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Note: Registration or subscription to the host news sites may be required to read some of the stories linked here.
Stories about the Hutterites and drivers licenses:
A child of Alberta Hutterites on the SCC and "graven images"
I followed with interest, and some Schadenfreude, this recent Supreme Court decision involving Hutterite photo IDs. I fear the picture painted by the media has left the public with the wrong impression of things.
Martin Hofer, Full Comment, National Post, July 31
The Hutterites meet Herouxville
Nothing solves the problem of a slow summer news week in Quebec like a juicy reasonable accommodation story to chew on. Proving once again that there really are no limits to its fascination with stories related to the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, the Quebec press spent much of last week slowly pondering the implications of the July 24th Supreme Court of Canada ruling in favour of provincial rules which force members of a Hutterite community in Alberta to have their photos taken to get a driver's licence.
Globe and Mail, August 4
Earlier: Hutterites left to ponder Supreme Court's photo ID decision
Stories about Sikhs and Sikhism:
Arson suspected in Khalsa School blaze
Firefighters recovered the Sikh holy book from the ashes. It survived the flames intact
Gerry Bellett, Vancouver Sun, July 31
'It's a beautiful ceremony'
Hindus, Sikhs seek clarity on practising custom of spreading ashes
National Post, August 4
Calgary convention centre defends cancelling concert over issue of kirpans
A weekend concert at the Calgary Telus Convention Centre that was abruptly cancelled after some people arrived wearing ceremonial knives was shuttered because of a threat to safety, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. Management decided to cancel the concert by legendary Punjabi singer Gurdas Mann after "a number of ticket holders refused to comply with security measures," said Heather Lundy in a statement.
Canadian Press, August 4
Concert cancelled over ceremonial blade
About 2,500 people were packed into a sold-out Calgary Telus Convention Centre on Sunday, waiting for Indian superstar singer and actor Gurdas Maan to take the stage, when management decided to shut the show down.
Globe and Mail, August 5
Promoter to sue after Calgary concert cancelled over Sikhs' ceremonial daggers
The promoter of a concert that was called off last weekend after about 10 patrons showed up carrying ceremonial daggers says he plans to sue the Calgary venue that cancelled.
Canwest News Service, August 5
Earlier: Stories about Sikhs and Sikhism
Stories about Islam and the West:
Attack on Muslim man was a 'hate crime,' police say
Qasimali Baig said he had just boarded a UBC bus on Kingsway after leaving evening prayers, when another passenger starting calling him "bin Laden" in reference to the al-Qaida terrorist leader.
Vancouver Sun, July 31
Brutality meets religion in The Stoning of Soraya M.
Powerful film shows the horrors of living in a society that condones the subjugation of women
Jay Stone, Canwest News Service, July 31
Swine flu spooks local Hajj pilgrims
Two weeks ago, Arab health ministers laid out restrictions for pilgrims travelling to Mecca between now and the Hajj in an effort to curb the spread of the H1N1 virus. They advise travellers over 65 years old or under 12, as well as the chronically ill, to avoid the pilgrimage.
Toronto Star, August 3
Hamas movie 'Cinema of Resistance' aspires to Cannes
Hamas is moving into film production with a release that its German-trained director hopes to enter in the Cannes Film Festival, despite its declaration that to kill Israelis is God's will. An audience in the Gaza Strip clapped and cheered during the premiere of Imad Aqel when an actor delivered the film's most memorable line: "To kill Israeli soldiers is to worship God."
National Post, August 4
Why shariah must be opposed
Those of us who argue against shariah are sometimes asked why Islamic law poses a problem when modern Western societies long ago accommodated Halacha, or Jewish law. In fact, this was one of the main talking points of those who argued that shariah law should become an accepted part of dispute resolution in Ontario in 2005. The answer is easy. A fundamental difference separates the two: Islam is a missionizing religion, Judaism is not. Islamists aspire to apply Islamic law to everyone, while observant Jews seek only to live by Jewish law themselves.
Daniel Pipes, National Post, August 5
Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West
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Other stories from the past week:
No place like home
A former hotel on Merivale Road will soon be home to some of Ottawa's most vulnerable residents, as part of a project that is being called, with good reason, a turning point in how the city deals with the homeless. Led by the Shepherds of Good Hope, the program promises to do something that few people have thought was possible: Offer a long-term solution to homelessness.
Ottawa Citizen, July 16
Anglican preists to bless same-sex marriage
The Niagara diocese will be the second in Canada where a bishop has allowed parish priests to perform ceremonies blessing the marriages of same-sex couples who are already in a civil union. The New Westminster diocese in British Columbia was as the first.
Niagara Falls Review, July 29
Earlier: Anglicans in divorce court over property
Admired N.L. priest found dead after sexual assault charges laid
Rev. Desmond McGrath was known for his dedication to workers rights and his passion for bringing social justice to rural outport communities in Newfoundland and Labrador. The well-know Roman Catholic priest, who co-founded a union for fishermen, was found dead in his home in Stephenville on Tuesday, a day after he failed to appear in court on four charges of sexual assault.
Canadian Press, July 30
Mass intrigue
There are some stories that you know are even more complicated than they seem. The so-called "Wafer-gate" controversy out of Canada assuredly falls into that category. It's not only Byzantine, but mysterious. While the flap raises some very important issues about eucharistic fellowship, there's also a delicious element of political skulduggery to it.
E.E. Evans, GetReligion.org, July 30
Earlier: Stories about the Prime Minister and the communion wafer
Critical Mass tests cycling supporters
Are the rides advancing the cause or setting back the dream of bicycle-friendly infrastructure?
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, July 31
Losing faith in the U. S. religious right
When American novelist Frank Schaeffer describes his formative years as "an unusual childhood," it is the height of understatement. His stories of growing up in a cult-ish community in the Swiss Alps during the 1950s and '60s, and how he and his evangelical father came roaring back to the United States to light the match that created the American religious right, are strange enough.
Charles Lewis, National Post, August 1
Homosexuality, religion and acceptance
The views of various faiths on gays are a reflection of how they find ultimate meaning
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, August 1
Spiritual teacher Banks loved by thousands
Spiritual teacher Sydney Banks died the way he lived -- largely unknown to British Columbians, but adored by tens of thousands of students around the world. The 79-year-old self-taught Saltspring Island author, a former welder who liked to say he had written more books than he had read, became a mentor to scores of health professionals in the U.S. and beyond through his six best-selling self-help books, plus his seminars and DVDs. He even had a U.S. university health institute named after him.
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, August 1
The killing fields
The word "euthanasia" was designed from the beginning as a euphemism -- as an attempt to draw the happy face over a profoundly ugly thing, and thereby slide over the moral depths -- in the pioneering days of eugenics. The purpose of euphemism is to decorate a lie.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, August 1
Earlier: Stories about euthanasia and health-care debates
Is there a solution to the Dead Sea's demise?
The Dead Sea's surface is falling fast. Middle Eastern authorities have a plan, but experts say it may do more harm than good
Globe and Mail, August 4
Would Jesus do an MBA?
What would Jesus do if he was the CEO of a large multinational company and he needed to layoff 25% of the workforce? How do you offer forgiveness to an employee who has made a serious mistake on the job? Questions like these are on the minds of the first class of MBA students at Trinity Western University, a Christian school in Langley, B. C.
Sarah Efron, Financial Post, August 4
Thoughts on religious language
Try to be a little less loose with spirituality
Russell Smith, Globe and Mail, August 5
Top 10 spiritual cliches
"It was meant to be." Sometimes that seems to me like the biggest spiritual cliche floating around today. But there are many more, and some are not all bad at all. It's just that they're getting a wee bit overdone.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, August 5
Controversial art project to go ahead in Toronto; Jewish arts centre keeps its distance
Reena Katz's multidisciplinary art project each hand as they are called will go ahead in Toronto's Kensington Market this October following the resolution of a dispute between the artist and a Jewish arts organization that had commissioned the work but later disassociated itself from Katz over her anti-Zionist political beliefs.
The Ampersand, National Post, August 6
Burying freedom's champion
Corazon Aquino was buried beside her late husband, Benigno Aquino, yesterday in Manila. The assassination of the latter vaulted the former into public life, and she brought down the Philippines' Marcos dictatorship in 1986 with her "people power" revolution.
Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Post, August 6
How to end the bike-car wars
We need to move beyond the distraction caused by last week's Critical Mass ride and take bicycling in Metro Vancouver to the next level.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, August 6
August 7/2009
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