|
Note: Registration or subscription to the host news sites may be required to read some of the stories linked here.
Stories about Christopher Hitchens and his book God Is Not Great:
What Did Muhammad Say? Who Knows?
In a new book, world-renowned iconoclast and atheist Christopher Hitchens presents his brief against God and those who worship Him. His conclusion:Whether in the form of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism or Wicca, "religion poisons everything"
Christopher Hitchens, National Post, May 9
Why heaven hates ham
All religions have a tendency to feature some dietary injunction or prohibition, whether it is the now lapsed Catholic injunction to eat fish on Fridays, or the adoration by Hindus of the cow as a consecrated and invulnerable animal (the government of India even offered to import and protect all the cattle facing slaughter as a result of the bovine encephalitic, or "mad cow," plague that swept Europe in the 1990s), or the refusal by some other Eastern cults to consume any animal flesh, or to injure any other creature be it rat or flea. But the oldest and most tenacious of all fetishes is the hatred and even fear of the pig. It emerged in primitive Judaea, and was for centuries one of the ways -- the other being circumcision -- by which Jews could be distinguished. Even though sura 5:60 of the Koran condemns particularly Jews but also other unbelievers as having been turned into pigs and monkeys -- a very intense theme in recent Salafist Muslim preaching -- and the Koran describes the flesh of swine as unclean or even "abominable," Muslims appear to see nothing ironic in the adoption of this uniquely Jewish taboo. Real horror of the porcine is manifest all over the Islamic world.
Christopher Hitchens, National Post, May 10
Joseph Smith's Long Con
If the followers of the Prophet Muhammad hoped to put an end to any future "revelations" after the immaculate conception of the Koran, they reckoned without the founder of what is now one of the world's fastest-growing faiths. And they did not foresee (how could they, mammals as they were?) that the prophet of this ridiculous cult would model himself on theirs. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- hereafter known as the Mormons -- was founded by a gifted opportunist who, despite couching his text in openly plagiarized Christian terms, announced that "I shall be to this generation a new Muhammad" and adopted as his fighting slogan the words, which he thought he had learned from Islam, "Either the al-Koran or the sword." He was too ignorant to know that if you use the word al you do not need another definite article, but then he did resemble Muhammad in being able only to make a borrowing out of other people's bibles.
Christopher Hitchens, National Post, May 11
Abusing God's children
I pose a hypothetical question. As a man of some 57 years of age, I am discovered sucking the penis of a baby boy. I ask you to picture your own outrage and revulsion. Ah, but I have my explanation all ready. I am a mohel: an appointed circumciser and foreskin remover. My authority comes from an ancient text, which commands me to take a baby boy's penis in my hand, cut around the prepuce and complete the action by taking his penis in my mouth, sucking off the foreskin and spitting out the amputated flap along with a mouthful of blood and saliva. This practice has been abandoned by most Jews, either because of its unhygienic nature or its disturbing associations, but it still persists among the sort of Hasidic fundamentalists who hope for the Second Temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. To them, the primitive rite of the peri'ah metsitsah is part of the original and unbreakable covenant with god. In New York City in the year 2005, the ritual, as performed by a 57-year-old mohel, was found to have given genital herpes to several small boys, and to have caused the deaths of at least two of them. In normal circumstances, the disclosure would have led the public health department to forbid the practice and the mayor to denounce it. But in the capital of the modern world, in the first decade of the 21st century, such was not the case. Instead, Mayor Bloomberg overrode the reports by distinguished Jewish physicians who had warned of the danger of the custom, and told his health care bureaucracy to postpone any verdict. The crucial thing, he said, was to be sure that the free exercise of religion was not being infringed.
Christopher Hitchens, National Post, May 12
Hitchens' flat world
At a certain point in reading God is not Great, Christopher Hitchens' broadside against religion as a false, immoral, man-made construction, I half-expected Hitchens to write that if God were real and omnipotent, and consequently Hitchens so wrong, then God should have arranged things so as to prevent him from writing his book. But the book exists! So God couldn't stop it. And why couldn't he stop it? The simplest answer is that he does not exist!
Fr. Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, May 12
Stories about abortion:
Doctors asked to change national abortion policy
The National Abortion Federation, a U.S.-based association of abortion providers which also represents health care professionals in Canada, sent a letter yesterday to the Canadian Medical Association, calling on it to change its so-called conscientious objector policy, which allows physicians to refuse to refer patients for abortions. It is the first time the federation has tried to lobby the CMA on this issue.
National Post, May 10
MPs use rally to press for abortion law
As thousands of anti-abortion demonstrators rallied on Parliament Hill yesterday, organizers and some MPs expressed frustration the issue has gone nowhere despite a Conservative government in power.
National Post, May 11
Feds investigating use of government logo on anti-abortion banner
Federal officials are investigating the use of the government of Canada's logo on a banner used at an anti-abortion rally last week. The Canada "word mark" - the official symbol of the federal government - appeared on the banner above the words "March for Life." Its use appeared to suggest that the rally on Parliament Hill had been sponsored by - or even subsidized by - the federal government.
Canadian Press, May 15
It's time to break the silence on abortion
Once again, the annual major pro-life demonstration on Parliament Hill, held on May 10, has been virtually ignored by the media.
Walter Szetela, Vancouver Sun, May 16
Stories about Malik Zuliu Shabazz and anti-Semitism:
Black extremist turned back
Immigration authorities stopped U.S. black extremist Malik Zuliu Shabazz at Pearson airport today, preventing him from leading a rally at Queen's Park this afternoon and speaking tonight at Ryerson University. The group that invited him blamed a Jewish conspiracy.
Toronto Star, May 15
Racism, anti-semitism taunts fly as black U.S. leader delayed entering Canada
A black American leader scheduled to attend a rally at the Ontario legislature and deliver a lecture in Toronto was apparently denied entry to Canada on Tuesday amid acrimonious accusations of racism, anti-Semitism and questions about free speech.
Canadian Press, May 15
Stories about Islam and the West:
Don't call them 'jihadis'
Perhaps no factor affects the outcome of wars more than who fights on which side. Conflicts frequently spread beyond the original antagonists. The First World War is perhaps the classic example of this phenomenon. If Great Britain had not entered the war in response to the German violation of Belgian neutrality, Germany would have defeated France and Russia. In North American history, French intervention made the colonial victory in the Revolutionary War possible; and the Confederate failure to secure British or French support made the Union victory in the American Civil War almost inevitable. In the current conflict known as the Global War on Terrorism or the Long War, the socialization of conflict -- that is, who takes which side -- will affect the course of the conflict significantly and perhaps decisively. Al-Qaeda, its competitors, affiliates and franchisees seek to define the conflict as a struggle between Islam and the West, and thus to win the broadest possible support among the world's Muslims. The United States and its coalition partners seek to define their enemies as narrowly as possible, portraying themselves as fighting not Islam but a deviant ideology that is as inimical to Islam as to the West. By doing so, the coalition would deprive the hostile networks of the popular support on which they depend to survive.
Douglas E. Streusand, National Post, May 11
Alberta imam believes he met man held in Kabul
Sheikh Alaa Elsayed says that just a few months ago he urged a University of Calgary computer-science student, who had been "brainwashed" by Internet propaganda, to dispense with notions of fighting the jihad in Afghanistan. The young man's father was so worried his son would go overseas to fight for Islam that he arranged a conference with the cleric.
Globe and Mail, May 12
Arrested Canadian 'talked of jihad'
An Alberta imam says he spoke several months ago with a Calgary man he believes is the Canadian detained in Afghanistan and says the man talked about "helping his brothers and sisters in Afghanistan" by fighting the jihad but didn't mention a suicide bombing.
Canadian Press, May 12
Anti-war left makes an unholy alliance
Key leaders from the Canadian peace movement have far too eagerly linked up with the Islamist far right
Terry Glavin, Vancouver Sun, May 15
Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West
Continue article >>
|
Other stories from the past week:
Sunday voting? Tories proposing extra hours
Law would boost advance polling days to five and open polls from noon to 8 p.m. on the Sunday prior to Monday election
Globe and Mail, May 10
B.C. considers charges in polygamist community
For decades, Debbie Palmer has been fighting for the government to intervene and possibly file sexual abuse charges in the polygamous commune where she was raised. Yesterday, B.C. Attorney- General Wally Oppal said the province's justice department will likely announce within two weeks whether it will be laying any criminal charges in Bountiful, B.C.
National Post, May 11
Earlier: Stories about the polygamist cult at Bountiful
Our Father, reviewed be thy name
Over the past few years, critical appraisals of religious worship have begun to appear on personal blogs and websites such as churchrater.com and ship-of-fools.com, most written by anonymous members of faith communities. But Mr. Hayes, who attends Anglican services in Ontario and around the world, is one of a small group of professional church reviewers, motivated by an academic respect for history and a personal desire to see each church improve its services by incorporating the lessons of another.
Globe and Mail, May 11
Simply unforgettable
The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and Baroque Orchestra are currently giving Toronto the chance of a lifetime to hear Handel's Solomon in all its splendour.
Ken Winters, Globe and Mail, May 11
Anglican Church at a 'crossroads'
For conservative Canadian Anglicans, a rejection by their church of same-sex marriage blessings next month is no longer enough. They now want the clock turned back on how gays are ministered.
Toronto Star, May 12
Earlier: Anglican bishops back away from same-sex approval
Tragedy strikes, a family forgives
Unlike the Amish expressions of forgiveness, however, the brief words from Manny's family have not been overtly grounded in religion, although the Castillo family attends Clarkson Road Presbyterian Church, a Bible-believing Protestant church.
National Post, May 12
Miriam Toews: from author to actress
It all began when Reygadas was in Germany about a year ago, looking for actors (that is, non-actors) for his film, a love triangle set among the Mennonites of northern Mexico. A leading advocate of Plautdietsch, the archaic German dialect that originated in the country's lowlands, gave Reygadas a copy of A Complicated Kindness, figuring he'd enjoy its story of a Mennonite teenager growing up in small-town Manitoba. He did enjoy it, but he was even more thrilled when he turned to the author photo at the back.
Globe and Mail, May 12
Disgruntled Tories consider rebuilding Reform Party
Many were angry over what they see as the Prime Minister's capitulation on same-sex marriage. But it's not just socially conservative issues that upset the old Reformers, Ms. Wilkins said. "It's the fiscally liberal things that they have been doing lately that people have really started to get upset about."
Globe and Mail, May 12
Turned to god from office view
A former Bay Street businessman who found his calling while watching the city's homeless sleep on steam grates through his office window is being ordained as a Catholic priest today.
National Post, May 12
On the trail of a truly great flood
When Robert Young, an associate professor of geography and earth and environmental sciences at the University of B.C., speaks of the great flood, he is not speaking of Noah. Other people might -- in fact, his research unwittingly tends to feed the creationist fantasies of some people in the Bible Belt -- but Young can't help that. People will believe what they will, he says.
Vancouver Sun, May 12
Genetic engineering a double-edged sword
This science was promoted in the name of curing diseases; but what about hyperparents trying to create super-babies?
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, May 12
Cobourg, Ont. pastor reclaims world record, pulls 2 firetrucks over 30 metres
Reverend Kevin Fast isn't sure whether it was the hand of God or the months of intense training. Whatever it was, he managed Saturday to pull two firetrucks, weighing 63 tonnes, more than 30 metres to reclaim his title in the Guinness Book of Records.
Canadian Press, May 13
Fishing around for a religious connection
"Church is too boring for men," says Ed Trainer, head of International Fishing Ministries. "Church is set up like a country club for women. For men, I think the great outdoors can be a cathedral. Men open up when they're out on the water. It's a place they can share their fears, problems and vulnerability." For more than 12 years, South Surrey-based Trainer has been trying to serve Jesus Christ by taking thousands of men and boys out fishing for salmon, sturgeon and other fish on the ocean, lakes and rivers of B.C., Alaska and beyond.
Vancouver Sun, May 14
B.C. trustee takes on Al Gore
Rushing an Oscar-winning documentary on climate change into schools without providing other points of view isn't in keeping with what parents expect from the school system, says a Surrey, B.C., school trustee who wants alternate opinions presented to students. After Heather Stilwell heard free copies of "An Inconvenient Truth" were being given to all high schools in B.C., she said she became concerned the film would be shown to students without going through the usual curriculum review process and end up giving them a one-sided view on climate change.
Canadian Press, May 14
Have your religious beliefs read to the country, courtesy of Preston Manning
Preston Manning will follow in Edward R. Murrow's footsteps as host of This I Believe, a new CBC radio program. The show is based on the 1950's radio program of the same name hosted by the late, distinguished journalist. Set to debut today at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m., the show will feature essays written by Canadians from all walks of life, exploring personal values and beliefs, to be read from the written page.
CanWest News Service, May 14
Historic Jordan has shrunk to a mere trickle
The historic River Jordan is not just dying. In many places it is already dead. About 95% of the traditional waters of the river where John the Baptist was said to have christened Jesus are now sucked dry for drinking water and agricultural and industrial purposes before it can reach the Dead Sea. And the trickle of water that still flows into the Jordan below the Sea of Galilee has been badly contaminated by human waste, fertilizers and chemicals used for farming and fish farming.
CanWest News Service, May 14
Catholics angry at CBC over Altar Boy Gang
A CBC pilot program that portrays altar boys as druggies and the Catholic communion host as "munchable snack food, possible poker chips and a repository for drops of LSD" has sparked a complaint accusing the public broadcaster of blasphemy.
Ottawa Citizen, May 16
No saving grace ahead for St. Brigid's
Ottawa's new archbishop has no plans to reverse his predecessor's controversial closing of St. Brigid's Catholic Church on Murray Street. "I believe the decision has been taken and that's where it should stand," Archbishop Terrence Prendergast said at a news conference yesterday.
Ottawa Citizen, May 16
May 18/2007
|
