Alberta Religious Groups Funded by Canada Summer Jobs

Slowly, but slowly, we're working our way through the list of religious groups that have applied for and will get Canada Summer Jobs grants. To counter the totally false spin that NO religious groups applied or were not rejected.

Next up, Alberta. By riding, with MP and party affiliation.

Note: I was going by name only. All (known) religious groups got tagged. Others that sounded "churchy" got checked. Caps and quotation marks from original document. Where "no website" is noted I could not find a website for that particular group. (Obviously there is a website for "United Church of Canada" but sometimes I couldn't find one specific to that riding.) Where a link is not provided, it is elsewhere in this blogpost.

Remember that MPs get final say -- if they want it -- in which groups get funded.

Banff-Airdrie
MP Blake Richards, Con.
The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Airdrie, no website
St. Andrew's United Church

Battle River-Crowfoot
MP Kevin Sorenson, Con.
Bashaw United Church
Prairie Tabernacle Congregation
Mount Olive Evangelical Free Church

Bow River none
MP Martin Shields, Con.

Calgary Centre
MP Kent Hehr, Lib
Lifespring Community Church
Jewish Family Service Calgary
Knox United Church
Catholic Family Service !!!
Rocky Mountain Church of Christ
Altadore Baptist Church of Calgary
Christian Life Assembly Society of Calgary

Calgary Confederation
MP Len Webber, Con.
ABVM Ukrainian Catholic Parish
Greenhills Christian Fellowship
United/Presbyterian Campus Ministry

Calgary Forest Lawn none
MP Deepak Obhrai, Con.

Calgary Heritage
MP Bob Benzen, Con.
The Calgary Jewish Academy
Calgary Jewish Community Campus Corporation
"St. Andrew's United Church, Calgary, Alberta" no website

Calgary Midnapore
MP Stephanie Kusie, Con.
Central Organization for Jewish Education Lubavitch Alberta
Deer Park United Church


Calgary Nose Hill none
MP Michelle Rempel, Con


Calgary Rocky Ridge
MP Pat Kelly, Con.
Muslim Association of Canada
Westview Baptist Church Society
Victory Christian Fellowship of Calgary NW


Calgary Shepherd
MP: Tom Kmiec Con check
Emma Maternity House Society is a partner to ‪Fake Clinic Calgary Pregnancy Centre.‬
Evangel Christian Assembly
Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Calgary Signal Hill none
MP Ron Liepert, Con.

Calgary Skyview
MP Darshan Singh, Independent
Muslim Association of Canada
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at Canada Inc.
"The Redeemed Christian Church of God, House of Praise"

Edmonton Centre
MP Randy Boissonnault, Lib
Islamic Family and Social Services Association (IFSSA)
Robertson-Wesley United Church
St. Andrew's United Church
Young Life of Canada

Edmonton Griesbach
MP Kerry Diotte, Con.
Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers
Fresh Manna Fellowship of Edmonton
Arabian Muslim Association no website
Ukrainian Catholic Women's League Canada -Edmonton Eparchy

Edmonton Manning
MP Ziad Aboultaif, Con.
Young Life of Canada

Edmonton Mill Woods
MP Amarjeet Sohi, Lib
Young Life of Canada
The First Mennonite Church

Edmonton Riverbend
MP Matt Jeneroux, Con
Riverbend United Church

Edmonton Strathcona
MP Linda Duncan, Lib
Bethel Korean Baptist Church of Edmonton
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at Canada Inc.
Centre for Spiritual Living
Young Life of Canada
Citadel International Church
Holy Trinity Church (Anglican)
United Church of Canada no website

Edmonton West
MP Kelly McCauley, Con.
Young Life of Canada
Hosanna Lutheran Church at Luther Place
Central Organization For Jewish Education Chabad Lubavitch of Edmonton
Edmonton Hebrew Association
Muslim Association of Canada

Edmonton Wetaskiwin
MP Mike Lake, Con.
City Life Christian Centre - Church & Ministries Alberta
Mulhurst Lutheran Church Camp Association
Covenant Bay Bible Camp Society
Lighthouse Fellowship Wetaskiwin

Foothills
MP John Barlow, Con.
One Hope Canada
Mill Creek Baptist Camp Ltd.

Fort McMurray-Cold Lake
MP David Yurdiga, Con.
Markaz-Ul-Islam
Gethsemane International Assembly

Grande Prairie-Mackenzie
MP Chris Warkentin, Con.
One Hope Canada
Young Life of Canada

Lakeland
MP Shannon Stubb, Con.
Moose Lake Pentecostal Youth Camp Society
Lakeland Roman Catholic Separate School District No.150
Shiloh Rebman Youth Ranch Society
Moose Lake Gospel Camp no website

Lethbridge
MP Rachel Harder, Con
Misericordia Fellowship Center
Lethbridge First Baptist Church
Victory Christian Fellowship of Lethbridge(1983) Inc.
McKillop United Church

Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner
MP Geln Motz, Con.
First Assembly of God

Peace River-Westlock
MP Arnold Viersen, Con
/Clyde Christian Bible Church

Red Deer-Lacombe
MP Blaine Calkins, Con.
Gull Lake Baptist Camp Ltd.
Rehoboth Christian Ministries
Sylvan Lake Lutheran Bible Camp Association

Red Deer-Mountain View
MP Earl Dreeshen, Con.
Salem Acres Bible Camp Association
Red Deer First Church of the Nazarene
Mennonite Church Alberta

Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan
MP Garnett Genuis, Con
Fort Saskatchewan Community Baptist Church
Young Life of Canada
"Bethel Lutheran Church of Sherwood Park, AB"

St. Albert-Edmonton none
MP Michael Cooper, Con.

Sturgeon River-Parkland
MP Dane Lloyd, Con.
St. Andrew's United Church Thrift Shop

Yellowhead
MP Jim Eglinski, Con.
Living Faith Evangelistic Association
Edson United Church
Christian Youth Camps Inc. no website

There are a couple of Catholic organizations here. I wonder if they will give back the money as demanded by the bishops.

There is also a Twitter thread.

Religious Groups in Saskatchewan Who Respect Charter Rights

In the "kerfuffle" over the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) attestation, the spin put on by the media and the Conservatives has been astounding. Despite the tons of research done by Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC) volunteers, the usual suspects continued to paint it as "ideological coercion" etc.

This from today is typical. Waaah! Thousands of jobs lost to "Liberal forced speech" in Saskatchewan.

So, I decided to have a look. Approved employers for the 2018 CSJ program have been posted by province, then by riding.

The riding is important because MPs get to have final say on who gets what, as ARCC volunteers showed in a searchable PDF with agencies, ridings, MPs, and parties. (Totally ignored by MSM.)

I'm just going by the names of the groups. If they sound "churchy," I've looked further. There are 1363 grants approved, multiples to some like the University of Saskatchewan.

There were lots and lots of First Nations, towns, and villages. Which puts the lie to one of the Conservative claims -- that FNs, towns, and municipalities would not apply.

They did and were successful.

There are 43 successful "religious groups" listed with some repeats, for example, Salvation Army. Saskatchewan, of course, is the home of Andrew Scheer, Ralph Goodale, and Brad Trost.

Here they are by riding.


Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek
MP Kelly Block, Con.
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan - Shekinah Retreat Centre
Mennonite Nursing Homes Inc.
Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine Inc.
Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church, no website
Christian Horizon
Lutheran Early Learning Center Inc

Cypress Hills - Grasslands
MP David Anderson, Con.
The Salvation Army Cypress HIlls-Grasslands

Desnethé-Missinipppi-Churchill River
MP Georgina Jolibois, NDP
St. John Bosco Camp
The Quest at Christopher Lake Baptist Camp and Retreat Centre Inc
Kinasao Lutheran Bible Camp
Okema Society For Christian Development
Meadow Lake Alliance Church
Camp Tapawingo Tamarack Presbytery United Church of Canada

Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan
MP Tom Lukiwski, Con.
The Salvation Army Beaver Creek Camp
Christian Horizons Moose Jaw
The Salvation Army
The Alliance Church Moose Jaw
Lutheran Sunset Home of Saskatoon
Kedleston Gospel Camp Inc.


Prince Albert
MP Randy Hoback, Con.
Living Waters Camp
One Hope Canada Stoney Lake Bible Camp
Nipawin Apostolic Church
Anglican Parish of St. David
Youth Farm Bible Camp

Regina-Lewvan
MPErin Weir, NDP
CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH NORTH REGINA [caps in original, I'm too lazy to change them]
LOOK! CATHOLICS! Catholic Family Services - Regina
United Church Housing Corporation no website
Rosewood Park Alliance Church Inc.
Westhill Park Baptist Church

Regina-Qu'Appelle
MP Andrew Scheer, Con.
Echo Lake Bible Camp Corporation
Saskatchewan Conference - United Church of Canada

Regina-Wascana
MP Ralph Goodale, Lib
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at Canada Inc.

Saskatoon West
MP Sheri Benson, NDP
Carpenter's Church of God Inc.
The Governing Council of the Salvation Army Saskatoon

Saskatoon-Grasswood
MP Kevin Waugh, Con.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Saskatoon Inc
Islington United Church no website

Saskatoon-University
MP Brad Trost, Con.
One Hope Ministries of Canada

Souris-Moose Mountain
MP Robert Kitchen, Con.
OneChurch.ca
Estevan Church Of God
One Hope Ministries of Canada - Kenosee Lake Bible Camp
Southeast Saskatchewan Youth for Christ Inc.
Moosomin Baptist Church Inc.

The Twitter thread if you want to cite it is here.

So, far from "thousands" of jobs lost, it looks as if a fair number were created. By Catholics (!), various Protestant sects, including Evangelicals, and Muslims.

Anyone who wants this, feel free to take it, repost it, whatever. Credit would be nice but not necessary.

Again, Public Funding Given to Religious Anti-Abortion Group

Back in January 2009, DJ! reported on public funding -- in the form of a Trillium Foundation grant -- being given to a crisis pregnancy centre, aka a Christian slut-shaming organization. I wrote to the foundation to ask its justification for this largesse but never heard back. (In truth, I didn't follow up.)

That was a rather minor grant of $8,600.

In April this year, a far larger grant was made to another fake clinic in Sarnia.

From the Foundation's website:

Lambton Crisis Pregnancy Centre

$83,800 over two years to operate a satellite office in rural Lambton County that educates women facing unplanned pregnancy on the options that are available to them.

Let's back up a bit. For those who haven't heard of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, it is the sop to our collective conscience for our government-run numbers racket, aka the "gaming industry".

Basically, the Ontario government preys on the hopes and delusions of its citizens, rakes in a ton of dough, then parcels some of it out to community and health centres, boys and girls clubs, you get the idea.

Now regular readers of DJ! know what crisis pregnancy centres are but here's a quick refresher on how they work at the moment in ass-backwards Texas.

In many of the Excited States, these evil organizations get actual taxpayers' money handed out to them specifically to lie to, manipulate and shame women. (Check the Texas link for some breath-taking dollar figures.)

So, sure, we have them here in Canada -- just yesterday, the Grand Opening of a new one was reported in Strathmore, Ontario -- but they are privately funded by churches and other meddlesome panty-sniffers.

Or so we thought.

But now we learn that $83,800 of Ontario "gaming" enthusiasts' hard-earned dough has been doled out to a religious organization.

What do we think of this, fellow fans of fairness, democracy, and accountability?

Here is the website for the Lambton Crisis Pregnancy Centre. It's fairly standard for these operations, offering, for example, "post-abortion counselling".

No matter how long ago your abortion took place, it is never too late to seek healing and resolution. Heart’s Hope is facilitated in a group or can also be in a one-on-one setting. It is a ten week program that allows you the opportunity to face your decision, grieve your loss and promote healing. Our trained facilitators will treat you with compassion and empathy; we recognize that grief is a deeply personal thing and we aim to gently guide you through that process.

Because abortion is always and inevitably a "loss" that requires "healing" and "grieving," right?

It is a registered charity and on its donation page it includes a link to Canadian Council of Christian Charities, lest there be any confusion about where they're coming from.

I plan to write to the Trillium Foundation (contact info here) to ask again about this practice. You can too.

It also has a Twitter account, @ONTrillium.

This is public money. It should NOT be going to religious brainwashing concerns. If "we" as the people of Ontario must bilk our neighbours of money, at least let's salve our consciences by sharing the ill-gotten gains with organizations that actually do some good in our communities.

UPDATE: A response:

@fernhilldammit Thanks for this. As a public funder, we don't condone discriminatory practices. Getting info. We'll get back to you tmw.

— Ontario Trillium Fdn (@ONTrillium) October 30, 2014

Kansas? Louisiana? Nope. New Brunswick refers patients to religious counsellors

Imagine for a moment that you or a friend or rellie has a health concern. It's not (yet) 911-ambulance time, but you want some information on what your options are should it come to that.

All (?) provincial health ministries run handy tele-health lines with supposedly trained professionals ready to answer your questions with good, up-to-date info. In New Brunswick, this service is called Telecare.

Back in April, when we learned that the only private abortion clinic east of Montreal was closing, we predicted that there'd be some unintended consequences for the NB and PEI governments, both of which have stupid and illegal rigamaroles for abortion services.

The Morgentaler Clinic acted as a safety valve. For women who could afford it and arrange the travel, time off work, child care etc, the clinic provided an "out" for these two governments.

Fine, they could say, you want a "non-medical" abortion? Go to Morgentaler's and pay for it yourself.

Not anymore.

So what will the governments of NB and PEI say to women now?

Well, now we know.

Telecare NB is referring patients who need medical advice to anti-choice religious counsellors. (From Radio-Canada, via Google translation checked and improved by deBeauxO.)

Women who contacted the organization Telecare for information on abortion services in New Brunswick, claim that they were directed to pro-life services.

Telecare is an information and advice line on health within the Ministry of Health of New Brunswick.

Learning of the closure of the Morgentaler Clinic, Marilyn Merritt-Gray, a retired nurse, wanted to know what abortion services remain available.

She called Telecare, claiming that her daughter wanted an abortion.

The person who answered her call found in the system an organization which, it was explained to her, provides services to women facing an unwanted pregnancy.

It was BirthRight, a pro-life organization.

"I was shocked and angry! "- Marilyn Merritt-Gray, retired nurse.

Other women were given the same reference that Marilyn Merritt Gray received.

BirthRight offers free pregnancy tests, psychological support, housing help, transportation, child education, or assistance in finding a doctor.

But the organization will not present abortion as one of the possible options.

The Department of Health says an audit of the situation is underway.

According to Jaden Fitzherbert*, other women were referred not only to Birthright, but to CPCs (aka fake abortion clinics) in St John and Moncton.

Birthright is a bit different from other fake clinics in that it "has a philosophy of avoiding direct involvement in pro-life or pro-choice political advocacy."

The other two are forthrightly religious and up to their eyeballs in anti-choice activism, most notably as big players in the March For Life bunfest organized by New Brunswick Right to Life, located conveeeeniently adjacent to the Morgentaler Clinic.

Whether avowedly religious or not, all share a rabid anti-choice position and no medical qualifications whatsoever.

So, call a government agency looking for healthcare information and get directed to faith-based propaganda, masquerading as "counselling."

It's very like the situation commenter Beijing York related here, on a post on whether MDs should be allowed to let their religion trump patient care.

I brought up an example from personal experience where I suspected that I needed a psychiatrist and was told to seek a pastor or priest for guidance by the replacement physician at my on campus clinic.

It's shocking, insulting, and (bitterly) laughable. But completely predictable.

The New Brunswick government was and is totally unprepared to deal with the fallout from shutting off its only abortion safety valve. Its idiotic rules created the Morgentaler Clinic and those rules eventually closed it.

And now they're up shit creek.

In May, a new organization, Reproductive Justice New Brunswick attempted to warn NB lawmakers of the impending crisis.

Did they take any notice? Make any preparations? Obviously not.

I don't know what Reproductive Justice NB plans next, but if I were involved, I'd be organizing a raft of questions for Telecare operators, to be recorded for future reference (recording telephone calls is legal in Canada if one party -- in this case the caller -- knows about the recording).

Some questions for the Teleccare operators.

1. Is abortion legal in New Brunswick?

2. Is abortion covered under provincial health insurance?

3. How do I access this service?

4. Can you direct me to medically correct information on types of abortion and what to expect?

And so on.

If the government of New Brunswick gets away with this, what's next? Sending schizophrenic patients to exorcists? Referring patients for leeching?

*And why the heck is Radio-Canada the only media organization on this? Even there, there's a bit of a mystery. An earlier story appeared then disappeared, but not before an eagle-eyed ally nabbed it and ran it through Google Translate.

Abortion in NB: women looking for information are directed to pro-life clinics 
Updated Thursday, June 19, 2014 at 10 am PDT 02 

Women who contacted the organization Telecare for information on abortion services in New Brunswick, argue that they were directed to pro-life clinics. 

Telecare is an information and advice line on health within the Ministry of Health of New Brunswick. 

Jaden Fitzherbert contacted Telecare, she was sent to three organizations openly pro-life without giving any information about the services available abortion. 

Number Birthright, among others, suggested to the young woman. 

Birthright is pro-life organization says, but does not advocate for the cause. 

More details to come.

Which raises an interesting question: Are other media being muzzled? Does the Progressive Conservative Government of David Alward have a now not-so-hidden agenda on abortion?

Stay tuned.


ADDED, June 21/14: Here are the details of Jaden Fitzherbert's research.


ADDED, June 23/14: Where to get accurate info on abortion in New Brunswick.

UPDATE (July 4/14): There is now a crowdsourcing effort to at least continue the lease on the clinic. A first step in taking back control of women's rights in NB.

UPDATE (July 23/14): Informal poll on provincial health hotlines. Mostly acceptable. Only in New Brunswick (big surprise), Nova Scotia, and Manitoba do telehealth operators refer people seeking information on abortion to "fake clinics."

Should Ontario MDs Be Allowed to Refuse Basic Healthcare to Women?

There was a spot of bother a few months back when "at least three" Ottawa family doctors refused to prescribe birth control because such an act would violate their Gord-given right to control women.

The Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, feeling the heat, has decided to revisit its policy on human rights and is inviting public input.

The site says the questionnaire will take only a few minutes and it does, but first you should read the existing policy.

It's not all bad but does provide some pretty wide wiggle-room for anti-choicers.

After citing some "general principles" from the Ontario Human Rights Codes, all good in my opinion, the policy offers this (bold mine).

College Expectations
The College has its own expectations for physicians who limit their practice, refuse to accept individuals as patients, or end a physician-patient relationship on the basis of moral or religious belief.

In these situations, the College expects physicians to do the following:

Communicate clearly and promptly about any treatments or procedures the physician chooses not to provide because of his or her moral or religious beliefs.

Provide information about all clinical options that may be available or appropriate based on the patient’s clinical needs or concerns. Physicians must not withhold information about the existence of a procedure or treatment because providing that procedure or giving advice about it conflicts with their religious or moral beliefs.

Treat patients or individuals who wish to become patients with respect when they are seeking or requiring the treatment or procedure. This means that physicians should not express personal judgments about the beliefs, lifestyle, identity or characteristics of a patient or an individual who wishes to become a patient. This also means that physicians should not promote their own religious beliefs when interacting with patients, nor should they seek to convert existing patients or individuals who wish to become patients to their own religion.

Advise patients or individuals who wish to become patients that they can see another physician with whom they can discuss their situation and in some circumstances, help the patient or individual make arrangements to do so.

OK, what's with the namby-pambyness? "In some circumstances"? Should be "in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES refer a patient to a practitioner whom the referrer KNOWS will provide the needed service." They can't get away with waving their hands and saying, "See someone else."

The situation is particularly problematic in under-served areas. What if there is only one OB-GYN for a large area and he or she refuses to prescribe contraception (or some forms of it), insert IUDs, or perform abortions?

What if one or more of a small number of GPs for a region refuses to prescribe birth control or refer for abortion?

How far do they expect women to travel to get basic everyday healthcare?

I don't know how it could be implemented, but the special circumstances of under-served areas require some creative thinking on the part of the College.

In any event, referrals must be mandatory. No exceptions.

We'll say it again. Women's rights and women's healthcare are NOT fucking conscience issues.


Public Service Section
Here's the survey. If you have a few minutes and care about this issue, please give them your thoughts.

Also on its invitation page is a quick poll, one question.

Do you think a physician should be allowed to refuse to provide a patient with a treatment or procedure because it conflicts with the physician’s religious or moral beliefs?

Yes or No.

Currently there are 1090 votes, 984 of which say religion trumps patient care. That's 90%. And that's hard to believe.

LifeShite is directing readers to the survey and quick poll. Gee, do you think they're freeping it?

Since we know most casual, i.e. non-frothing, fetus fetishists have the attention span of a gnat, that's probably as much as they're going to do.

So, certainly answer the one quick question, but if you can take the time, please do the survey.

ADDED: There's also a discussion board. Some interesting stuff there, but lots of whinging from the usual suspects.

The Best Argument For Comprehensive SexEd In Canadian Schools

Once upon a time in the Dominion of Canada, there were abortion bans and criminal restrictions, imposed by legislation and enforced by police.

Some effects of these laws were as follows:

They ignored utero-human needs and were done without consultation of the populace affected.
They showed utero-humans, by law, the only real life value of a utero-human was expressed in their fertility and that fertility must be controlled by the state.
They killed utero-humans who desperately resorted to unsafe abortion methods.
They criminalized utero-humans whose only crime was being pregnant
They caused humiliation, scorn and shunning of utero-humans forced to continue pregnancy but not owning a wedding ring.
They caused harmful medical conditions and killed utero-humans whose forced pregnancies went biologically crippling and literally toxic
They caused utero-humans forced to continue unwanted pregnancy to drop out of education and/or employment.
They targeted utero-humans and their families who were financially disadvantaged, because evidence abounds that economically-advantaged people simply ignored the laws and had safe abortions by means of money and complicit medical staff.
They forced babies onto families already stressed by economics and other factors, closing options for betterment of the already living.
They caused utero-humans to wedlock with penile-humans they really didn't want to life partner with, but couldn't afford societal shunning; resulting in familial misery that washed over onto children in the situation.
They forced utero-humans to continue pregnancies started by rape.
They forced utero-humans whose *wanted* pregnancies had turned biologically lethal/non-viable to continue pregnancy, no matter the wasteful, costly threat to their lives and families.
They forced utero-humans to continue pregnancy, survive childbirth and then surrender the resulting baby to adoption, where, if it wasn't immediately adopted, became a ward of the foster system or orphanages, with all the hazards attached thereto.
They granted legal control over pregnant utero-humans to everyone but the utero-humans themselves. Often, 'everyone' meant 'penile-human'.

The overall effect of these laws is as follows:

THEY.DIDN'T.STOP.ABORTION. They only took away the right of utero-humans to legally and safely control their own bodies, lives and decisions.

Once upon a more recent time in Canada, those laws were finally and totally struck down, returning legal, safe control over their own bodies to utero-humans inside Canada's boundaries.

Look around at the amazingly unremarkable nation that survives in the wake of that. The quiet has maddened some.  But these Retroactors realize they're getting little traction with the adults who remember the 'When There Were Laws' bloody times, so, naturally, they're now going after the young and uninformed.

Unlike Catholic schools (mostly, but check the '6th to last' paragraph), where class credits can be gained from voluntold staffing of forced-pregnancy protests, and evangelical Protestant schools; students in Canadian public schools must have their public sidewalks turned into a target of freeze peaches in hopes of finding teenagers to plump forced pregnancy promoters' ranks.

Mostly, public school students roll their eyes and walk past the Usual Suspects, but this is an In-Your-Face vector of misinformation and oft-debunked lies.

The easiest way to innoculate young people against Arguing From Feelings and Faith is evidenced-based sexuality and reproductive education, with age-appropriate levels of actual sexual reality from elementary to high school.  (emphasis mine)

Don't wait until secondary education, it's not always an option for teenagers. Walking in to college and work environments without a grounding in sexuality and reproduction leaves teenagers and young adults having to ascend the Mt. Everest of sexuality learning curve without informing oxygen, when they could be focused on fearless learning and doing.

Sexually developing kids are under primal physical and psychological stress while shifting to adult.  It makes them vulnerable to exploiters and 'caretaker' claims about the world. Fall down on arming kids with reality and facts and critical thinking and you leave them swinging in the wind, unsafe, able to be harmed by the accusations mounted by the Just-So Feelings brigades.

Those accusations, touted by adults, inform school bullying of many stripes, escalating into the greater community, up to and including laws that deny rights to the humans and society we *have*, while praising Dystopian Up Is Down Fantasy Islands of those invested in fear and servitude.

Canada's 26 years without forced pregnancy laws is an evidenced signpost that abortion is a practical, private choice between a utero-human and medical support.  For those that weren't born before those years and don't understand the consequences of the aggressive push to return to laws as in the past, look South of the Medicine Line and gaze your fill.

Gaze upon those American laws Pro-Liferating (puns for Namos) to restrict the lives of utero-humans,  those desperate utero-humans and their allies fighting to keep the criminalizing nets from tightening, those growing underground networks to defy high sounding but bad law to support utero-humans' control of their lives.

Make no mistake, the same forced-pregnancy groups in the US are inside our borders, sharing funding. Canada's law-free quiet is the beacon that shines on their lies.  We're not perfect. Canadian access to safe abortion must still be improved, but the US pregnancy panic is the fate that awaits Canada the moment we forget how blackly despair can settle onto a utero-human's psyche when pregnancy is proved and they are now a disposable being in the eyes of their society's laws.

That is reality. Teach your children well.

PS: For those wondering at my choice of 'utero-human', remember, not all women have a uterus and fertile ova and not all men don't.  I also think sometimes, the mere use of the word 'woman' in a conversation flips some switch inside people's internalizations to marginalize associated concepts, so let's see if it makes any difference to mindsets.

My Textbook on Religion

Preface
Every society in the history of the world has engaged in some form of this batshittery. We would like to move on from it, but many, many people have made damn good livings over the centuries practicing, teaching, and writing about it, so we thought, what the hell?

Universities and colleges being no better, yours is offering you a course on this crap and here's the textbook for it.

Suck it up, buttercups.

Introduction
This text is organized along the usual nutbar lines. We'll do the oldest stuff first, when humans were still pissing their pants over thunder and lightning and stuff and came up with some (sometimes) nifty stories to explain all that terror.

Then we move on to the next phase, when some slightly smarter humans figured out that they could take control by exploiting that terror by crafting more complicated stories with gods and smiting and guilt and things like that.

They also learned to write and so textbook publishing was born.

Later, things got more sophisticated and the guys in charge (and they were all guys) decided to demonize some people and activities -- principally folks like those icky women and sexual-nonconformists and activities like thinking -- so they could have more control and more money.

Later still, they divided into a lot of gangs (helps if you've seen West Side Story or Gangs of New York or other cool movies we're too old for) to enslave other peoples and steal stuff/land and wage wars and bomb things and rape people.

Which is still going on, note.

And that's pretty much it.

There will be questions.

[Note to editors, proofreaders, formatters, and indexers: This is how the book works. We mention some deity, person, movement, you get the idea, that we want the schmoes to remember. We'll put that in bold with a parenthetical note to you guys of how many pages that shit takes up so you don't hurt your heads reading it. We'll also put other key concepts (ROTFLMAO) in bold. We guarantee that the text is as well-written, -spelled, -punctuated, and as comprehensible as any of the original sources, so you don't have to read that either. You're welcome.

Note to illustrators: please put as many colourful and pointless pictures, maps, and tables in as possible. Thanks.]

The End.

Now of course those last two paras were NOT meant to get into print, but somehow, unaccountably, they did, and all the editors, proofreaders, formatters, and indexers blamed all the others.

And I feel better now.

Religion Sux, Part II

Further to my post about religion's stupidifying influence on society, it should surprise no one that atheists are both discriminated against and more intelligent and ethical than superstitionists.

Long after blacks and Jews have made great strides, and even as homosexuals gain respect, acceptance and new rights, there is still a group that lots of Americans just don’t like much: atheists. Those who don’t believe in God are widely considered to be immoral, wicked and angry. They can’t join the Boy Scouts. Atheist soldiers are rated potentially deficient when they do not score as sufficiently “spiritual” in military psychological evaluations. Surveys find that most Americans refuse or are reluctant to marry or vote for nontheists; in other words, nonbelievers are one minority still commonly denied in practical terms the right to assume office despite the constitutional ban on religious tests.

Rarely denounced by the mainstream, this stunning anti-atheist discrimination is egged on by Christian conservatives who stridently — and uncivilly — declare that the lack of godly faith is detrimental to society, rendering nonbelievers intrinsically suspect and second-class citizens.

Is this knee-jerk dislike of atheists warranted? Not even close.

A growing body of social science research reveals that atheists, and non-religious people in general, are far from the unsavory beings many assume them to be. On basic questions of morality and human decency — issues such as governmental use of torture, the death penalty, punitive hitting of children, racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, environmental degradation or human rights — the irreligious tend to be more ethical than their religious peers, particularly compared with those who describe themselves as very religious.

Consider that at the societal level, murder rates are far lower in secularized nations such as Japan or Sweden than they are in the much more religious United States, which also has a much greater portion of its population in prison. Even within this country, those states with the highest levels of church attendance, such as Louisiana and Mississippi, have significantly higher murder rates than far less religious states such as Vermont and Oregon.

As individuals, atheists tend to score high on measures of intelligence, especially verbal ability and scientific literacy. They tend to raise their children to solve problems rationally, to make up their own minds when it comes to existential questions and to obey the golden rule. They are more likely to practice safe sex than the strongly religious are, and are less likely to be nationalistic or ethnocentric. They value freedom of thought.

In an online Q&A following that article, one of the authors responded to a question on religiosity and society:

I have conducted an extensive comparison of socioeconomic conditions in 1st world countries(www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP07398441_c.pdf) that shows that among other items Americans are overworked. The overall results show that the more irreligious and progressive prosperous democracies are, the better are the societal economics conditions. Folks in secular democracies live longer, don't kill each other nearly as often, have lower abortion, STD, teen preg[nancy] rates, mental illness and so on. In part this is because good societal conditions suppress religiosity, which means it is not possible for a highly religious country to be socioeconomically successful.

'Good societal conditions suppress religiosity.'

Well, with Harper, Ford, and soon Tim 'Chain Gang' Hudak in charge of fucking up our societal conditions, I guess we can look forward to a boom in SkyDaddyism.

ADDED: Remember this poll from 2007? Merkins would (marginally) prefer a gay president over an atheist one. Yes, atheists are viewed that dimly.



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Religion Makes You Stupid and Violent

We sane people knew that, but we sane people like to have those facty-sciency thingies at hand.

We are led to believe, for example, that faith and religion are socially beneficial, that it lowers the violence of rape, murder and suicide and that it tempers juvenile misconduct. However, according to research published in the U.S. academic journal Religion and Society and as reported by The Times U.K., the opposite may be true.

Eighteen of the most prosperous democracies in the world were studied. In those countries at least 60 percent of the population accepts evolution as fact and only 10 to 30 percent believe in God. It is nearly reverse in the U.S., where a base of 60 percent do not accept evolution and anywhere from 50 to 80 percent believe in God.

The results show that in general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, rape, robbery, juvenile mortality, STD infections, teen pregnancy and abortion. As example, America’s murder rate is five to ten times higher and its rate of sexually transmitted diseases nearly 300 times higher than in secular societies; and our rates of divorce, substance abuse, social and economic inequality are off the charts. It concluded that because of the strong correlation between faith and antisocial behavior, there is reason to suppose that religious belief actually does more harm than good. . . .

But from the social scientist’s perspective there is a greater likelihood that religion leads to antisocial behavior because blind faith creates a loss of intellectual curiosity and an inability to reason.

Some direct quotes from the Times article:

“The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so.”
. . .

“The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must experience societal disaster is therefore refuted.”

QED.

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My Body, My Choice. . .

. . . unless you are an infant or minor boy whose parents' culture or religion requires circumcision.

Well, in whacky San Francisco, boys might have a choice.

Lloyd Schofield has come one step closer to achieving his mission to ban circumcision -- the surgical removal of the penile foreskin -- in the City by the Bay.

San Francisco city officials said Wednesday that Schofield had collected enough signatures -- more than 12,000 -- to put the measure on the city ballot in November 2011.

"The foreskin is there for a reason," said Schofield, who is retired from a career in the hotel industry. "It's not a birth defect. It serves an important function in a man's life, and nobody has a right to perform unnecessary surgery on another human being."

Schofield began researching circumcision several years ago and found a local group of "intactivists," people who believe that infant boys have the right to keep their foreskin intact. Together they created an advocacy group called the Prohibition of Genital Cutting of Male Minors. The ban would make it illegal to "circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate the whole or any part of the foreskin, testicles, or penis of another person who has not attained the age of 18 years."

I got no dog in this race, but I think his argument equating the procedure with female genital mutilation is a bit much.

Nonetheless, this will be an interesting debate to watch. Because there are some powerful groups* who do have a dog in this race. (Bold mine.)

Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin (prepuce) from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin circum (meaning "around") and cædere (meaning "to cut"). Early depictions of circumcision are found in cave paintings and Ancient Egyptian tombs, though some pictures are open to interpretation. Religious male circumcision is considered a commandment from God in Judaism. In Islam, though not discussed in the Qur'an, male circumcision is widely practised and most often considered to be a sunnah. It is also customary in some Christian churches in Africa, including some Oriental Orthodox Churches. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global estimates suggest that 30% of males are circumcised, of whom 68% are Muslim.

Could this be a uniting factor among/between usually unfriendly parties? As in Egypt, protesters could chant: 'Muslims, Christians, Jews, one, er, hand'.

*Interesting (NSFW) photos at the wiki link.

Miss Piggy Protests

Swine flu? Every pig to be slaughtered in Egypt? (Okay, that's only 5 but still.)

Moi thinks that the Real Swine in this story is Monsieur Agri Business. You've heard of him, the powerful figure behind the intensive pork mega-factories in North and Central America? Those hog gulags are vile; pigs would not choose to live that way. Ask George Clooney about his long-time companion Max - he was far better groomed than him, not a whisker or bristle out of place.

Moi does not agree with the tactics used by PETA. But Moi supports the premise that we are all animals. Some uprighteous animals have determined that they are Not-Animals and thus Better-Than-Animals.

Moi is an Agnostic. Organized religions follow different doctrines for raising its flocks of Not-Animals but each have their own Monsieur Religious Business. Yet Moi thinks that Islam and Judaism got it right - Pig is Not to be eaten. Never. Ever.

Celebrated, oui! Admired for her fashion sense, oui! Given Hollywood contracts - absolument! Courted and wooed by George? Swoon!

Update: Moi just read Cathie from Canada blogpost - Moi suggests the name Smithfield Flu.

The putrid smell of opportunism

Abortion criminalizers have a stench about them. It is a curious mélange of sulfurous fire-and-brimstone, medieval dry rot, fear-soaked piety, and the acrid fumes of high arrogance. In order to mask this odour, they crouch under the cloak of self-righteousness by associating their cause with respectable human rights concerns.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the anti-choice organizations deliberately co-opted the words genocide and holocaust to lend the gloss of credibility to their propaganda. As you may remember, their exploitation of these terms was challenged by the survivors and descendants of groups who have been historically targeted and subjected to ethno-focused violence or religious persecution. Grudgingly, the abortion criminalizers had to stop mis-using these two words in their publications.

In recent years, they have slithered into the proximity of civil rights activists, hoping that the credibility and legitimacy of organizations that have worked hard to eradicate racism, such as the NAACP, would somehow deodorize their anti-choice rhetorical slime. See Abortion Is Slavery and Poverty .

Observe how smoothly those who would enforce compulsory pregnancy divert criticism away from their goal of controlling women’s reproductive capacity, by proclaiming they are as pure in their thoughts and actions as those white folks who championed civil rights. Fetus fetishizers are draping themselves in the flag of the modern martyr and demanding the same respect as white civil rights workers who were excoriated for the assistance they gave to Martin Luther King and to the descendants of enslaved Black people.Quite the sleight of hand, is it not? Those who supported the civil rights movement did not set off bombs nor assassinate anyone. Given that the murderous strategies used by the extremist fringe within the anti-choice, abortion-criminalizing organizations are the same as those used by the extremist fringe within the anti-civil rights groups, the logical and correct analogy would be that “Fetus-fetishizers are the 21st century’s Jim Crow segregationists”.

If one wanted to draw a parallel between two distinctive social justice movements that are fuelled by similar motives, these are the ones who share a common vision of civil rights.

First posted at Birth Pangs.