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By Jim Coggins
Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Each week, CC.com links to stories about religion in the mainstream Canadian press under the banner 'National Print News' (formerly called 'News Links'). These links are grouped together in categories each week, which provides a ready-made tool for analysis. The leading categories are discussed below. Second in a series.
Religion was prominent in the mainstream Canadian news in 2008, but mostly for its conflicts with mainstream society and hardly ever for its contributions.
Islam & the West
There is no question what the leading religious news category in the Canadian press was in 2008. There were 206 stories on "Islam and the West", almost twice as many as in any other category. The reason is not hard to determine: conflict makes news. Many of the stories concerned attacks by Muslim terrorists, terrorist plots and terrorist allegations. (Some of the latter proved unfounded, as in the Maher Arar case.)
As well, quite a few stories involved clashes between Islam and Western standards, such as various groups and agencies restricting the wearing of the hijab (female head covering) and other traditional dress. These cases often involved safety concerns, and many were resolved in favour of Muslim complainants by Human Rights tribunals. There were also stories about the Muslim practice of polygamy and Muslim treatment of women generally.
Many stories also involved complaints by Muslims that they were being negatively portrayed in the press. There seems no question that stories about Muslim terrorism present Muslims in an unfavourable light. There is also no doubt that terrorist acts are intended to attract the attention of news media. The more difficult question is whether the coverage was fair.
A generation ago, there would hardly have been any stories on Islam. This shows the rapidly increasing impact that Muslims are making in Canada. This is partly due to increased immigration of Muslims to Canada, but they still represent just over one percent of the population. Tiny minorities are not necessarily powerless to impact society.
Life issues
The second most prominent category concerned life issues, specifically abortion and assisted suicide/euthanasia, with 110 stories.
The abortion issue was prominent especially because of the controversial awarding of the Order of Canada to abortionist Dr. Henry Morgentaler. The issue also made the news because of Conservative MP Ken Epp's proposed bill to recognize unborn babies as separate victims when their mothers are killed or attacked.
There were also stories about the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario's proposed policy requiring doctors to facilitate abortions; about the 'bubble zones' which prohibit pro-life protests near abortion clinics; and about students unions on university and college campuses refusing to recognize pro-life clubs.
The assisted suicide issue made the news because referenda to legalize assisted suicide were voted on in some US states, which added momentum to proposals to legalize it in Canada. The issue also made the news because of requests for parole by Robert Latimer, convicted of killing his handicapped daughter several years ago.
Human Rights tribunals
Human Rights commissions and tribunals were also prominent in the news for their dealings with religious issues, with 98 stories. Ironically, one of the main issues was whether Human Rights complaints about "hate speech" pose a serious threat to freedom of speech.
The most prominent of the Human Rights complaints were Muslim complaints against writer Mark Steyn and Maclean's magazine for their coverage of Muslim issues. Muslims also complained about Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant's decision to republish cartoons that had sparked outrage and violence in the Muslim world.
Also prominent before Human Rights Commissions were complaints that Catholic Insight magazine and other Christians were guilty of inciting hatred against homosexuals. Christians worried that such complaints could hamper their ability to freely teach Christian sexual morality.
Generally, the Muslim complaints were dismissed by Human Rights Commissions, but the complaints by homosexuals against Christians were upheld. The common thread seems to be that Human Rights Commissions subordinate religious rights to other rights.
Sexual issues
There were 56 stories about the practice of polygamy by a Mormon cult in Bountiful, BC. Some of the stories related to the same cult's practice of polygamy in the United States.
There were 30 stories about homosexuality, particularly the clash between homosexual 'rights' and Christian moral teaching. A fair number of the stories concerned the agreement between the B.C. government and Murray and Peter Corren to introduce 'gay-friendly' material into the public school curriculum. There were also stories about Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski's earlier mocking comments about homosexuals.
There were also stories about gay-bashing American preacher Fred Phelps's claim that the beheading of Tim McLean on a greyhound bus was God's judgment on his lifestyle. Phelps threatened to send protestors to McLean's funeral, which was held in a Christian church in Winnipeg. His actions prompted many Canadians to attend the funeral in order to blockade Phelps' people, and the protest never materialized.
There were seven stories about three cases of alleged sexual abuse by Christian leaders. Thankfully, this issue is not nearly as prominent as it was a couple of decades ago. (Hopefully, this means there are fewer such cases.) There were also 3 stories about the Canadian government raising the age of sexual consent from 14 to 16, a move encouraged by many churches.
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However, there were also 26 stories about the residential schools for Native children formerly run by churches. Many of the stories concerned Prime Minister Harper's apology on behalf of the Canadian government (which set up the schools) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (which proved unable to reconcile differences among the commissioners, resulting in the resignation of chief commissioner Harry LaForme before the commission had fully begun its work).
Other family issues generated only 14 stories. It is the unusual that generates news.
Christian denominations
The mainstream media find it much easier to report on large, highly organized denominations. The Roman Catholic Church generated 24 stories, on a variety of issues, including the Pope's visit to the United States. There were also 32 stories about Catholic school boards, mostly about financial wrongdoing by the Catholic School Board in Toronto.
The Anglican Church of Canada also made the news, with 43 stories, all about the schism that is dividing that denomination into "liberal" and "conservative" camps.
The United Church of Canada also made the list, with three stories about its declining membership. Charismatics also made an appearance with five stories about disgraced healer Todd Bentley. Other denominations received virtually no notice. Evangelicals were mentioned only in connection with stories about politics in the US and Canada.
Obviously bad news about churches garners more attention than good news. There were nine stories about churches' involvement in social ministry. A few of these stories concerned a Canadian government grant to Covenant House in Vancouver. The rest concerned attempts by municipal governments in the British Columbia cities of Vancouver and Abbotsford to restrict churches' social ministries.
Like many Canadians, some mainstream media seem to pay attention to the church only at Christmas and Easter. There were 28 stories about theology and the state of the church generally, but most of these were in the context of Christmas and Easter.
Other religions
The most prominent other religion in the news was Sikhism, with 53 stories. The stories concerned incidents of Sikh terrorism; the deportation of disabled Sikh Laibar Singh; Sikhs' attempts to be exempted from motorcycle helmet laws; and Prime Minister Harper's apology for Canada's refusal to accept the Sikh immigrants on the ship Komagata Maru in 1914.
Judaism and Israel (particularly the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel) generated 20 stories. Various modern religious views (including those of New Age guru Eckhart Tolle) were featured in 22 stories. Atheism garnered four stories.
There were also 21 stories about the conflict between science and religion, particularly over evolution. Many were generated because of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and a Darwin exhibit in Toronto. Others concerned the documentary movie Expelled, which described the efforts of evolutionary scientists to silence creationist views in universities.
There were also 13 stories about the clash between religion and health professionals, particularly Jehovah's Witnesses who refused blood transfusions for their children and Christian Reformed parents in Chilliwack, BC who refused vaccinations for their children.
Crime
There were 39 stories about crime. The majority concerned crimes committed against Christians, but some concerned government efforts to deal with crime generally.
There were also 16 stories about criticisms of or verbal attacks on Christianity. They ranged from complaints about the noise of church bells to the Toronto "prankster" who hired an airplane to display the banner "Jesus sucks." The Vancouver Humane Society garnered some attention for ads suggesting that Jesus would not approve of rodeos; some Christians suggested Jesus would not approve of the ads. There were also five stories about the upside-down church sculpture which has been interpreted as insulting to the church.
Government
Elections in Canada and especially the US generated 36 stories. Many of them dealt with the religious views of Barack Obama, Sarah Palin and other candidates. Others dealt with the voting preferences of religious voters.
The interaction of religion and government generated a lot of stories, including some already discussed above. There were 17 stories about Quebec's attempts to accommodate -- or not accommodate -- religious minorities. There were 19 stories about the plan of the Ontario government to stop using the Lord's Prayer before meetings of the Ontario legislature.
There were also 16 stories about the Canadian government's proposal to stop funding controversial movies, a move strongly supported by the also controversial Charles McVety of the Family Action Coalition. This issue once again raised issues of "free speech", about which voices should be heard or not heard in the marketplace, and which views should have government support.
To help put the matter in perspective, there were 8 uniquely Canadian stories on the Chinese government's more rigorous suppression of religious rights and freedom of speech.
Miscellaneous
There were also 610 stories that were listed as "other" in the weekly listings -- since there was only one story on each topic during the week in question. Some of these would have swelled somewhat the numbers of many of the categories already discussed. However, many of them were on completely unique topics, demonstrating the wide variety of religious experiences in Canada.
• See State of the Canadian Church - 2008.
January 8/2009
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To set the record straight:
1. Robert Latimer applied for parole in 2007. His appeal of the NPB original decision was approved in 2008.
2. In his written judgement, the trial judge who heard this case wrote:
"On the basis of the evidence presented at this trial, there is no suggestion, by any witness who tesifid or for that matter by Crown counsel that he was in any way motivated by her disability. All the evidence points to his concern for the pain which he saw flowing from her illness. So on the evidence I heard, I could not conclude Mr. Latimer ever considered killing his daughter because she was disabled. .... I repeat again that in my opinion the evidence does not in any way suggest he killed his daugher because she was so severely disabled. ... In summary, the evidence establishes that he is a caring and responsible person and that his relationship with Tracy was that of a loving and protective parent. "
3. Robert Latimer is the only person in recorded Canadian history to be sentenced to even a single day in prison for a mercy killing.
I highly doubt that.
How many other 'mercy killed' people in Canada were disabled children?
Before you pass further comment, may I suggest that you study the Supreme Court judgement and the trial transcripts, and please pay particular attention to the sworn medical testimony by the orthopedic surgeon who performed the many excruciatingly painful surgeries which Tracy had suffered.
And for your further infomation, there have been other cases of mercy killing involving disabled children. Go back to Alberta cases, for example. None resulted in any jail time.