Monthly Archives: September 2009

Are you “sexually broken?”

BC, Creationism, Edmonton, Evolution, Religion

Then Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron’s Crocoduck Ministry can help. And luckily, they are actually in Canada (I passed their storefront on Hastings St. today in Vancouver).

From their website:

Living Water is a community-based, Christ-centred discipleship program that deals specifically with relational and sexual brokenness

I’m pretty sure they’ve invented a pill for “sexual brokenness.”

There’s a few places you might know these guys from.

  • Kirk Cameron was on growing pains
  • The banana argument (banana ergo God)

  • The Crocoduck argument against evolution

  • Their upcoming ploy to give away free copies, at a University near you, of the Origin of Species, complete with an introduction [pdf] that blames the Holocaust on Darwin.

Tomorrow’s Blasphemy Day!

Atheism, CFI, Free speech, Media, Religion, Secularism

I’ve only been half paying attention to CFI’s latest publicity stunt with “Blasphemy Day International 2009” that goes off tomorrow, but I do like this Christian Post article summarizing it.

They summarize it fairly objectively, and then go into the best part, “How should Christians respond?”

First, take no offense. Refuse to play into the game plan of those sponsoring International Blasphemy Day. The Lord Jesus Christ was and is despised and rejected of men. Our Lord bore the scorn heaped upon him by his enemies. Christianity is not an honor religion. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are not commanded to defend his honor, but to be willing to share in the scorn directed to him. Is the servant greater than his master?

Of course, you’ve sponsored it by posting a big article on your website. Nevertheless, they’re right that if they ignore it, it will probably just go away.

Islam is an honor religion, and the major forces in the world today seeking to criminalize blasphemy are Islamic. The riots on the streets of many nations in protest of the Danish cartoons do represent what faithful Muslims believe their religion requires them to do. Not so for Christianity. We must be those who take to the streets with the Gospel – not with a defense of our honor or the honor of our Lord. When Christians forget this, we lose our Gospel witness. The history of the church includes far too many instances of this loss. We dare not add another.

Good advice again, keep the Bibles away lest you look like intolerant jerks (which he actually admits they have).

Second, mourn the blasphemy. The warning of Jesus is clear – blasphemy has eternal consequences. The worst form of blasphemy is the refusal to hear and believe the Gospel. For that sin there can be no forgiveness. We must mourn the blasphemy, not because honor is at stake, but because souls are at stake with eternal consequences. God will ultimately and perfectly defend his honor. On that day, there will be no escape for unrepentant blasphemers.

Stay home and pray for us. Maybe it’ll work…

Third, see this observance for what it really is – an unintended testimony to the existence of God and the foolishness of those who deny Him. The sheer foolishness of a blasphemy contest with t-shirts and mugs betrays the lunacy of it all. They can do no better than this? One testimony to the power of God is the fact that his self-declared enemies come off as so childish and manic. The heathen rage and God sees the foolish grasshoppers.

Seriously? You’re using the fact we’re saying “Fuck God, he doesn’t exist” as proof He exists? I can say “Fuck the Care Bears” but it doesn’t make them more real. The reason a day like this is necessary is because people are still being killed in the twenty-first century for having the galls to say there’s no God in the wrong place. This doesn’t prove God, it merely proves human insanity. I do agree that the t-shirt/mug contest is pretty silly, but at least it got your attention (marches aren’t as good as they used to be). And as for the childish and manic ones:

International Blasphemy Day will come and go. Take note, ponder its meaning . . . and skip the t-shirt.

I’m not too concerned about blasphemy rights in Canada, we’re doing pretty okay (despite the hate mongers who want the right to discriminate). But it did become illegal in Ireland recently, and supposedly secular Europe is having its fair share of issues recently.

Updates

Atheism, BC, CFI, Computers, Links, Personal, Politics, Random, Religion, Science, Secularism

Blogging’s been a little infrequent of late, and it’ll be at least a week before anything comes up regularly since on Wednesday I head to Edmonton for the Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference – both to represent SFU Physics at the Graduate Studies fair and to support my overstressed girlfriend who’s been organizing this event for the past year.

So here’s some news (in no particular order or even semblance of relatedness other than that it all interests me):

  • Obama is doing a better job defending our medicare system then most (but not all) Canadian politicians
  • On the CFI and accountability issue, I had received an informal response from CFI Transnational a few weeks ago (essentially saying the system works so why fix it), but they have yet to release anything official. I’ll likely come back to this next week.
  • In Malaysia, they’re going to cane a Muslim woman for drinking a beer. She’ll be the first woman in Malaysia to be caned for drinking under the Sharia Law there that only applies to Muslims (for now). It’s supposed to be a “ceremonial” caning as opposed to anything painful, but I still don’t think that cuts it. We don’t “ceremonially” spank children because it’s nearly as bad as actually spanking a child.
  • I got a new Netbook, and it kicks ass. I also got an external DVD burner and used it to put Windows XP on my old netbook which I plan to give to my girlfriend (so she no longer has to lug around her 10 lb “laptop”). The funds for this were provided by the UofA ECE department for me having the top presentation of the 2009 EE 495 research project.

  • If you’re interested in what my research career is shaping up to look like for the next couple years, and don’t want to wait for my inevitable posts that attempt to boil it down for easier consumption, you can try to get through this guy’s thesis [pdf] which somewhat relates to what I might be doing (I’m still not 100% sure since our lab’s not fully operational yet). Short form: measuring exotic micron-scale forces with Bose-Einstein Condensates.
  • Finally, North Vancouver is considering an obscure piece of technology to make getting up the steep hills easier on bicycles. See the video below:

ANDP = Alberta Norwegian Democratic Party?

Alberta, Economics, NDP, Politics

I mentioned earlier how I consider the Alberta New Democrat to be a dying breed. So I thought I’d give some suggestions I have that could either take them to the top or further their race to obscurity.

My suggestion is for the Alberta NDP adopt a “Make Alberta the new Norway” strategy.

VikingMason

It’s been considered before.

Norway has roughly the same population as Alberta, similar climate, and makes most of its revenue off oil and gas.

Well, at least it used to. You see, when oil times were good, Norway managed to bank almost $400 billion USD. Meanwhile, Alberta put away a measly $14 billion CAD. Norway is living off it’s interest, and is the only country in the Western world to not be in a debt in these “tough economic times” (that’s right, 750,000 hits).

Further, Norway’s experiencing increasing unemployment like Alberta, however theirs has risen to a mere 3% whereas Alberta’s was at that level a year ago, but is now over 7%.

Alberta is thinking of cutting services, while Norwegians enjoy free health care, post-secondary education, and a social safety net (likely responsible for their high employment rates).

Despite being an Oil giant, Norway is rated among the top among environmental countries, while Canada slips down the ladder, mostly due to unregulated tar sands development.

So what does the NDP need to suggest to Albertans to get the province back on track to prosperity that their Scandinavian counterparts enjoy?

  1. Call for the creation of a publicly owned oil company (that’ll scare the right!) and phrase it as “taking back our oil” or “getting our fair share.” Who needs to worry about oil companies leaving if you have your own. This company would also follow strict environmental and labour guidelines, which would be easier to implement in-house.
  2. Create a fair royalty rate system. The resources belong to Albertans, not foreign multi-national oil companies. So why aren’t Albertans being paid fairly for them?
  3. Reverse energy-deregulation. It failed, end-of-story. Rebuild the provincial power companies.
  4. Reverse the MLA pay hikes. That money goes to everyone.
  5. Break the super-board up again. Cancel all bonuses to the over-paid executive
  6. Once these new crown corporations start feeding the provincial coffers, use surplus money to start filling the Heritage Fund (or dedicate a certain percentage of oil revenues to fill the fund). Ideally this fund needs to be an order of magnitude larger within a decade or less (I haven’t crunched the numbers, but the bigger the better).

Now, I’m not sure how to present a strategy like this (with more flushed out details) to the media without getting blasted for suggesting a nationalized (provincialized?) oil company. But perhaps the ideas been so berated by neo-liberalism, that its time to dust it off and reconsider it.

And hey, if we can frame the entire platform as a we can be better than Norway thing, it just might raise enough eyebrows to be heard.

Norway just re-elected it’s centre-left Labor party to government. Imagine where Alberta would be if the last sixty years had been dominated by that side of the spectrum? What about the next sixty?

ANDP: Dying, AB Libs: Stalled

Alberta, Elections, Liberals, NDP, Politics

Since the by-election that “Sent Ed a message,” no one in the NDP has really admitted what it means to the party.

Sure, most of the Dippers in Alberta were finishing off their convention mere hours before the polls opened in Calgary-Glenmore. They were patting Brian Mason on the back and making promises about running candidates in every riding. You’d think it was a good’er except the “Biggest in Recent History” was five years ago.

Then the byelection happened and I don’t even think the members from the Calgary-Glenmore riding association showed up to vote. In fact, Eric Carpendale (the parachute candidate) got a mere 27 votes more than his Facebook Group (which I think was the extent of his campaign).

The worst part, that no one really seems to care about, is that the NDP was nearly beat by the defunct Social Credit party! I mean, even in the general election, the worst NDP ridings garnered 3-5% of the vote. In 2008 we got 3.8% in that same riding. Over 300 votes vanished.

No one really asked why the Alberta NDP caucus was cut in half in 2008, and were merely proud to have Rachel Notley join Brian Mason in the Legislature, and no one really seems to care that the NDP is throwing away ridings.

Could we have converted any of the PC/WRAP votes to NDP votes with a heavy campaign? Probably not. But then again, a wide majority of people stayed home again. Until you show some initiative and get those voters inspired, you’ll either be locked in the opposition bench, or obliterated.

Sometimes sites like this may be meant more as an actual message then a mere prank [note: I did not start that site and it likely was just a prank].

But don’t take solace, Alberta Liberals. You didn’t pick up any votes either.

So the NDP is slipping down the hill and the Liberals are spinning their tires. All this while the right gains strengths and pushes Stelmach to do something stupid.

The buttons come down

NDP, Politics, Site

Since the NDP voted with Harper yesterday and the Liberals didn’t, we can no longer count the number of confidence votes that the Liberals have propped up the Conservatives. While we can debate the merits of this, or even if the IgGrits are showing any more effective of an opposition by switching from auto-support to auto-oppose.

The real issue for the NDP though was months and months of bragging about how ineffective the Liberals were being. It guaranteed that eventually this situation would happen.

On Linda Duncan’s campaign we never “went negative.” While her supporters may have said nasty things about Jaffer, the official campaign was always focussed on why Linda Duncan should be the MP for Edmonton-Strathcona, and not about why the others shouldn’t. Of course it also through in a bunch of strategic voting hints to win over the Liberals, but it never attacked the Liberals either.

Positive campaigning, while harder, I think is the way all of the parties need to continue (and I have to commend Ignatieff for keeping on at least this message).

The growing discourse

Atheism, CFI, Links, Secularism

It seems I started something with my little expose on the state of secularism in Canada, specifically targeted at CFI. Here’s the current list (roughly chronological) of the reactions:

  • Joe thinks I overreacted, but has a unique photoshop of “Archbishop Trottier”
  • Gordo goes a step further and compares Justin to Bill Donahue (now even I wouldn’t go there)
  • Zak adds his two cents
  • and finally, Katie Kish, president of the Freethought Association of Canada, writes a flaming indictment of Justin Trottier.

Of Katie’s more unsettling comments include stories of Justin turning down volunteer applicants who listed work with feminist organizations on their resume. These are actions that, ironically enough, could be pursued by human rights commissions (and to be fair, if a man had said they worked with men’s organizations and got turned down for a job, it also would be grounds for a HRC complaint).

Justin also published a new article on his blog, and the Facebook thread attracted over 130 comments (link will likely only work if you’ve friended Justin). Many voices came out against Justin in that thread, and a few supported his stances.

In the past week I’ve talked to many activists at varying levels from different regions across Canada. Most of them share these concerns and have been harbouring them for some time now.

Consider CFI Canada’s pursuit of charitable status. This is something that’s been achieved by both the Freethought Association of Canada and Humanist Canada. There is precedent and besides the (significant) paperwork should not be as slow coming as it is. Running through Canada Revenue’s charity checklists makes you wonder, what are they failing at?

It’s perhaps not as understood by some portions of management that local communities are suffering without access to the ability to grant tax receipts for donations (as churches and registered charities can). Without that flow of dollars, CFI is going to hit the mud soon. While Justin is a made employee (thanks to a few generous donations in Toronto), many activists in other communities cannot spare the time from their careers to build their centres.

Of course these are but a few of the concerns that are resonating across the country.

Likely, this is what has prompted the start of Canadians for Grassroots Secularism. A blog that seeks to unite those with these shared concerns. It hopes to either pressure CFI-Canada to reform or to seek alternative methods to promote secularism in Canada.

If you agree that changes are necessary in regards to these issues, I urge you to sign on to their cause.

“Scientific cryptozoology” now that’s rich

BC, Media, Scepticism

The Province is reporting “sightings” of a “creature” in Vancouver Island Lake. Luckily this story doesn’t degrade to full blown lunacy, but it still lacks a credible voice. It’s worth noting that within a week this is the second mythical animal story The Province has published based on fuzzy photos and no real investigation.

However, unlike the sasquatch story, this story comes with quotes from, wait for it, the BC Scientific Cryptozoology Club. No this is no ordinary search for mythical creatures club, they practice 100% bonafide science.

Let it be clearly known that the BCSCC is a scientific body which follows the accepted principles of orthodox zoology in regard to establishing the existence of new species of animals. Our mandate is to ascertain where they fit into the greater picture in the realm of natural history. We do not subscribe in any way, shape or form to any ludicrous paranormal, occultic or supernatural viewpoints when discussing the nature and origins of such animals. The BCSCC is rigidly scientific and does not entertain speculative pseudo-scientific notions about these animals is it is hard enough making a case for them as flesh and blood biological entities without having to deal with quasi-scientific nonsense. [Emphasis added]

I’ll give you a second to stop laughing.

Good yet?

Alright, read it once more, and then we’ll move on.

That last highlighted line nails it. They openly admit it’s damn near impossible to prove these creatures exist, which you think might have them rush to use one of the key axioms of science: Occam’s Razor.

I also wasn’t aware that the “principles of orthodox zoology” include relying solely on anecdotal evidence and fuzzy pictures. But I’m no zoologist so I could be wrong.

But wait, there’s more about them:

Accredited Field Investigators

The BCSCC recognizes a number of individuals as accredited field investigators who may work under the banner of the club and these may be found on our committee page.

Other members may become accredited investigators by showing the necessary competency on fieldwork investigations conducted by the club. The fact that we do carry out fieldwork and encourage members to do so wherever they are in the world, prompts many people to apply to the BCSCC for membership. If you have an interest in being part of a fieldwork investigation please get in touch with us.

That’s right, with enough time and money (for the membership and trips), you too could be an “Accredited Field Investigator in Cryptozoology!” I wonder if you get a giant magnifying glass.

cryptozoologist

Additionally, if you check out their membership page, you’ll get this nice warning:

The BCSCC reserves the right to decline memberships – at our sole discretion – to anyone not meeting our eligibility requirements or other criteria we may use to determine suitability.

Likely they want to keep their membership “pure” of those who, as mentioned in their About page, think this stuff is the stuff of fairy dust – and actually believe in fairy dust.

It’s nice to see an upper-bound on irrationality at least.

Finally, let’s take note of the financial sponsors they list, just in case you needed to consider where to spend your hard-earned sceptical dollars in British Columbia:

  • Ascension Arts
    Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • Myriad Studios
    Victoria, BC, Canada
  • Peachland Water Sports
    5899 Beach Avenue, Peachland, BC, V0H 1X7
  • Peachland Tourist Information Center
    5812 Beach Avenue, Peachland, BC, V0H 1X0
    Phone: (250) 767-2455
  • UPS Store
    Station Square, Burnaby, BC, Canada

This isn’t really news

Conservatives, Elections, Liberals, Media, Politics

We all knew Stephen Harper had a hidden agenda, it’s not really news to progressives, and those who are on his side will merely support his agenda, and agree with his talk about “socialist and separatist” coalitions and liberal-infiltrated benches.

The only hope is that a leak like this will swing some moderate-apathetic voters who have shrugged and said he’s good enough or “not doing anything that bad” and get them to vote for a more progressive option.

The challenge for the NDP is convincing Canada that Ignatieff is just the same political/economic mindset as Harper, just without the right-wing Christian fundamentalism.