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Stories about embryonic stem cell research funding:

Obama cancels stem cell ban
U. S. President Barack Obama yesterday lifted an eight-year ban on new embryonic stem cell research, rejecting what he called "the false choice" between sound science and moral values and saying that "medical miracles" only come about through painstaking research.
CanWest News Service, March 10
Also: Vancouver Sun

The horror
President Barack Obama has now reversed President Bush's ban on U.S. taxpayer funding for stem cell research with human embryos. "O brave new world, that has such people in it." The Vatican and U.S. Catholic bishops have responded to Obama's order with criticism that does not go far enough.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, March 11

Obama is no champion of science
The scientists were jubilant, as men are when dividing the spoils. On Monday, President Barack Obama signed an executive order making available federal funding for stem cell research that destroys human embryos. It was widely described, erroneously -- even on the front page of the Post -- as a reversal of George W. Bush's "ban" on embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). Bush never banned ESCR; it has always been legal in the United States to create and destroy human embryos in order to harvest their stem cells. Bush only prevented federal funding from being used for embryo-destructive research.
Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Post, March 12

Stories about Buddhism:

"Everybody's a Buddhist now"
Have you noticed more friends and acquaintances quietly suggesting they have become Buddhists? I'm picking up the trend everywhere. I take Buddhism very seriously as one of the great religions. There are important truths to explore in Buddhism. It is a profound and challenging system of belief. But right now I just want to remark on how struck I've been by the way many North American searchers are making Buddhism their spirituality of choice. It is currently very cool to be a Buddhist.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, March 9

Why people like Buddhism, and why some do not
Here are 10 reasons people like Buddhism. They are taken from the often-eloquent responses to my last blog posting, titled "Everybody's a Buddhist now." I also add five reasons other readers think the Buddhism trend is overdone.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, March 11

Stories about Islam, anti-Semitism and the West:

The retreat
Islamism is enjoying a resurgence throughout the Islamic world, though it may remain invisible a little longer to Western observers relying on media that have lost interest in the topic. It will become visible again only when there are renewed, newsworthy terrorist attacks on Western targets.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, March 1

Islam and the problem of the sacred word
Since the poor suffer most in hard times it's inevitable that Muslim countries will be painfully affected by the global recession. Most Muslim states are desperately poor, even when oil prices are high. The Arab nations in particular are burdened by incompetent government, inadequate education and large populations that appear destined to endure poverty indefinitely. They suffer, and they know it, from their failure in most cases to create modern standards of society.
Robert Fulford, National Post, March 7

Should Canada bar immigrants of a certain religion?
If asked to name a member of the Dutch parliament, many Canadians would be stumped. Some, though, would be able to say "Geert Wilders." The controversial politician-turned-filmmaker has won widespread acclaim -- and scorn -- for his expression of negative views of Islam. These include comparing the Koran to Mein Kampf and urging a halt to all immigration from Muslim countries.
Paul Russell, Full Comment, National Post, March 7

CAF chief alleges 'Zionist campaign'
E-mailed message cites attempts to 'demonize' Canadian Arabs, Muslims
National Post, March 9

Envoy cuts off UN address on anti-Semitism
Canada's top diplomat at the United Nations in Geneva used his position as debate chairman to cut short an accredited speaker as he detailed anti-Semitism in Islamic-sourced books. The action by Ambassador Marius Grinius took place in the UN's Human Rights Council, where Muslim and Arab countries regularly deliver harangues against the "Zionist Entity" -- a term many of them use to describe Israel.
CanWest News Service, March 10

The worst refugee crisis in the world
When 220 of these former Burmese refugees, known as Rohingyas, were discovered, and Angelina Jolie talked about their plight, the spotlight was on them again, if only briefly. Then, the story disappeared, but not the reality of the Rohingyas' impossible circumstances. These persecuted Muslim refugees come from largely Buddhist Burma, where they have lived for many generations, yet they are stateless; the government refuses to recognize them as citizens.
Heidi Kingstone, National Post, March 10

'No basis' for B'nai Brith hate charge
The Manitoba Human Rights Commission has ruled that there is "no reasonable basis in the evidence" for the hate speech charge against B'nai Brith Canada that it spent more than five years investigating, based on an anonymous tipster, a complainant who was not there and the secret report of a secret expert. The epic fallout from the conference on terrorism for emergency responders that the Jewish human rights group hosted in Winnipeg in October, 2003, began four months later, when Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association, filed a formal complaint under the "discriminatory signs and statements" section of the Manitoba Human Rights Code.
National Post, March 12

Continue article >>

One law for all
In Quebec, the issue was snuffed out just as it was about to ignite. In Ontario, it festered for months before the Premier finally put his foot down and declared there would be one law for all. But in Britain, shariah courts are thriving, applying Islamic law and principles to personal disputes between Muslims and -- worst of all, say their detractors -- to family matters: divorce, child custody and inheritance.
Ron Csillag, National Post, March 12

Banning them only ends up creating martyrs to free speech
Bishop Richard Williamson has some very peculiar and, frankly, odious views: that no Jews were murdered in gas chambers during the Second World War; that the Twin Towers were brought down on 9/11 by U.S. explosives, not by airplanes; and that Jews are fighting to dominate the world "to prepare the anti-Christ's throne in Jerusalem." And these are just some of his opinions on secular matters. . . . Consider, meanwhile, the case of another unappealing man, Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who was banned last month from entering the United Kingdom, where he had planned to show his short film, Fitna, which describes Islam as a terrorist faith.
Ian Buruma, Globe and Mail, March 12

Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West

Other stories from the past week:

This is your brain on religion
Believers record lower levels of anxiety, which can boost performance but also hinder the ability to fix mistakes, study finds
Globe and Mail, March 5

Lent's most controversial sacrifice: Facebook
Joshua Prowse gave up alcohol for a year in 2007. Now he's trying to give up Facebook for Lent -- a mere 40 days without his digital touchstone. Guess which one he thinks will be harder.
Globe and Mail, March 6

Gradual descent into mental illness
Vincent Li is a man who was notable only for his lack of notoriety, who struggled to make a new life for himself and his wife in Canada, and whose descent into mental illness was so gradual, few could comprehend what was happening. And fewer still could believe what ultimately happened. . . . Li claimed there were good gods and evil gods and it was the latter who commanded him to kill McLean, who was also a threat. It was kill or be killed, according to the God talking to Li, although he now acknowledged there were good and evil Gods in his head.
CanWest News Service, March 6
Earlier: Behind the Greyhound story

'Curse of the scrolls'
The Dead Sea Scrolls -- some of the oldest known biblical texts -- come in fragments, frayed and tattered. The rough edges of the parchment now reflect the mood of the academic world following the arrest of the son of a scroll scholar on charges that suggest the depth of emotion and vitriol spilling over from a seemingly arcane academic feud.
National Post, March 7

Stages of faith: What's your spiritual quotient?
Many thinkers are making the case that humans are capable of evolving spiritually, of progressing to higher rungs
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, March 7

Controversial memories
With almost four years having passed since we resolved the same-sex marriage question, it's hard to remember there was controversy in the first place. The debate wrapped up without drama. Parliament passed the Civil Marriage Act on June 28, 2005, Canadians said OK and the country went back to its business. It's amusing, in a been-there-done-that sort of way, to see our American neighbours in the throes of internecine battle. A number of states have passed divisive declarations banning gay marriage. For all his supposed liberalism, even Barack Obama is conflicted about gay marriage.
Leonard Stern, Ottawa Citizen, March 7

On happiness
We are now a second Sunday into Lent, a time by which great masses of faithful Catholic and other Christian observers should be seriously depressing the revenues of all the supermarkets and mall outlets, while the money they've saved piles up in the coffers of various charitable institutions. This at least is the theory. In practice, I have never seen a statistical demonstration that Lent makes any difference at all.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, March 8

Residential-school settlements offer many a chance to give back
Positive stories challenge view that all payouts were squandered
CanWest News Service, March 9

The topsy-turvy Jewish carnival
In the category of Jewish holidays that have crept into popular consciousness, Purim ranks, at best, as third-tier. Rosh Hashanah and Passover are fairly well known -- the former by virtue of a fraternity with umpteen other New Year's celebrations, the latter thanks to Hollywood's fascination with early biblical history. Hanukkah and Yom Kippur make the second-tier -- most people know of their existence but couldn't say for sure what they're really about. The even lesser-knowns, Purim included, are on the outer edges of popular awareness at best, and more likely completely off the radar.
Yoni Goldstein, National Post, March 9

Quebec man hopes to remember the dead with all-obituary cable channel
A Quebec entrepreneur is planning to bring obituaries out of the back pages of newspapers to a new home on the small screen. Gerald Dominique hopes "Je me souviens" - a niche network dedicated to broadcasting digital obituaries - will be ready to begin broadcasting by the summer. The French-language speciality channel will charge a fee to broadcast obituaries, prayers, hospitalization notices and messages of thanks.
Canadian Press, March 10

Bach Choir explores new works
One of this province's most illustrious musical organizations, the Vancouver Bach Choir has been performing masterworks of the choral repertoire since 1930. But as an ensemble that also believes in keeping up with the times, it will present two new works at the Orpheum Saturday evening: Requiem for Peace by Larry Nickel and Echo by Amir Koushkani. Each is a vivid demonstration of how choral music has adapted to the reality of 21st-century multicultural life.
David Gordon Duke, Vancouver Sun, March 12

March 12/2009