2011‑2022, and is preserved here for archival purposes.
The hope of Christmas is this: The Lord himself invades the grave, and like a candle in a dark room, casts light all around.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. This verse is often read at Christmas, and it means a great deal to those of us who live in the North where the December months are dark and cold.
The passage says...
N.S., the appellant, alleged that her uncle and nephew sexually assaulted her when she was a child. She reported this to her family and to the police years later. At the preliminary inquiry (the court procedure to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial), N.S. sought to wear her niqab. The two accused argued that the niqab prevented them from having a fair trial. The judge at the preliminary inquiry ruled that N.S. must testify without her niqab as her religious belief was "not that strong." This was based on the fact that she did not wear a niqab on her driver's licence photo although N.S. argued that a female photographer took the picture.
It was another day of reckoning for religious Canadians. On a small stage, Paula Celani was back in court this morning fighting a fine for an "illegal" Catholic Mass in Montreal (first discussed ...
It's just a slogan, I know. But 'tis the season for looking back, for the inevitable "and how was your year?" conversations. #NoRegrets papers over any chance for real reflection. Every year, for every person, will hold some achievements and some failures. Owning both is how we mature.
The "No Regrets" slogan makes me cringe. The t-shirts are bad enough, but it's the #NoRegrets Twitter hashtag that really gets me. #NoRegrets is a way to rationalize why short-term pleasure can trump long-term prudence, or a wa...
Maybe it's just me, but I'm not feeling the tension this year. But I am inspired this year mostly by Fazil, who is Muslim and from Pakistan and has given me a lift to the airport once every couple of weeks for the past three years. Last week, when he dropped me off, he didn't just wish me a Merry Christmas, he made sure I would pass his greetings along to my entire family.
It has been a bit of a habit lately to grumble and mumble about the "war on Christmas," as some commentators have labelled it.
Maybe it's just me, but I'm not feeling the tension this year.
Yes, yes, the bulk of my corporate e-cards still just...
In the October 2012 issue of Policy Options, NDP insider Anne McGrath and Conservative strategist Stephen Carter provide their assessment regarding the application of Haidt's thesis to the Canadian context. McGrath equivocates, suggesting that Haidt's appeal for civility is a bit of a "naïve distaste for acrimony," and doesn't adequately account for the mobilization that divisive momentums such as the Occupy Movement have created through history.
A recent book by American psychologist Jonathan Haidt (a self-described liberal) has provoked interesting conversation among the political intelligentsia. In ...
It also makes for an extremely confusing conversation on religious freedom, because religious freedom can be both an internal liberal debate, impossible to separate from the many, now increasingly globally contested, premises of liberalism, as well as a fundamental challenge to those same premises.
The debate over religious freedom is often misunderstood in liberal democracies as about what role the state should or should not afford religion; where religion may be afforded a safe, usually private, expression. And while this logic appeals to our sentim...
The finding that grabbed many of the headlines and has produced a fair amount of handwringing is the statistic showing that Protestants are no longer a majority in the U.S. In fact, there are now more "nones" than there are people who identify themselves with any Protestant religion—whether Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Church of Christ, or non-denominational Christian.
Like any person of faith, I read with great interest the recent Pew Forum study showing that a rising number of Americans say they have no religious affiliation. In fa...
All journalists, he said, had an obligation to stand up for freedom of the press and expression: the decision to not publish them diminished those freedoms, imperiled as they were. This is what I thought and still think about that.
Given recent events, a friend inquired last week whether when I was at the helm of the Calgary Herald we published the Danish cartoons which so inflamed parts of the Islamic world in 2005 and 2006. When I explained that we did not, he challenged that...
Should criticism of religion be allowed, particularly when it can lead to such violent reactions?
After two weeks of riots across the Muslim world, ostensibly due to an offensive amateur YouTube video which insults the Prophet Muhammad, many people across the non-Muslim world might agree that the reaction to the offense far exceeds the offense itself. T...
These are two very simple statements, but they lie at the heart of religious freedom. And, particularly in today's day and age—with the advent of such things as blasphemy laws—they are a very real concern for those who care about international religious freedom. [It] is simply wrong to suggest that there is an asymmetrical relationship between the right to have religious belief and the right to persuade others of the validity of that belief.
To proselytize is to be human. The prevention of proselytization is barbarism.
These are two very simple statements, but they lie at the heart of religious freedom. And, particularly in today's day and age—with the advent of such things as ...
The greatest moment of American public life in the 20th century—and one of the finest examples of public speech in history—contains a quote from Isaiah. Yes. One of the greatest speeches ever made, in one of the greatest political communities our fair planet has ever seen, was lifted straight from the pages of a book that is thousands of years old and written in the Middle East. And the speech contains not just one quote. This great example of goodness and power is shot through with quotes and references to Scripture. It is a speech in which Scripture is the foundation, the wellspring of the great dream that changed American life and helped to overcome its original sin.
last month that the Girl Guides of Australia have decided to doff their chapeaus and adorn themselves instead with the tin foil hats of 21st century thinking. But even these would have to be shocked at the utter vacuity of the phrases the Girl Guides from Down Under have chosen to replace "God and the Queen." (References to obedience are also gone, which seems an odd decision for a paramilitary unit but there you go; once that tin foil hat is on firmly, just about anything is possible.)
last month that the Girl Guides of Australia have decided to doff their chapeaus and adorn themselve...
You say you want a revolution Well you know We do want to change the world You tell me that it's evolution . . .
The London Olympics have come and gone, and left us with great opportunities to ponder. There was music for all generations, some speaking to multiple generations. The lyrics of John Lennon set me to musing about our post-religious culture.
...
What exactly would a secular charter look like? Well, see if you can figure it out from the CBC's report: Maybe something got lost in translation. But, there's not much clarity to be gained by the reports in Le Journal or Le Devoir either. What I glean is this: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Parti Québécois (PQ) announced yesterday that, if elected in Quebec's upcoming election, it would introduce a secular charter.
What exactly would a secular charter look like? Well, see if you can figure it out from the ...
We're inclined to consider funerals private affairs. They are usually not open to the public. They involve family, friends, and loved ones; those, in other words, who have some sort of personal connection with the deceased. I have never heard of someone walking off the street into a funeral. And, with the very limited exception of the very famous—a pope, a prime minister, a princess—they are not broadcast or shared in any public way.
In a strange way, funerals are at the same time very private, and very public affairs.
We're inclined to consider funerals private affairs. They are usually not open to the public. They involve family, friends, and loved ones; those, in other words, ...
Thankfully—and this is true at all times, but especially realized at times such as this—we are not alone. Where our own words falter, we can stand on the shoulders of the ancestors of our faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
There are times in life when all our tasks, our plans, and our peculiar occupations take a back seat to our fundamental humanness and the deep questions of life that we all share. This past weekend we at Cardus were brought face-to-face with one of those mo...
In the interview with I Dig Your Girlfriend, Wildrose Party Leader Smith is reported by the usually reliable Rick Bell of the Calgary Sun to have said that candidates with religious beliefs have to show they can represent everyone. This follows on two controversies that arose during the election campaign this past April. One was when supporters of the government dug up a year-old blog on a Pentecostal website by Pastor Alan Hunsperger in which he indicated, in the context of a discussion with members of the gay San Francisco community, that those who don't change their lives will burn in the Lake of Fire. The other was when a snippet from an interview by Calgary pastor Ron Leech was leaked in which he indicated that as a Caucasian candidate in a heavily ethnic riding he had an advantage because he didn't identify with any single community. Amid the general hysteria of an election that threatened a half century of one-party rule in Alberta, that comment evolved into hints of white supremacy.
The question regarding whether Christians who seek public office should be held to a higher standard or, to put it more bluntly, be vetted with greater suspicion and scrutiny than others arose in Alberta again this past weekend, following an interview given...
But in order for the Gospel to begin to change anything in our secular culture, I suggest that Christians must find ways to convince others of how great our sin and misery are. Maher's causal point about religion, of course, is itself a non-starter—religion being "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe." We are all by nature religious creatures; being human means forming such beliefs.
To come to a saving faith in Christ, one must be convicted in his heart of "how great my sin and misery are" (Heidelberg Catechism, LD 2).
But in order for the Gospel to begin to change anything in our secular culture, I suggest that Christians must ...
What kind of culture will Pentecostalism produce? There has been a lot of talk lately among scholars about the rise of Pentecostalism as a global force. Much of it is focused on the implications of Pentecostalism on the church, the state, and the economy—sociological talk—but not, to my admittedly limited knowledge, little is focused on the impact that Pentecostalism will have on arts culture.
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Aaron Renn, a leading American urban affairs writer, recently challenged those thinking about cities to have a "broader urban vision." Urbanism, he said, needs to be about more than funky "third space" cafés, creative classes, transit, and high-density living. Renn suggests that other networks and institutions, especially churches, need to be given a more prominent role in addressing the challenges facing modern cities. Both sides have rethinking to do. Given that Christianity started as an urban religion (look up the economic and political prominence of the various cities which Paul visited and sent letters to), it is surprising that contemporary western Christianity occasionally evokes thought of retreat from the cities. Doesn't our modern ethos often place "rural values" closer to what's religious than "big city values"? Before critiquing urbanists for ignoring religion, then, there is good reason to remind the religious that perhaps they have not taken cities as seriously as they should, especially in an increasingly urban society. (Eighty-one per cent of the Canadian population lives in cities, and the rate is increasing by more than one per cent per year.)
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Completely uncharacteristically (okay, maybe not completely uncharacteristic), we emerged from the gallery locked in a vigorous debate. It was touched off when I said how much I dislike plaques, signage, headphone audio commentary or similar distractions at an exhibit such as the Van Gogh. My son, a doctoral student in history who was visiting Ottawa to do research at the National Archives, was appalled.
My son and I recently spent a Saturday afternoon together in Ottawa taking in the Van Gogh exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada.
Completely uncharacteris...
Wellesley High School English teacher You've been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. ... You've been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored....Absolutely, smiles ignite when you walk into a room, and hundreds gasp with delight at your every tweet....And now you've conquered high school....But do not get the idea you're anything special. Because you're not.Talk show debate has reduced McCullough's antidote to an alternate reduction. "Make the most out of life by forgetting about yourself and serving others." With due respect, whatever merits McCullough's talk may have had, this alternative doesn't really cut it either. And neither does the religious version of graduation reductionism sometimes heard in Christian education settings. "Pray and trust God and He will make all things go well for you." Graduates deserve something more than unnuanced slogans.
This blog is the substance of the graduation address given at Oxford Reformed Christian School last evening.
Wellesley High School English teacher
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But what does it mean to be a witness of Christ? Where do we look for evidence of this kind of witness?
Peter Stockland's excellent blog this week reminds us that "we are called to engage in the political life of our country not to win but to witness. We are called as witnesses o...
Queue some blockbuster postmodern fantasies, both the utopian, as in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and dystopian, as in The Walking Dead. As organized religion fell out of favor with American cultural elites, other fantastical sources were needed for storytelling that took us beyond the mundane and the material.
Last week in Bulgaria, two bodies staked with wooden and iron rods were excavated. Medieval Europe certainly had some special skills in cruel and bizarre executions, but the c...