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Stories about the Catholic offer to conservative Anglicans:
Benedict reaches out to unhappy Anglicans
Pope Benedict has told disaffected Anglicans who have become disillusioned with their faith's swing to liberalism that the Roman Catholic Church will welcome them with open arms.
National Post, October 21
Amen to a good offer
The decision announced in Rome yesterday to create structures to allow Anglicans to convert to Catholicism in a corporate way, while retaining many of their Anglican traditions, is a major historical development. And, as is usually the case with something truly historic in the Catholic Church, it is a retrieval of something centuries old.
Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Post, October 21
Swimming the Tiber
In a proclamation that could cause enormous damage to the Anglican Church and lead hundreds of thousands of people to become Roman Catholic, the Vatican announced yesterday that it is opening the gates to Anglicans eager to join the Church without abandoning their traditions and culture. It's a longed for and vitally important statement and in it the Pope declared that members of the Anglican communion throughout the world can now become Roman Catholic but retain their liturgical heritage and distinct identity as long, of course, as it does not contradict the teachings and beliefs of the Church.
Michael Coren, National Post, October 21
Earlier: Stories about Anglicans and Anglicanism
Stories about the prostitution laws:
Prostitution laws protect against 'moral corruption'
Protecting public morals with laws that outlaw aspects of prostitution remains a legitimate objective for Parliament, argue Christian groups opposing a constitutional challenge of prostitution laws. Speaking for the Christian Legal Fellowship, Catholic Civil Rights League and REAL Women of Canada in court yesterday, lawyer Derek Bell said morality is all over the Criminal Code -- in laws punishing bestiality, voyeurism, public nudity and loitering.
National Post, October 21
Prostitution may be immoral, but it shouldn't be illegal
Yet even though I may oppose suicide and homosexuality on moral grounds, I would repeal any legal prohibitions against them. A person's life and sexual behaviour are his to do with as they please, even if that means permitting them to make a dumb or immoral choice.
Lorne Gunter, Full Comment, National Post, October 21
Earlier: Pro-family groups allowed to intervene in prostitution challenge
Stories about the U.S. war resister and the United Church:
Church to make statement on behalf of U.S. war resister
First United Church and the War Resisters Support Campaign will make an announcement today about an Iraq war objector who is facing deportation from Canada. The announcement will deal with former American soldier Rodney Watson, who was supposed to leave Canada on Sept. 11 after his refugee application was denied.
Vancouver Sun, October 18
US war resister first to take sanctuary in Canada after being ordered deported
An American soldier who deserted the Iraq war has taken sanctuary at a church in Vancouver after being ordered deported. Rodney Watson, 31, said he is the first of at least 40 U.S. war resisters to take refuge in a church after fleeing to Canada.
Canadian Press, October 19
Stories about the Nova Scotia bishop and the child porn charges:
Police found hundreds of videos, photos of young males on bishop's laptop
Police allege they found hundreds of files and dozens of videos on Bishop Raymond Lahey's laptop, with many showing young males engaged in various sex acts, in search warrants used by the RCMP to obtain more electronic devices from his residences and office in Nova Scotia.
Canadian Press, October 16
Warrants detail images on bishop's computer
An image of a naked boy wearing only rosary beads was among those found on Bishop Raymond Lahey's laptop computer, a search warrant has revealed. The RCMP's child exploitation unit obtained the warrant in order to search the bishop's home in Antigonish and his apartment in Sydney.
Halifax Chronicle Herald, October 17
Canadian Catholics need a deeper faith
With our attention fixed on the accusations against Archbishop Raymond Lahey of possession of child pornography, it was easy to miss another shocking story related to the Catholic Church, this time in Sudan.
Robert Ventresca, Holy Post, National Post, October 22
Earlier: Stories about the Nova Scotia bishop and child porn
Stories about Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam:
Doc explores Islamic-punk world
"I am an Islamist. I am an Antichrist," sings Basim Usmani, the lead singer of the Kominas, a Pakistani-American band from Boston, putting a new twist on the Sex Pistols' Anarchy in the U.K. for the post-9/11 era. He's one of the musicians featured in Canadian filmmaker Omar Majeed's documentary, Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam. The film follows the history of a hybrid cultural movement inspired by a novel.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail, October 15
When proselytization's lost its fun, you may be breaking
Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam is a documentary film about Michael Muhammad Knight, an author whose fictitious book of the same name gave rise to an actual movement of Koran-packing Canadian and American punk rockers. Inspired by the novel, a motley group of religious misfits and visible minority Dead Kennedys' fans band together to shock and open eyes on an American cross-country tour. Knight spends the film searching to understand himself and his religion. Currently immersed in Islamic studies at Harvard University, the 32-year-old spoke with reporter Ben Kaplan on the eve of the release of the film.
National Post, October 16
God save the fringe scene
What do you see when you picture a typical Muslim teen? It's a safe bet to assume you don't envision a horde of young sweaty punks writhing around a Chicago basement as a half-naked band wails the lyrics, "I am an Islamist! I am the Antichrist!" But that's just the image that opens Omar Majeed's Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam, a fascinating if problematic documentary that proves every culture has at least one unexplored underbelly.
Barry Hertz, National Post, October 16
Earlier: Vancouver film festival touches on spiritual, religious themes
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Stories about Islam and the West:
Want to run for political office without scrutiny in Montreal? Just put on a happy face - and a hijab
You don't need to be a literary critic to deconstruct the contempt for ethnic quebecois this poem exudes. And yet the editor who published it - Boughaba - was chosen to go to Herouxville shortly thereafter to speak about Islamic values and explain to alegedly xenophobic quebecois how to get along with the "Other."
Barbara Kay, Full Comment, National Post, October 20
Toronto imam preaching 'hate instead of harmony'
A Toronto-area imam is under fire for using derogatory language against Jews and Christians, calling for Allah to "destroy" the enemies of Islam from within and calling on God to "damn" the "infidels."
Charles Lewis, National Post, October 22
Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West
Other stories from the past week:
Man found guilty of negligence in son's circumcision at home
Boy was promised ice cream, movies and protection from God for having procedure
Vancouver Sun, October 15
Sikhs permitted to wear ceremonial daggers to Olympic events
Blade may be no longer than 4 inches and must be secured in a sheath
Vancouver Sun, October 15
Colin Thatcher served notice that Sask gov't wants to seize his book profits
Convicted wife killer Colin Thatcher is to be back in a Saskatchewan court at the end of October over the profits from his book. The Justice Ministry says Thatcher has been served legal notice that the government will try to seize the money under a new law meant to stop criminals from financially benefiting from their stories.
Canadian Press, October 16
Elsewhere: Stories about Colin Thatcher and his new book
Sun coverage raised awareness of Vancouver Peace Summit
Dalai Lama guest-edited edition praised by readers
Vancouver Sun, October 16
Earlier: Stories about the Dalai Lama and his recent visit to Vancouver
Confession: An ancient art may be making a comeback in our society
Apologies in myriad scenarios proffered for different reasons including forgiveness, votes, leniency
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, October 16
A rights debate gone wrong
The spark that led to the astonishing debate now under way in Quebec is, once again, an innocuous privilege granted to some members of Montreal's Hassidic community. When applying for a driving permit, they requested an instructor of their own gender for the practical test. They were allowed one when one was easily available, or told to come back later. Over six months, this happened six (six!) times. This became a tempest in a teapot, then the matter of a "national" debate when a newspaper revealed that the "reasonable accommodations" quietly practised on a case-by-case basis by the Societe de l'assurance automobile du Quebec had been sanctioned by the province's Human Rights Commission.
Lysiane Gagnon, Globe and Mail, October 19
God and Sex mix after all, says new B.C. book
Despite 2,000 years of being taught to deny our sexuality and overcome our physical needs by religious institutions (not to mention parents), B.C.'s respected Northstone Publishing company is helping lead spiritual efforts to again celebrate sexuality. "This is the hardest thing I've ever done," said Michael Schwartzentruber, lead author of the elegant new, illustrated book, The Spirituality of Sex.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, October 19
Brother Andre nearer to sainthood
On Saturday, the Theological Commission for the Causes of Saints unanimously accepted the healing powers of Brother Andre, a pious porter at Collge Notre Dame who went on to found St. Joseph's Oratory and who is credited with healing the sick, the lame and the blind.
Montreal Gazette, October 20
Right-to-die group fails to persuade library board to rent out space
Seminar to discuss suicide may contravene Canadian laws, legal advisers tell VPL
Vancouver Sun, October 21
What remains to be learned from the Holocaust?
That is the subject of an upcoming talk by a non-Jewish Canadian professor who specializes in the Holocaust. Even though the Jewish Holocaust in Europe has for decades been the subject of intense analysis, Professor Doris Bergen, a historian at the University of Toronto, believes the world has not extracted all of its lessons. After all, other genocides have occurred since.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, October 21
Supreme Court asked to weigh in on polygamy laws
B.C. Attorney-General says Canadians and the justice system need clarity on whether law barring multiple marriages is constitutional
Globe and Mail, October 22
Earlier: Stories about Bountiful and the polygamy court case
Eckhart Tolle vs. God
The spiritual leader that evangelicals rail against has a new book -- on the divinity of pets
Maclean's, October 22
Earlier: Veteran apologist tackles Tolle bestseller
October 22/2009
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