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Stories about Bountiful and the polygamy trial:

Polygamy trial will cite laws on gay unions, lawyer says
Accused B.C. polygamist Winston Blackmore will cite Canada's gay marriage laws as part of his defence against a charge that he has 20 wives, one of his lawyers said Monday.
Canadian Press, January 19
Also: Canadian Press

Defence to invoke gay marriage as polygamy trial begins in B.C.
Same-sex marriage, they said, would be the slippery slope to polygamy. Just a few short years after Canadians engaged in a caustic debate over whether two men, or two women, should be allowed to marry, the prognosticators will find out if they are vindicated - however unhappily.
Globe and Mail, January 21

A community divided
Behind today's court appearance of two Bountiful leaders lie tales of discord
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, January 21

Landmark cases begin long slog through courts
One of the two men accused in prosecution that will test polygamy law claims he's only just 'living' his religion
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, January 22

Earlier: Evangelical groups keeping a close eye on Bountiful polygamy case

Stories about atheist ad campaigns:

Atheists hope (don't pray) to bring ads to Toronto
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 Toronto-based Freethought Association of Canada, inspired by a campaign that has plastered British buses with the phrase, has contacted the private firm that handles ads on the Toronto Transit Commission to see if the message would violate any rules. Organizers plan to launch a fundraising page on the website atheistbus.ca in the next few days.
Globe and Mail, January 16

Group wants to put atheist ads on Toronto transit buses, much like U.K. campaign
In Toronto, organizer Katie Kish says she hopes the message will spark discussion while countering the notion that atheists and agnostics are negative people.
Canadian Press, January 16

There's probably no God
The catchphrase from an atheist organization's ad has got some laughing, some angry and others puzzled by the humanist movement
Stephen Marche, National Post, January 17

That there is no God is about all they agree on
Two rival atheist groups will attempt to peddle their different views of non-belief to Canadians through separate advertising campaigns on public transit. . . . Pat O'Brien, president of the Humanist Association, said his group considered working with atheistbus.cabut decided a pure atheist campaign would be too negative. "Joseph Stalin was an atheist," said Mr. O'Brien, who considers atheism an element of humanism. "He was not a humanist. We want to send a positive message. Atheism is what you're not; humanism is a positive world view."
National Post, January 22

Stories about the slaying of humanitarian worker Jiri Zivny:

Humanitarian suffers beating
A Canadian humanitarian worker was in critical condition in a Cambodian hospital after being beaten into a coma, according to an aid organization. Jiri Zivny was "attacked, beaten and left in a ditch for dead," a spokesman for the International Humanitarian Hope Society said Tuesday.
CanWest News Service, January 14

Canadian aid worker dies in Cambodia
A Canadian aid worker beaten and left for dead in Cambodia has died from his injuries. Jiri Zivny, who was with a team of volunteers from Kamloops-based International Humanitarian Hope Society, was attacked last week after he withdrew cash from an ATM and was followed by some robbers as he left the bank machine.
Jennifer Saltman, Canwest News Service, January 15

Efforts underway to bring slain B.C. humanitarian worker home
Efforts are underway to bring Jiri Zivny's body home from Cambodia after the humanitarian worker died from injuries he suffered during a violent attack.
Kamloops Daily News, January 16

Continue article >>

Other stories from the past week:

Vatican reveals sins only Pope can forgive
Vatican officials this week revealed the inner workings of the Apostolic Penitentiary, a "tribunal of conscience" that has been shrouded in mystery for more than eight centuries. As the Vatican's highest court, the tribunal deals with confessions considered so grave only the Pope himself has the authority to absolve them.
National Post, January 16

Parent wants Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale off curriculum
A father of a student at Toronto's Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute has demanded that the dystopic novel The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, pictured, which depicts a future in which women are the victims of a fundamentalist society that values them only as breeders, be removed from the Grade 12 curriculum.
CanWest News Service, January 17

This Old Life
Most will agree that heaven is probably a white expanse and comfortably cool and hell is red and cavernous and uncomfortably warm. After that, it's hard to fill in the details. Cherubim and seraphim, angels and archangels might be floating around in paradise. One might get a glimpse of the Almighty Himself, maybe even Jesus or Moses. And there might be music -- or it might be dead quiet. Direct reporting is in short supply. Bishop Tom Wright is happy to fill in the details. In his recent book, Surprised By Hope, Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (HarperCollins; 352 pp.; $24.95) he lays out the afterlife with the clarity of an urban planner. In fact, he writes that the ultimate destination at the end of time, for those who earn it, is not in a place with celestial harps where St. Peter mans the gates but right back here on Earth -- albeit a much-improved Earth.
National Post, January 17

A 'troubled kid' searching for someone to talk to
The last time anyone saw him at Church of the Rock, the "troubled kid" now charged with conspiring to murder parishioners was already showing signs of diabolical things to come.
Globe and Mail, January 18

Planet Nollywood
For the booming Nigerian movie industry, the third-largest in the world, the key to success is in the hands of small children with lightning bolts shooting from their palms. . . . Increasingly, the message of the huge growth of evangelical mega-churches in Nigeria and the messages of Nollywood films are the same.
Globe and Mail, January 19

A Hindu ritual that's short, sweet
Continuing 3,000-year-old tradition, Whitby family holds haircutting ceremony to bring baby good luck
Toronto Star, January 19

There Goes the Neighborhood
Do I have to love my neighbor if he breaks the law?
Carolyn Arends, Christianity Today, January 21

Bill Clinton, Hillary and Frank Giustra can rest easier
Vancouver financier Frank Giustra has gained high-profile support for declarations Bill Clinton and he have only a philanthropic relationship, not a business one. Forbes magazine has published a lengthy article rebutting an oft-quoted New York Times piece that suggested B.C.-raised Giustra took advantage of his friendship with Clinton to seal a profitable uranium deal in Khazakstan in 2005.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, January 21
Earlier: Stories about American presidential politics

January 22/2009