of the world.  Perhaps advocates of slavery are just following the teachings of the Bible? 

Now, lest you think Jesus came along and repudiated slavery I'll include a quote from the New Testament.  One that clearly shows that even under the new covenant, slavery is still no problem...so long as slaves and slave owners are obedient followers of Christ.  From 1 Timothy 6:1-2:

Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed.  If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful.  You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts.  Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them.

I know many regard Islam as a very misogynistic religion, one where women's right are given little if any respect.  Christians though can turn to their own Bible and read God's holy word in Numbers chapter 31:

Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the people went to meet them outside the camp.  But Moses was furious with all the military commanders who had returned from the battle.  "Why have you let all the women live?" he demanded.  "These are the very ones who followed Balaam's advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the LORD at Mount Peor.  They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the Lord's people.  Now kill all the boys and all the women who have slept with a man.  Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves.

There's plenty in the Bible that will give modern, educated and enlightened people cause for concern, and Christians would do well to look at the logs in their own eyes before commenting on the splinters is the eyes of Muslims. 

And as a final point Christians and Muslims actually worship the same entity, the God of Abraham.  Christians make their break with Jesus, Muslims with Mohammad.   

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Harper serving two masters - Will religious right stay on side?

Reading various blogs and comments there seems to be some debate about Stephen Harper's membership in the Christian and Missionary Alliance church.  While some believe our Prime Minister's faith is genuine, others view it as being more politically motivated.  Personally I tend more to the latter view, but I'm not sure that it really matters one way or another. 

What does matter is that the Conservatives have built up a strong following with fundamentalist or evangelical Christians, similar to what the Republicans were able to do in the United States under George W. Bush.  In fact a 2009 paper put out by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada found that an overwhelming majority - 67% - of evangelicals who stopped voting Liberal had switched to the Conservatives.  

I've written frequently of the issues that are of importance to this Conservative base of supporters, primarily abortion and the traditional Christian view of marriage, as well as opposition to Gay rights in general.

And this puts Stephen Harper in a bind, forcing him to walk something of tightrope.  Canada is a progressive and liberal (small l) mined country as evidenced by the 65% of Canadians who voted left of centre in the last election.  Harper must reach out to this constituency if he wants to eventually win a majority, while trying to keep his base in tow.  And he doesn't have the luxury of naming a Sarah Palin type running mate to keep socially conservative Christians happy.

Lost in all the fuss over Justin Trudeau's fixation on the word 'barbaric' in describing so called 'honour killings' is the decidedly progressive tilt of the updated Canada Citizenship Guide.  

The opposition parties even praised the inclusion of provisions for Gay Rights and Same Sex Marriage. 

But has Harper gone too far in reaching out to less socially conservative voters at the expense of his evangelical base?

Suzanne, Pro-Life crusader and author of Big Blue Wave, (a conservative blog) went so far as to say: 

"Dear Christian Heritage Party, I am so disgusted with the Conservatives I'm ready to vote for you". 

Losing significant votes to the CHP could be devastating to Harper's hope of winning a majority mandate, it might even be enough to cost him the Prime Minister's office.  That's what makes this such difficult balancing act, attracting liberal minded progressives while not alienating right wing evangelicals. 

He's done a good job of serving two masters up until now.  But are cracks starting to show?

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Is Harper selling out the Christian right in hopes of a majority?

The western based Refrom movement of Preston Manning invigorated a long ignored constituency in this country, that of socially conservative Christian voters. Abortion on demand and same sex marriage were two of the issues that galvanized support for the western populist party under Manning's leadership. And he was able to ride their support all the way to becoming leader of the official opposition in Canada's parliament.

But it wasn't enough.

Canada is and was a socially progressive nation, and even though the Reform party was able to supplant the Progressive Conservatives at the ballot box, their appeal wasn't broad enough to win them seats in eastern Canada.

Not until the Reform movement under a new moniker, the Canadian Alliance, merged with the Progressive Conservatives to form the Conservative Party of Canada.

Now with two consecutive minority mandates under their belt, and under the guiding hand of Stephen Harper, the CPC is tantalizingly close to that elusive majority. But to do it they need to do two things.

Keep the socially conservative base happy, while selling out on the ideals of their Reform roots in an effort to broaden their appeal.

And they're not doing a bad job.

Thanks to Harper's Conservatives being handed a balance sheet flush with surplus after surplus, Canada has been able to weather uncertain economic times better than most. The Conservatives have thus created the illusion of strong fiscal stewardship despite huge increases in spending in tandem with ill advised tax cuts that have led to record deficit spending.

And on issues near and dear to social conservatives, Harper has steered the CPC away from policies that first helped propel the Reform party to prominence. A prime example was our Prime Minister voting against a bill designed to criminalize coerced abortions, and further stating that he would oppose any attempt to introduce any new abortion legislation.

To fundamentalist Christians Harper must appear like a real Judas, but I don't think they should be surprised. In fact, like George Bush, I think Harper's religion is more of a prop than a deeply held conviction.

It appears (at least to this blogger) that our Prime Minister is hoping things stay as quiet as possible on any contentious issues that might erode his base. Canada doesn't have vice presidential running mates to broaden or shore up a shaky base of support. There's no Sarah Palin in this country looking out a northern kitchen window dreaming of high elected office in the nation's capital.

Harper has to play both sides all by himself.

For those wrapped up in fundamentalist Christian theology and seeking a party and a leader that reflects their desire for a politician to literally embrace the Bible, there is after all the Family Coalition Party...which could only serve to erode Conservative support at a time when Stephen needs every vote he can get.

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Is Evangelical Chrisitanity the Trojan horse of neo-conservatism

Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Born Again...

Christians of the religious right go under a number of different labels, you've probably encountered at least a few in your neighborhoods, schools and places of work. If you've ever run into this animal then you've probably been 'witnessed' to. That is to say you've probably been told of the joy that comes from turning over your life over to Jesus. And if the conversation has turned to politics no doubt you've been told that guys like George Bush and Stephen Harper are incredible while the others such as Ignatieff, Obama and Layton are not to be trusted.

There's a reason for that, Evangelical type Christians vote overwhelmingly for Republicans in the U.S. and for Conservatives in Canada. The major difference between Canada and the United States in this regard? We don't have nearly as many up here.

But in terms of politics, what a great constituency to have voting for your party!!! Think about it...Christians of this ilk are extremely well skilled in the art of blind obedience. That's what their faith is all about. George Carlin described religion very well, it has served for generations as a means to control primitive minded people.

Black and white, right and wrong, heaven and hell....no need to think or decide anything, just sit back and listen...oh, and don't forget to tithe. That's 10% off the top by the way, before taxes not net. Of course you won't object because this is what God wants. You wouldn't want to make him mad now would you? Read the Old Testament and you'll see what God does to people who piss him off.

Some reading this may come to the conclusion that I'm not a very religious guy, but in the most important sense they would be wrong. I do actually consider myself a Christian. Does that mean I take every word in the Bible literally, and as Divine truth? No, not even close.

The human capacity to analyze, interpret and make judgement is by far more precious and God given than any words in a 2,000+ year old text.

But I digress...

In looking at the Church of Canada's Prime Minister, The Christian and Missionary Alliance, it certainly fits the Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Born Again mold in my opinion. The president of our Prime Minister's church, Franklin Pyles, has this on his bio page:

He has also worked as a church planter in urban Chicago for seven years and served as pastor of Urban University Church in Detroit.

It leads me to wonder...Is Pastor Pyles an American? I've tried researching it on-line but have thus far come up empty. I suppose I could ask him to add me as a friend on facebook and inquire directly, but then I already have too many crackbook peeps that I've never even met.

Perhaps I could prevail upon some other dogged bloggers to assist me in this research.

In looking at many of Canada's Evangelical or Fundamentalist churches a common denominator is that they are branch plants of American based faith groups.

The Evangelical Christian Church in Canada traces its roots back to 1804 in Kentucky.

I've looked at others and the story seems to be the same in a lot of cases, but in terms of searching out presidents or senior church officials I'm finding it difficult to find any information about nationalities.

If any out there in the progressive blogosphere have had similar thoughts I'd be interested in discussing it via email.

In the meantime I'll share an old article I came across while studying this possible connection, something I think is very much worth reading.

How Canada's Christian Right was built

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