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Stories about Bountiful and the polygamy court case:

B.C. to take polygamy doubts to court
The British Columbia government will not launch an appeal after criminal charges against two polygamist religious leaders were recently thrown out of court. Instead, Attorney-General Mike de Jong said yesterday he will ask the B.C. Supreme Court to clarify the controversial polygamy laws, and rule on whether they violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
National Post, October 23

At last, the B.C. government makes the right move on polygamy
Finally, Canadians might get clarity on whether outlawing polygamy is a justifiable limit on religious freedom. As early as today, the B.C. government will file a request asking the B.C. Supreme Court to rule on two issues.
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, October 23

Earlier: Stories about Bountiful and the polygamy court case

Stories about prostitution and sex trafficking:

Righteous nonsense
I've long argued that the extent of international sex trafficking and sex slavery is grossly exaggerated, particularly as it exists in the Western world. The alleged evidence simply doesn't stand up to scrutiny. The statistics are blatantly bogus. The feminists and social conservatives who promote the scare are clearly motivated by ideological opposition to prostitution in any form. Politicians on the bandwagon can only gain from righteous posturing. And gullible journalists get a magnificent story full of drama and moral panic -- a story too good to question. And now this.
Dan Gardner, Citizen Katzenjammer, Ottawa Citizen, October 25

Strike down prostitution laws: lawyer
Flip open the pages of a big-city alternative weekly in Canada, and you're likely to find more advertisements for escort services than movies. Pornography is available on demand to anyone who pays for cable specialty channels. Realities such as these make it hard to argue that preventing the commodification of sex is a core moral value of society, Professor Alan Young told an Ontario judge, as his challenge of Canada's prostitution laws drew to a close yesterday.
National Post, October 27

Earlier: Stories about the prostitution laws

Stories about sex and society:

What's a virgin to do in an over-sexy age?
Comic actress Tina Fey told David Letterman this week that she was a 24-year-old virgin. For those who wait, whether by choice or lack of opportunity, there's a risk of stigma, some experts say
Zosia Bielski, Globe and Mail, October 22

Chastity is mighty hard to legislate
Morality plays of a different sort have also unfolded before huge audiences in recent weeks. First there was David Letterman outing his own extramarital shagging before a grand jury investigating allegations that the late night host had been targeted for third-party extortion over his affair with a staffer, followed by reports this wasn't a one-off infidelity. Between the jokes, Letterman is now trying to mend his marriage.
Rosie DiManno, Toronto Star, October 26

Stories about Scientology:

Paris court convicts Scientology of fraud
Judges said they did not order the church offices closed because they did not want to drive Scientologists underground, where they could not be monitored
Globe and Mail, October 27

Scientology renounced
Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis quits church over its position on gays
National Post, October 27

Same-sex marriage at root of Haggis Scientology row
Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis angrily quits the church. A Scientologist storms off TV's Nightline. And then there's the John Travolta case.
Stuart Laidlaw, Toronto Star, October 27

Stories about Sikhs and Sikhism:

Sikh Journalist: 'I Have Been Threatened' Before
The editor of a Punjabi newspaper was held at gunpoint by three masked men outside the newspaper's offices in Brampton late on Friday night, during an attack and attempted kidnapping that may have been sparked by the Sikh man's anti-extremist political views, the victim said.
National Post, October 26

Sikhs still divided after 25 years
It has been 25 years since the Air India bombing and the anti-Sikh riots in India, and while the quest for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan has all but fizzled there, the separatist movement maintains a small but at times loud presence here in Canada.
National Post, October 28

Stories about Islam and the West:

The right to wear a burka
I'll admit that passing by women covered from head to toe and not being able to see their eyes does make me uneasy at times. For me this is not just theoretical either, shopping in my part of Ottawa does put me in contact with women who sport the hijab, the niqab and yes, I've even seen a burka or two.
Brian Lilley, Holy Post, National Post, October 22

No offence intended, Imam says
A Toronto imam said yesterday he did not intend to insult non-Muslims during an address at his mosque on those who want the niqab and burka banned. Said Rageah, the imam at Toronto's Abu Huraira Centre, said that only someone who did not understand Islam would have come away from last Friday's prayers thinking that anyone at his mosque hated members of other faiths.
Charles Lewis, National Post, October 24

'People think you're oppressed' if you wear the niqab
The bright green Calvin Klein scarf wrapped neatly around Maryam Rana's head comes as a bit of a surprise. So do the red flats peeking out from under her black skirt, as she takes a mid-morning walk around her Mississauga neighbourhood. Rana, clearly, has a sense of style. She is also wearing a black cloth over much of her face.
Toronto Star, October 25

Politics, not extremism, is to blame for Pakistan's plight
The most recent research from two different and globally well-regarded sources, both demonstrate that Pakistanis are overwhelmingly against religious extremism, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and all related manifestations of violent expressions of political Islam.
Mosharraf Zaidi, Full Comment, National Post, October 26

Bigotry unchallenged
With an air of triumphalism, finger-waving cleric Said Rageah harkened his Toronto flock: "We have to establish Islam [in Canada]. I wanna see Islam in every single corner of the city; I would like to see niqabis, and hijabis [women wearing face masks and head covering] everywhere in the city. I want to see 'brothers' [Muslim men] in beards everywhere in the city. Because when they see more of us, they will have more respect for us. They will say, 'look they are everywhere...we cannot go against them'." The Somali-born Saudi-trained cleric was taunting his congregation for what he said was their impotence in face of a call by the Muslim Canadian Congress to disallow any public dealings with any person wearing a facemask.
Tarek Fatah, Full Comment, National Post, October 27

Continue article >>

Canadian accused of plotting attack on Danish newspaper appears in U.S. court
A U.S. judge has delayed the bond hearing of a Canadian accused of plotting attacks against a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a native of Pakistan who holds Canadian citizenship but resides primarily in Chicago, appeared in a Chicago court for a hearing today.
Canadian Press, October 28

Uganda woos Canadian Ismailis it chased out decades ago
More than 37 years on, the term Ugandan-Asians is synonymous with wealth in the diaspora countries where they went -- Canada, U.K., U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand and a host of European countries. The vice-president of Uganda wants them to come back. What more appropriate venue to make this pitch than the Aga Khan Cultural Centre in Burnaby this week, since it was in Burnaby that Ismailis and other Ugandan-Asians first settled.
Vali Jamal, Vancouver Sun, October 28

Imam fatally shot in FBI raid
Law enforcement officials reportedly search for three men with links to Canada
Associated Press, October 29

Earlier: Stories about Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam

Other stories from the past week:

Canadian missionary accused of abusing teenage boys in Haiti, report says
Jonathan Arias of the police force in the Dominican city of Puerto Plata says John Duarte, also identified in local media reports as Joao Jose Correira Duarte, was arrested Tuesday.
Canadian Press, October 22

Vancouver churchgoer accused of Ponzi scheme in Korean jail
He went to church on Sunday and sang in the choir. Today, Vancouver investment dealer Sean Kim sits in a Korean jail after allegedly scamming $30 million from Korean-Canadians in the Lower Mainland.
The Province, October 23

Ballot restriction frustrates woman
A Greater Saskatoon Catholic school board candidate says she's frustrated she was allowed to put only one of her last names on the ballot for the upcoming civic election.
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, October 23

Is Eckhart Tolle the route to God?
Evangelicals have called spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle a "purveyor of spiritual crack." Time magazine is not any more favourably inclined, claiming his best-selling books, The Power of Now and A New Earth, are "awash in spiritual mumbo jumbo." I'm a tad more sanguine about this phenomenally popular and extremely likable German who immigrated to Vancouver in the mid-1990s. I think Tolle has some valuable things to say about the route to inner contentment, even if I disagree on significant details.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, October 23
Earlier: Veteran apologist tackles Tolle bestseller

Book explores the many metaphors used throughout history to describe God
How an individual views God reveals much about personal experience, understanding, book says
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, October 24

Church hosts right-to-die doctor
A Vancouver church is stepping in to host a workshop by an Australian right-to-die doctor after the city's public library cancelled the event over legal concerns. Rev. Steven Epperson of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver said he believes that Dr. Philip Nitschke has the right to free speech, even if he's telling people how to kill themselves.
The Province, October 25

Nuns, Pope Benedict and Maureen Dowd's Nazi slur
What the Vatican is worried about, as it should be, is that American nuns are vanishing at an alarming rate.
Charles Lewis, Holy Post, National Post, October 25

When is too much too much?
If you've been following the coverage of allegations against Catholic Bishop Raymond Lahey up in Canada, you know that things have not been getting any better for the former leader of the Diocese of Antigonish. This leads me to a news story that starts with one of those symbolic details that makes you stop and ponder this question: When is enough, enough? When is too much, too much?
Terry Mattingly, GetReligion.org, October 26
Earlier: Stories about the Nova Scotia bishop and the child porn charges

A parliamentary man in a partisan age
Our local MP, Peter Milliken, recently became the longest-serving Speaker in the history of the House of Commons. Wednesday night in Ottawa there was a big party at which he was feted, sponsored oddly enough by a lobbying firm. Eight-and-a-half years is not that long really, given that many MPs marinate leisurely in the House for twice that time. Indeed, Milliken himself has been the MP for Kingston and the Islands since 1988, before I first arrived at Queen's. The students who started university this year were not born when Milliken defeated Conservative Cabinet minister Flora Mac-Donald. Given that the latter had nary a conservative bone in her body, the election of the former was a change in party but not in principle.
Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Post, October 26

Christian singer charged in 1993 Kelowna murder
For 16 years, Jennifer Schroeder kept the hope alive that the person who murdered her friend Jennifer Cusworth in Kelowna would be brought to justice. That hope has taken a giant step forward with the arrest of Neil George Snelson, 43, a Christian singer and songwriter and father of four.
The Province, October 27

A Church and its haters
Catholic-bashing is indeed the last acceptable prejudice
Michael Coren, National Post, October 27

Who believes in reincarnation? Chinese Christians
It's not only North Americans raised on Christianity and Judaism, many of whom have rejected their institutional religions, who are now being drawn to various forms of Buddhism, which generally teaches reincarnation. It turns out a new study has found that one out of four Chinese Christians hold onto a belief in reincarnation, a concept about consciousness after death that was rejected by the church fathers soon after the time of Jesus of Nazareth.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, October 27

Holy Discovery
Dr. Karl Skorecki works on the cutting edge of molecular science, revolutionizing medicine through genetics and the use of stem cells to test anti-cancer therapies. But as a sideline, the former University of Toronto professor has become world famous for applying genetics to genealogy and transforming history. He has found evidence to support traditional claims that modern-day Jewish priests, Cohanim, are descended from a single common male ancestor -- biblically said to be Aaron, the older brother of Moses.
National Post, October 28

Would God regulate?
Spiritual leaders talk about the economic downturn
Globe and Mail, October 29

Convicted wife killer Colin Thatcher challenges Saskatchewan law over book profits
The provincial government is trying to seize the money from Thatcher's book under the law which is meant to stop criminals from financially benefiting from their stories.
Canadian Press, October 29
Earlier: Stories about Colin Thatcher and his new book

The Vatican's man in Canada
Outgoing nuncio Luigi Ventura has revitalized the Catholic Church in this country
Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Post, October 29

Jewish-Catholic dialogue, with a twist
This blog has been quite serious for a while. So, on a lighter note, here is a Jewish-Catholic tale that says a lot about the challenges of interfaith dialogue, of finding a common language across differences.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, October 29

October 29/2009