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Quebec bans religious teaching in publicly subsidized daycares

Cue the outrage:

Salam Elmenyawi of the Muslim Council of Montreal is prepared to challenge the new policy in court on the grounds it tramples on religious rights.

“What is the problem the Quebec government wants to fix?” Mr. Elmenyawi asked. “Are we going to have to stop teaching some of the moral values, like loving your parents, which are emphasized from a religious point of view?”

Yes, we all have to be taught to love our parents. As a godless heathen, it is all I can do to control my urges to rape, steal, murder, and burn everything to the ground. I guess the concept of laws, along with a common sense of ethics developed through centuries of an evolving social contract, isn’t worth squat when we have the threat of Eternal Damnation (™) to keep us all in line.

According to the holier-than-thou types, religion provides a shining example of how to lead a morally righteous life. This, I guess, despite it being used as a means of war, oppression, terrorism, sexual abuse, and deception by many of its leaders and proponents. Yes, if we truly want to unite the world in peace and brotherhood, religion is obviously the way to go.

Teach your kids how to abandon rational thought and submit to religious authorities at home, Mr. Elmenyawi. On your dime.

Forget about teaching kids “religious” morals. Maybe someone should teach some religiously-minded adults that it’s not okay to beat and kill their own wives, sisters, and daughters. Like this asshole, this asshole, and these “alleged” assholes. But I guess they never picked up any of that deranged thinking from their religious brain-washing factories, did they?

(So-called “honour killings” are not limited to Muslims or any other religious or “caste” group. But they do seem particularly good at it.)

Religion, much like a crazy uncle who can’t keep his pants on in public, belongs at home, not in a publicly funded school or institution. The rest of us are trying to move this little species of ours forward, not back to the ignorant Dark Ages of the mystical sand-cults.

Bon décision, Quebec.

The first time I saw Christopher Hitchens he was on a talk show discussing his book about Mother Teresa, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice. He was saying some pretty alarming things, stuff like Teresa was not the saint that everybody believed she was (more about that in a previous post). Of course, never seeing anyone have the balls to say these types of things before, I perked up like a rabbit hearing a twig snap.

Since then I’ve read many of his books and articles and was often entertained (as well as informed) as he made the rounds on The Daily Show, Politically Incorrect, Real Time with Bill Maher, and other talk shows. Hitchens, often swirling a scotch either backstage or right out in the open, was the type of opinionated asshole I love: one who know what he is talking about and who suffers ignorance poorly.

Hitchens is well-known for his atheism and contrarian views. He actually wrote a book called God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, which should be mandatory reading in every high school. But now he has recently been diagnosed with throat cancer, which he has written about here. Needless to say, some of the Christian folk have been wondering aloud, if not stating outright, that his plight might be some sort of punishment for his outspoken criticism of organized religion and the people who adhere to its ancient superstitions.

From biblearchaeology.org:

“It is not our place as Christians to say the specific reasons why Mr. Hitchens has contracted this disease. We only know that God often uses illness as a means to bring people to repentance and faith.”

It might also be the decades of alcoholism and smoking  that led to his cancer (as well as a possible genetic predisposition—Hitchens’ father also died of throat cancer). But hey, I guess no one who led a good decent Christian life ever got a disease or experienced any personal misfortunes. Look out atheists and non-believers (including those who worship the wrong gods). God has a bullet for you, too, if you don’t keep your mouth shut.

This type of thinking is so stupid and crazy it just boggles the mind. If your idea of a “loving” God is a petty, jealous asshole who dispenses horrible suffering on those who merely seek to better understand this world and their place in it—and let’s face it, that’s exactly the type of God you worship—then there is only one thing to say: F–k you and your God. I’d rather be struck dead than suffer the cruel whims of some spoiled brat deity.

I hope Hitchens is able to beat his cancer. If he does, it will be a testament to his personal will and the “miracle” of modern medical treatment, not God doing an “aw shucks, I was just messin’ with ya, man.” Get well soon, Hitch.

It seems a lot of folks are shocked and disturbed by the recent allegations that former bishop Raymond Lahey, who recently helped negotiate a landmark $15 million settlement in an abuse case before abruptly resigning,  is involved in child pornography. Why the shock?

Though the Roman Catholic organization attracts many decent and morally-abiding people to its professions, it is also attractive to those who are harboring certain sexual tendencies, such as those with an unhealthy interest in children. It’s not a stretch to wonder if Lahey’s own feelings of guilt and self-loathing might have played a part in reaching the agreement with abuse survivors.

For centuries, the priesthood has been a safe hiding place for men confused or disturbed by their developing sexuality. Perhaps they feel that by burying themselves in celibacy and “service to God” that they will overcome what, to them, are highly disturbing thoughts and desires. After all, no one will question a priest as to why he is not married or without a girlfriend. Yet the desires never completely go away and combined with easy access and the ability to psychologically manipulate and intimidate followers, it’s inevitable that slip-ups will occur.

The Roman Catholic organization has always known this, has always made it easy for offenders to slip in and out of parishes and dioceses, has always left a wake of abused and traumatized children wherever it sets its claws. So why the surprise that yet another of its ranks has fallen to these kinds of accusations?

Letting priests marry will solve nothing. A pedophile is a pedophile; gay or straight, married or single, it makes no difference. Pedophiles are attracted to the Roman Catholic Church because it provides them a safe haven to prey on victims. When they get caught they are simply moved somewhere else and the files get buried or vanish entirely. Or, if there is publicity, victims are paid off.

Either way, the practice has been widespread for centuries and the highest-ranking church officials right up to the Pope have always been aware of it. It’s only been in relatively recent times that the Church has been confronted with any type of consequences from the crimes it has perpetrated. Before that, it was open season on children (and anyone else) with complete impunity.

So no, I’m not shocked that ex-Bishop Lahey was allegedly found with a laptop full of child porn. What shocks me is that people still willingly support and endorse this long obsolete and abhorrent institution, this organization that feeds on guilt, ignorance, and fear, this unrepentant and remorseless destroyer of children. That’s what really shocks and surprises me. Who can take this organization seriously anymore? Who really thinks that they have any interest in anything other than the pursuit and protection of their own wealth and power?

According to this article in the Globe and Mail, “the atheist slogan, ‘There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life,’ may soon be coming to subways and buses in Canada’s largest city.”

The ad campaign is sponsored by the Freethought Association of Canada , which is raising funds for it through their Atheist Bus website.

Find out more (and donate!):

http://atheistbus.ca

Also check out the Freethought Association of Canada site:

http://freethoughtassociation.ca

A few summers ago, my wife and I were walking through one of the local parks in Mississauga, Ontario when we noticed a group of people sitting on the lawn listening to someone speak. Being the curious sort of fellow I am (my wife calls it “nosey”) I suggested that we get a little closer so we could check out what was going on.

The crowd was mostly made up of children and young teens and they were listening  to a clean-cut young fellow who looked to be in his early twenties. As soon as we were within earshot I heard him say “Jesus” and I knew this was some sort of religious service or something.

We didn’t stay long, just long enough to slowly walk by and hear a little bit of what he was saying. He told them there are two places they can go when they die: Heaven or Hell. Those who accept Jesus Christ will go to Heaven and those who don’t will roast in the fires of Hell. The expressions on their faces said it all: wide-eyed, fearful, completely enthralled by what he was saying.

It always disappoints me to see this sort of thing. We live in a society where access to scientific and historical knowledge is the best it’s ever been. We have libraries in every town and the internet in almost every home. And yet, in this so-called advanced day and age, children are still being sat down on lawns and given these ancient fables as “truth”. Why?

Children are easy to recruit into superstitious belief systems. They arrive with a clean slate and rely on adults to teach them about the world. That’s why religious groups start the indoctrination process early on, beginning with baptism and Sunday school. The earlier the seeds are planted, the deeper the roots become. And as the years go by, they are often more and more difficult to pull out.

Fear has always been used as a tool to control people. Sometimes fears are legitimate, like the fear of getting shot in a war zone or that Wham! will reunite and put out a new album. But when the fears being propagated are nothing more than nightmarish illusions dreamed up to frighten young children into mental slavery, it makes it even sadder to see young minds being abused by adults who should know better.