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Stories about Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions:

Jehovah's Witness awaits top court ruling on medical care
A young Jehovah's Witness who says a forced blood transfusion violated her Charter rights learns Friday whether the courts can veto the wishes of "mature minors" when their health is at risk.
Canadian Press, June 25

High court clarifies rights of minors to make medical decisions
A young Jehovah's Witness who challenged a Manitoba law that forced a blood transfusion on her won a partial victory and hundreds of thousands of dollars in court costs at the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday. The court ruled that the law in question is constitutional, but said in cases of a dispute about medical treatment, judges must offer children under 16 a chance to demonstrate their competence to make medical choices.
Canadian Press, June 26

Top court rules transfusion law constitutional
Majority rules seriously-ill children under 16 can be forced to take life-saving medical treatment against their wishes
Globe and Mail, June 26

Earlier: Stories about Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions

Stories about the polygamy court case:

Bountiful members owe over $2 million in taxes
Another 20 to 30 appeal cases from the polygamous community are pending in federal Tax Court
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, June 26

Oppal overstepped authority in polygamy prosecution, court told
B.C. attorney-general Wally Oppal overstepped his authority by charging polygamist Winston Blackmore after a special prosecutor had decided against pursuing the case, the province's Supreme Court was told.
Globe and Mail, June 29

Forcing B.C. polygamous leaders to challenge law is unfair, lawyers argue
Forcing the two leaders of a controversial polygamous community in British Columbia to stand trial in a case that will inevitably test Canada's ban on multiple marriage would be an unfair burden on the men, their lawyers argued in court on Monday. Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, are the leaders of separate factions of the polygamous community of Bountiful, in southeastern B.C.
Globe and Mail, June 29

RCMP: Blackmore has married nine teens
Polygamist Winston Blackmore has married four 15-year old girls, two 16-year olds and three 17-year olds, the RCMP says. The teenagers were among Mr. Blackmore's 25 wives that he has married since 1976. Four of the young girls had their first baby before turning 18 years old, the police say. His 25 wives had 101 children.
Globe and Mail, June 30

'Prosecutor-shopping' alleged in polygamy case
The first legal skirmish in the battle over the right of two B.C. men to practise polygamy got underway Monday with accusations of abuse of process, political interference and unfairness levelled at former attorney-general Wally Oppal. Defence lawyers say their clients -- Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44 -- should have their charges stayed because the attorney-general had no right to go shopping for a prosecutor willing to take them to court.
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, June 30

Polygamist had 9 child brides and 101 children, RCMP say
Polygamist Winston Blackmore married Lorraine Johnson when she was 15 years old. Ms. Johnson had a baby boy two weeks before her 17th birthday. She was one of Mr. Blackmore's four 15-year-old brides, police say in an affidavit in B.C. Supreme Court released yesterday. He also married two 16-year-olds and three 17-year-olds. Four of the young girls had their first baby before turning 18.
Globe and Mail, July 1

Earlier: Stories about the polygamy court case

Stories about the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum:

Dead Sea Scrolls get royal treatment
2,000-year-old texts travel first class, in small groups, with eagle-eyed minders
Toronto Star, June 25

What you need to know about the Dead Sea scrolls
They look like bits of parchment but represent the world's most significant record of the Old Testament. Since being discovered in 1947, they inspired great scholarship, feuds and madness. The Post's Charles Lewis writes about a major exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls that starts Saturday at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum.
Charles Lewis, Holy Post, National Post, June 26

Breathing life into the Dead Sea Scrolls
A new exhibition showcases eight of the storied documents, as well as a host of artifacts that provide telling insights into a long-ago world that was the basis for our own
Globe and Mail, June 30

Anti-semitism claims hit downtown bistro
Cyberspace is abuzz after a Toronto restaurant urged a boycott of the ROM's Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, saying the artifacts were obtained by Israel through "force and looting" during that country's "surprise war" against its neighbours in 1967.
National Post, June 30

Stories about "human rights" tribunals and commissions:

Canadians 'misinformed' on hate speech
Canadians are uninformed and deliberately misinformed about the hate speech provisions of human rights law, and are engaged in a debate that is "completely unbalanced," according to Jennifer Lynch, chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
National Post, June 21

System failures
Talk about beginning from a biased position. When the debate is about whether the human rights system should exist, or should be seriously reformed, it's a bit rich to ask all participants to be "respectful" of it.
Kate Heartfield, Ottawa Citizen, June 22

Name the date, Jennifer. I'll be there.
The CHRC's chief commissioner claims she is seeking a 'balanced debate.' Here's my offer.
Mark Steyn, Maclean's, June 25

Earlier: Stories about "human rights" tribunals and commissions

Continue article >>

Stories about Islam and the West:

Muslim student alleges Toronto private school run by ex-Liberal MP ignored slurs
A private French school run by a former Liberal MP defamed a 15-year-old student during an assembly and did not treat alleged racial slurs made against him seriously because he is Muslim, a lawsuit alleges. Omar Elgammal is suing the Toronto French School, headmaster John Godfrey - who was first elected to the House of Commons in 1993 - and principal Heidi Gollert over alleged remarks at a school assembly denouncing the teen after a fight apparently sparked by racial slurs.
Canadian Press, June 26

Burqas shackle women to past
A burqa is not just an article of clothing. It's a fetish that demeans and demonizes women. I've never met a female who willingly wore the damn thing, though nearly all who do would never consider going about otherwise. That is because they've been culturally lobotomized, raised to feel such shame about their own physical presence they are fearful of exposing an ankle, a nose, an upper arm, and terrified of dishonouring their families.
Rosie DiManno, Toronto Star, June 26

Local protesters denounce 'religious fascism' in Iran
This was Maryam Shoeybi's first protest in Canada. The 34-year-old woman, who came from Tehran a year ago, had not joined the rest of her community in protesting Iran's election results until yesterday. What happened to her cousin in Tehran finally did it.
Toronto Star, June 28

No charges for man's call to kill soldiers
A Toronto man who had posted messages on the Internet supporting terrorist attacks in Canada and the deportation of Jews will not face criminal charges, police said yesterday. The Ontario Provincial Police hate crimes and extremism unit had been investigating Salman Hossain -- whose writings included a call to kill Western soldiers "so that they think twice before entering foreign countries on behalf of their Jew masters" -- for willfully promoting hatred toward the Jewish community, but the case was recently closed.
National Post, June 30

The scientific case against wearing burkas
It is true Vitamin D deficiency is found in many countries around the globe, north and south. The Middle East, however, has been noted in a number of scientific studies over the years as a particularly problematic area in this regard. Many of these same studies have singled out the garments worn by many women there, like the burka and niqab, as significant factors in reducing exposure to sunlight. Burka-wearing by pregnant women also has been linked to increased cases of rickets in their children.
Paul Schneidereit, Halifax Chronicle-Herald, June 30

What not to wear
I suspect that the French aren't telling the whole truth. The burqa may indeed be a sign of female subjugation but it's also a symbol of extremism. The burqa provokes anxiety owing to its associations with fundamentalist variants of Islam. France has a security interest in eliminating fundamentalist Islam from within its borders. The social liberation of Muslim women is only a secondary benefit.
Leonard Stern, Ottawa Citizen, June 30

Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West

Other stories from the past week:

Confusion reigns about the "real" Scientology
Did Lisa Marie Presley marry the late Michael Jackson to convert him to The Church of Scientology? That's just one of many long-standing suspicions about the self-described religion that has been repeated recently. It all adds to the confusion that expands with each mounting article and blog posting about the controversial organization.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, June 25

A caveman's logic
A professor at the University of Guelph, Prof. Davis has spent the past 20 years paying attention to the use of such seemingly benign phrases: "It was a sign," "Thank God" and even "Good luck." To him, such phrases reflect a "caveman logic" that helped our ancestors survive the Pleistocene Age, but which is keeping our species from realizing its true potential. While we are well past the primitive age, he argues, we still happily shroud ourselves in superstition, magic and blind faith rather than burn the extra mental calories it takes to think critically and reach rational conclusions.
National Post, June 27

A new gospel for Wall Street
Pope Benedict, whose official pronouncements mostly cover matters or religious faith and sexual behaviour, is about to weigh in on the ills of the economy. In Charity in Truth, which should be released next week, he is expected to point out the failings of capitalism and lament the world's roiling markets, exploited workers and the harsh disparity between rich and the poor.
National Post, June 27

A cheeky reworking of 10 Old Testament tales
Jonathan Goldstein has Adam, who was created adult, wondering what it's like to be a kid
Grant Shilling, Vancouver Sun, June 27

What is Christian "orthodoxy"? Part Two
This is an incendiary question. There are basically three views of Christian orthodoxy, according to the heated responses to my recent posting on the debate among Canadian Anglicans.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, June 28
Earlier: Anglicans in divorce court over property

Moral superiority -- a licence to sin?
People with an elevated moral self-worth may be more prone to acting immorally in some realms of their life, a recent study suggests
Globe and Mail, June 29

Emperor's B.C. visit shines light on exotic Shintoism
When Japanese Emperor Akihito visits B.C. from July 10 to 14th, he will bring with him the power and glory of his country's main religion, Shintoism.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, June 30

July 2/2009