Comments on: Government of Canada gives atheists a shout-out http://terahertzatheist.ca/2009/11/13/government-of-canada-gives-atheists-a-shout-out/ Tue, 22 May 2012 03:28:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: JB http://terahertzatheist.ca/2009/11/13/government-of-canada-gives-atheists-a-shout-out/comment-page-1/#comment-37329 JB Sun, 23 May 2010 18:25:23 +0000 http://terahertzatheist.ca/2009/11/13/government-of-canada-gives-atheists-a-shout-out/#comment-37329 I see from all this how religion and state must not be interwound into the realm of politics, and we can see from the current administration the conservatives striping certain aspects of our universities and science communities, that don't fit into their religious ideology! This must not go on like this. I am afraid as much as another freethinker who knows that a government that bases its policies on beliefs for which, there is little evidence to support is down right dangerous! I see from all this how religion and state must not be interwound into the realm of politics, and we can see from the current administration the conservatives striping certain aspects of our universities and science communities, that don’t fit into their religious ideology! This must not go on like this. I am afraid as much as another freethinker who knows that a government that bases its policies on beliefs for which, there is little evidence to support is down right dangerous!

]]> By: KC http://terahertzatheist.ca/2009/11/13/government-of-canada-gives-atheists-a-shout-out/comment-page-1/#comment-26179 KC Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:07:52 +0000 http://terahertzatheist.ca/2009/11/13/government-of-canada-gives-atheists-a-shout-out/#comment-26179 Yeah it kind of annoys me the way atheism (or more accurately the non-religious) are relegated to an "even ____" status. The fact is that there are the number of non-religious Canadians (4.7 million in 2001) dwarfs the number non-Christian religious people put together (1.7 million). Its not like we're some bit player in the Canadian landscape. Between 1991 and 2001 the number of non-religious people grew by 1.4 million. When we see the new numbers in 2011 I expect us to be an even more formidable force. Yeah it kind of annoys me the way atheism (or more accurately the non-religious) are relegated to an “even ____” status. The fact is that there are the number of non-religious Canadians (4.7 million in 2001) dwarfs the number non-Christian religious people put together (1.7 million). Its not like we’re some bit player in the Canadian landscape. Between 1991 and 2001 the number of non-religious people grew by 1.4 million. When we see the new numbers in 2011 I expect us to be an even more formidable force.

]]> By: Bill Longstaff http://terahertzatheist.ca/2009/11/13/government-of-canada-gives-atheists-a-shout-out/comment-page-1/#comment-26170 Bill Longstaff Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:23:07 +0000 http://terahertzatheist.ca/2009/11/13/government-of-canada-gives-atheists-a-shout-out/#comment-26170 As a history buff I can't agree that the guide is "reasonably non-partisan," at least not the sections about our history. While it goes on at great length about Canada's wars, including an in-your-face poppy, it contains exactly one sentence about peacekeeping. About our non-military contributions to the international community it is silent. Nothing about foreign aid, whether it be food aid, helping countries create democratic institutions, or any of the other substantial contributions we have made toward a more equitable world. Nothing on our involvement in negotiating the Land Mines Treaty or, of the greatest importance, the key role we played in creating the International Criminal Court, one of the finest contributions to international justice in all of history. And incredibly, nothing on our greatest international hero and father of modern peacekeeping, Lester Pearson, the only Canadian to win the Nobel Peace Prize, a man who actually ended a war. By omitting the peaceful side of our contribution to the modern world, the document lies about us, a lie of omission. What we are presented with is simply not us, a narrow part of us, yes, but much less than what we are. The history portion of the document was apparently captured by militarists. How sad that that the picture of Canada newcomers will get is a view of us through the distorting mirror of militarism. I hope that it will, at least, be kept out of the schools. We shouldn't lie to children. As a history buff I can’t agree that the guide is “reasonably non-partisan,” at least not the sections about our history. While it goes on at great length about Canada’s wars, including an in-your-face poppy, it contains exactly one sentence about peacekeeping. About our non-military contributions to the international community it is silent. Nothing about foreign aid, whether it be food aid, helping countries create democratic institutions, or any of the other substantial contributions we have made toward a more equitable world. Nothing on our involvement in negotiating the Land Mines Treaty or, of the greatest importance, the key role we played in creating the International Criminal Court, one of the finest contributions to international justice in all of history. And incredibly, nothing on our greatest international hero and father of modern peacekeeping, Lester Pearson, the only Canadian to win the Nobel Peace Prize, a man who actually ended a war.

By omitting the peaceful side of our contribution to the modern world, the document lies about us, a lie of omission. What we are presented with is simply not us, a narrow part of us, yes, but much less than what we are.

The history portion of the document was apparently captured by militarists. How sad that that the picture of Canada newcomers will get is a view of us through the distorting mirror of militarism. I hope that it will, at least, be kept out of the schools. We shouldn’t lie to children.

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