Ethics & Religion Category Archive

Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois, has found religion.

Well, not really.

He wants to keep religion out of Quebec. In order to do that, he wants to fill the void with the trappings of religion devoid of faith. I call it styroform religion -- it fills the space, keeps everything else out, but when you actually take a moment to study it, there really isn't anything there.

The Anglican Church in Canada is on the verge of formal split over same-sex marriage and other liberal changes in Church teaching and practise. The charges flying back and forth on questions of theological correctness are sharp and emotionally charged. But like any divorce, the argument over whose fault this was will seem like children playing happily in a playground compared to what happens once the two sides start fighting over money.

And that's when I expect organizations will jump in to use this fight to promote their own agendas.

Bill Casey, the Nova Scotia MP ejected from the Conservative caucus for voting against the budget, has some people fighting in his corner as he considers a run as an independent.

Though some of his supporters, like Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, are clearly troublemakers, the support being offered by the Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley Conservative riding association is more troubling. Not because of the potential political damage -- I think it would be minimal. But it does suggest that some people involved in politics are misunderstanding just what it was that Prime Minister Stephen Harper was doing when he ejected Bill Casey.

It didn't help that Stephen Harper's comments on the subject are absolute.

You see, to me this whole situation seems to mimic the situation of someone being excommunicated, and when you understand what excommunication really means, you realize there is always room for reconciliation.

But since it also requires that Bill Casey admit to making a big mistake, I don't expect this will end happily.

The investigation into the murder of newlywed Shemina Cheema (formerly Shemina Hirji) continues, but the police are keeping every detail under wraps. Even the cause of death will not be discussed with anyone, not even the family. Meanwhile, the question of whether Shemina was targeted continues to be asked, with focus on the mixed marriage (Paul Cheema was Sikh, and Shemina was a Muslim). A quick perusal of message boards reveals that the majority of families angrily oppose these mixed marriages, and the news director of Vancouver-based Radio India confirms that those feelings are as prevalent in British Columbia as they are in India.

The Anglican Church in Canada has voted not to perform blessings on same-sex marriages. The rage from atheists who have already succeeded at changing the civil definition of marriage is very revealing. Look beneath the anger and viciousness, and you see people who are desperate to belong to an institution they label as "irrelevant".

It's rather sad, really.

Why has torture porn become such a dominant film style? Warren Kinsella shares his thoughts on the matter. I think the problem goes back decades, and can be traced to the acceptance of the politically correct notion that right and wrong are relative concepts, and that passing moral judgment is itself the worst, and perhaps the only, immoral act.

John Oakley's column in the National Post relates carbon offsets to indulgences. I think he's on to something, but I think his analogy is off. Carbon offsets are less like indulgences and more like tithes paid to the Church of Green.

Can the Roman Catholic Church ignore the presence of ordained women priests? Actually she can, since the ordinations were illegitimate. And not because the people who secretly received the Sacrament of Orders were women. The problem with this sort of subterfuge is that the subterfuge is itself reason enough to declare the entire exercise invalid.

At first, it was just an odd transformation of a post I was attempting to put on Free Dominion. But when I asked what was going on, the answer I got was utterly unacceptable. When I stood my ground, things got very ugly, very quickly.

This is not about some sort of fight between conservatives. This is about respect on the most fundamental level. This is about knowing that my words and thoughts, even if unwelcome, are at least not altered. They are my thoughts, my words, and no one has the right to change them without my permission.

In Canada, it is not so important to be sensitive to the needs of those who live on the edges of what the majority of people call normal or average. It is more important to be sensitive to the needs of specific groups of these people. People living on the borders of gender identity get special treatment, but those who religious beliefs require some flexibility are out of luck.

George Orwell's nightmarish world of 1984 is taking a step closer to reality in Malaysia, where Islamic forces are taking their cues from the most purely atheistic society ever described in literature.

Stephane Dion is quoted as saying he thought key figures in the Sponsorship Scandal were unfairly punished when they were banned forever from the Liberal Party. It is not the only example of Stephen Dion rebuilding the Liberal Party to look like the old Liberal Party. What has not been reported is that a scandal-tainted figure from the Paul Martin government and an early supporter of Dion's leadership bid, David Smith of Pontiac, has a position in Dion's office.

A carnival of thoughtful Catholic bloggers.

The incoming primate of the Church of Ireland, Bishop Alan Harper, had delivered some very controversial comments. Unlike his fellow Anglicans in America, though, he is not suggesting that Jesus is an optional concept or agitating for openly homosexual clergy.

Instead, he said it is well past time for England to move past the ban on Catholics ascending to the British throne. Note that the law, the Act of Settlement from 1701, bans Catholics specifically. It does not require that the monarch be Anglican. He or she could be a Buddhist, a Muslim, an agnostic, or a Scientologist -- just not Catholic. Bishop Harper correctly suggests that the circumstances that gave birth to this law have long since faded into history. The implications of such a change are quite interesting, and I think Bishop Harper knew exactly what those implications were before he made his statements.

In Minneapolis, there has been a recent problem with Muslim taxi drivers refusing fares at the airport. People who were carrying alcohol or were accompanied by dogs, including seeing eye dogs, were told that they could not get a ride. Why? Because of Islam's ban on alcohol, and the fact that dogs are considered unclean.

In case you were wondering just how big the problem is, almost 75% of the taxi drivers are Somali Muslims. But they are being influenced by an very fundamentalist Arab Muslim group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Well, the cabbies, prodded by these imams, pushed too far, and the regulating authority is about to put in tough new rules. New rules for a group of religious believers designed to limit they ways in which they can express their religious beliefs. Sounds familiar.

On one level, you would think that the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is being willfully blind, stating that the church is not splitting apart over the issue of gay ordinations.

Meanwhile, several parishes in Virgina have done exactly that -- split from the Episcopal Church altogether.

But in a strange way, Jefferts Schori is right. The Episcopal Church is not splintering because gays are being ordained. It is splitting, but because of a disagreement over the fundamental nature of Christianity.

Go visit Kicking Over My Traces for the 96th edition of the Catholic Carnival.

An entire diocese has voted to secede from the Episcopal Church, unhappy with the liberal policies being pursued by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. Schori has offered to appoint special bishops for these diocese, a form of quarantine, but that offer was rejected. Significant though, is that Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Cantebury, has called these demands by the diocese for "alternative primatial oversight", that is, secession, an "interesting" idea.

Now we wait to see how Schori and the Episcopal heirarchy will respond to what could be seen as meddling by a British authority in an internal American church matter.

The 95th Edition of the Catholic Carnival is up at phatcatholic apologetics.

Even Michael Richards continues to apologize for his racist tirade caught on video at the Laugh Factory comedy club, the "victims" are demanding cash. And so begins the game of moving responsibility around. The rules are simple. Responsibility cannot be shared, it can only be assigned entirely to one person. Whoever ends up with the responsibility loses and has to pay the other players money.

The funny thing about the responsibility game is that, when you think about it, the winners are actually the losers. At least you would think so if you valued personal character over money.

It is fascinating to see where blogs crop up, and just how seriously the content is taken. In this case, the former and current Archbishops of Cantebury, George Carey and Rowan Williams, respectively, are engaged in some serious fighting over the direction the Anglican Church is taking. One of the tools in that fight is a blog maintained by George Carey's son, Andrew. Other Anglican blogs are playing equally significant roles in the fight.

Just as we've seen in the secular political arena, blogs seem to be used more effectively by conservatives to keep up pressure on liberals holding the reins of power.

Michael Richards, the actor who played Kramer on Seinfeld, has been in the news because he was caught on video angrily hurling racist insults at a heckler during a stand-up comedy performance. Of course, he has already embarked on the apology circuit. People have been debating about the quality and sincerity of his apology, and it got me thinking on the actual difference between being apologetic and being contrite.

Catholic Carnival #94 is up.

Michael Richards' vile outburst at a comedy club has done something that his acting has not done -- gotten him noticed.

Elton John expressed his desire to see all organized religion banned, musings quite widely reported. At the time I wanted to criticize his dangerous words, but I decided to wait, because I wanted to hear the reaction of the gay community. The reaction is...varied.

Is Katharine Jefferts Schori, recently invested in the position of Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (the Anglican Church in the US), up to dealing with such subtle theological questions facing her faithful such as irenicism?

Irenicism? Until I started this piece, I had never heard of the word. The worrisome thing is that I wonder whether Jefferts Schori has ever heard of the word either.

Father Raymond Gravel, a controversial Roman Catholic priest in Quebec, is running for Bloc Quebecois.

To me, the fact that this guy is still a priest is more newsworthy than the fact that he's running for elected office.

Update: Maybe this makes sense after all.

Update: Or maybe Gravel is just a liar.

Tolerance is not a good thing, in of itself. It is good only if it leads to more good, or avoids evil. Pope Benedict XVI ought to know that.

It's beem two days since the start of the nuclear war and the first detonation of warheads. So far, I must say, I'm feeling pretty good.

I hate to give the ending away, but the movie is over 30 years old, so you ought to know the ending. If not, don't read this post.

The Anglican Church is again trying to deal with the schism that is tearing it apart, especially within the United States. A solution is being proposed, but it will never work, because we know from experience it will never be accepted by liberals. So what will happen? American conservative Episcopalians will continue to flock to Africa and South America.

A guilt-ridden Catholic accuses the Church of hypocrisy in how a Catholic hospital handles a needle exchange program. I don't think the accusation stands up to scrutiny.

Madonna manages to keep in the news, which is quite the accomplishment for a popstar of her age.

Let me start off by admitting I have not read The Da Vinci Code, and I probably won't anytime soon. I have less intention of going to see the movie.

I have a strange feeling I've seen it already.

The case of Abdul Rahman, the man in Afghanistan sentenced to death for the crime of apostasy, from both the Christian and Muslim point of view, and just how lucky Muslims are that the Christian view is very different.

A story of kindness and generosity in Afghanistan stands in stark contrast for the calls of neverending emnity between Christian and Muslims issued by Osama bin Laden and the Islamists.

A schism, and a schism within a schism, is starting to form in Ottawa.

Gene Robinson, Espicol bishop and openly gay man, has some words of harsh criticism for the Roman Catholic Church and it is because the Church is cracking down on having homosexuals in the ranks of the priesthood. Ostensibly, this is in response to the sex scandals in the past, but I think the Church is rooting out a fifth column looking to rewrite Church doctrine. I think Gene Robinson's elevation in the Episcopal Church has precipitated this move, and I think Gene Robinson knows it.

The Anglican Church in England continues to come up with new reasons to destroy the Anglican Communion, and drive the conservatives back to Catholicism.

Now it's transsexuals.

Anglican Church, Sarah Jones, Colin Jones, Anthony Priddis, transsexual

The Church of England is taking it upon itself to apologize for the role the United Kingdom played in the Iraq War. We often see examples of the State interfering in sphere's rightly controlled by the Church. Here is a much rarer example of the Church getting mixed up in purely State matters.

Word is that the Pope is about to sign off on a document that will ban homosexuals from the priesthood, and identify homosexuals already serving and removing them.

How long before a homosexual priest in Canada decides to sue for his job?

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