Here’s your Canadian Atheist Weekly Update for to .
![[A cartoon, in which a student asks: “Professor, why are they called irrational numbers?” The Professor answers: “Have you ever tried talking to one?”]](https://www.canadianatheist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/saturday-morning-breakfast-cereal-2020-02-04-irrational-panels-1-and-2.png)
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[] The Conservative Party will stand up for LGBTQ Canadians – now that it’s easy and convenient
Ouch. This piece pulls no punches, right from the opening line. The primary targets may be the Conservatives, but this piece should be interpreted as a burn on virtually all contemporary politicians.
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[] “Oil” by Zach Weinersmith (Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)
I can’t help but wonder if it’s a coincidence that this comic came out around the same time as The Goop Lab.
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[] What is the ‘proper’ place of religion?
I have a pet peeve about most reporting about secularism: almost all of it gets secularism completely wrong. This article is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. It pretends to be talking about secularism… but right from the start it brings up laïcité, and it turns out the whole fucking article is all about laïcité, and not secularism. And then it gets worse from there. After pointing out that laïcité is incoherent – which, yeah, it is – it goes on to say that the only way to “fix” the problems of laïcité is to completely abandon secularism. Insert atomic-bomb-scale facepalm here. This is why we need to get this shit straight, and stop conflating laïcité and secularism. The former is incoherent, and wrong, but the absolutely justified criticisms and dislike of it are being illegitimately transferred to secularism. We need to protect secularism from being undermined in this way by drawing a clear, bright, sharp line between laïcité and secularism.
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[] How one Toronto church is beating the odds
I generally don’t bother linking to these stereotypical stories of how some plucky little church or faith community is managing to hold together amidst the unrelenting advancement of secularism (that last word should be read in a scary voice). They’re generally pretty stupid, and many of them borderline offensive to nonbelievers. And there are a lot of them… I ain’t exaggerating: I could easily fill every Update every week with at least a half-dozen of them. But this one caught my eye… because I’m honestly not sure if it’s a Poe. I’m serious; I’m legitimately unable to decide whether the author is a secret atheist taking the piss with Beaverton levels of satirical depth, or if they’re just clueless about what they’re actually saying. Because it turns out the answer to “how one Toronto church is beating the odds” turns out to be: by ditching the religion and actually doing useful (secular) stuff. Seriously! Read it for yourself and judge.
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[] “Irrational” by Zach Weinersmith (Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)
If you think that conversation went sideways fast, you should try talking to a surreal number.
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[] Fort St John overhauls permissive tax exemptions
So, just a week ago or so, the executive director of the British Columbia Humanist Association won the Canadian Atheist Person of the year award, and in the write-up explaining why, I was forced to select only one of the BCHA’s many victories over the past year or two to highlight. As freaky luck would have it, the one I chose was their religious property tax exemptions study, where I noted that it actually had real-world impact: it got Saanich to start moving toward a public benefits test. Well, guess what? Chalk another victory up on the BCHA’s tally.
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[] Inside The World Of Religious Airlines
I come from a family of pilots, and this whole thing is batshit to me. I mean, I’m aware of El Al, Saudia, and Royal Brunei, and I’m aware they have their quirks – mostly limited to serving only kosher/halal meals. But I never considered them religious airlines… certainly not to the extent that this Judah 1 company is touting its Christianity. Is this really something the world needs? Are secular airlines (or airlines founded by people of other religions) somehow failing to service Christians adequately? Or is this really just a transparently cheap and offensive marketing ploy?
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[] New Poll: Majority of Canadians support expanding access to medical assistance in dying
That a majority of Canadians support expanding access to medical assistance in dying is unsurprising; Canadians are generally very progressive when asked about specific issues without triggering partisan leanings. Still, even I am surprised by the size of the majorities here. Hell, even when asked if people without any illness should be allowed to request MAiD, 75% said yes. It’s like the only people left in Canada who oppose expanding access to MAiD are the Liberal and Conservative caucuses.
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