You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Office of Religious Freedom’ tag.
Hey I need some help eroding the church/state separation. Lets ask the experts!
I’m not really sure what is so shit-hot about the attitudes and conventions of the Dark Ages, but Harper and his government have decided to fecklessly dive into the land of pants-on-head stupid and establish a official government bureau of “Religious Freedom”. Let’s be clear, not something useful like an office sponsoring freedom FROM religion, so sorry Rishma of Pakistan, you still get be sentenced to death for allegedly burning pages from a magic book. Because, obviously we need MORE religion in the world because rational thought is too fucking hard to deal with.
“The federal government’s long-awaited Office of Religious Freedom will be unveiled soon, officials say, after months of delays caused by difficulty in finding the right person to head the office.
The new body, which will be housed within the Department of Foreign Affairs, was expected to be up and running earlier this year.
But a senior government official told CBC News that Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has had a hard time finding someone to fill the role of ambassador to head up the office. Two people who were approached ultimately turned the post down for logistical and personal reasons.?
Reasons why? Because being head of the Canadian christian god brigade overseas is not appealing. I’m really flabbergasted at my government right now. I’m imaging that in some meeting some wonk pops this ass-blister of a suggestion and throws it out there –
“Hey, you know that separation of church and state thing, its dumb, lets set up an office and get the government officially involved in delusional religious shit”. Ohh the meetings goes quiet. “But where are we going to get the money?” says Economic Wonk, our resident member of brain trust of turdistan says, “oh, well we closed a bunch of science and research down there is plenty of money saved from that…”.
And then there was cabinet/Harper approval. Yes, lets close down scientific research on one hand and fund the promotion of stale religious brain-flatulence from the bronze age. Brilliant! How can we lose? It is astonishing that people voted for people that actually endorse this sort of thinking.
“Some supporters of the idea have grown frustrated with the long wait. The $5-million office was first announced during the May 2011 election campaign as a centrepiece of the government’s foreign policy.”
A vesitgal bone thrown at the dumb-as-dirt religious value voters that worked. Apparently jebus said lower corporate tax rates so we can screw the rest of society over. To my idjit right of centre commentators, did you notice that you only get lip-service paid to your nuttily-regressive ‘social conservative” goals all the while the economic conservatives who hold the real power happily continue to gut the bastions of the social democratic state? You think getting screwed over would become tiresome after the nth time, apparently you thought in 2011, *this* time it would be different.
Bhatti argues the new ambassador must be objective.
“The person shouldn’t be one-sided,” he said. “He doesn’t focus on the one religion, or one persecution. He will treat every religion equally and give his recommendation to the foreign office and government regarding truth and reality.”
I don’t even know what this means. But I think I would be a good candidate for the job. I all religions the same, with contempt, would this make me a good candidate for the job? Probably not since the ability to think clearly is not selected for when trying to get a job within a religion.
“As CBC NEWS reported last year, internal Foreign Affairs documents showed nearly all of the panellists who participated in a closed-door consultation with Foreign Affairs last fall in Ottawa were drawn from Western religions, primarily Christianity. Few Muslims were in attendance and there were no Muslim panellists.
Arvind Sharma, a Canadian scholar of religion, has been carefully monitoring the government’s plans, and says the idea presents a great opportunity for Canada on the world stage.
But the McGill University professor warns that’s only if Canada avoids promoting proselytization.”
Yep, Canadian Christians for Christ, sponsored by the secular government of Canada? *sigh* Canada is a secular democracy and really needs to axe this crumby idea.
Giving government support to mythology is stupid and needs to stop before even more people get that idea that religion is an still acceptable choice in the 21st century.
We believe in spending your money on departments whose focus is the encouragement of illusion over reality. That is all.
Where to begin with such a malodorous concept? Starting with irony is always good, so… for instance how about the blinding irony of the Conservatives dedication to ‘austerity and smaller government’? How this equates with creating nebulous departments with equally nebulous goals defies rational comprehension.
“It was a Conservative campaign promise meant to promote religious freedom worldwide.
The promise, the Tories said, was to give a Canadian foreign policy focus to oppressed religious minorities in places such as Egypt, Pakistan, China and Iran.”
Well, it sorta sounds good, but how does this mission statement jive with the rest of Canada’s foreign policy?
“Last month, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird called freedom of religion a linchpin of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedom and Bill of Rights. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has also touted the new office, hoping Canada would step forward as a major champion of international religious rights.
At an hour-long interfaith meeting in Toronto on Wednesday, participants Abdul Hai Patel, of the Canadian Council of Imams, and Rev. Bhante Saranpala, of the West-End Buddhist Cultural Centre, said Baird noted the “office doesn’t have any teeth.”
But Baird spokesperson Joseph Lavoie said the minister was referring to the office’s legislative influence around the world.
“At the end of the day, we can’t force another government to do anything,” Baird said in a later interview.”
Oh, so we are going to set up a government bureaucracy to send guilt-inducing notes to other countries tell them about how to run their countries, fantastic. Of course, the amazing rate of failure will be promptly ignored by the Conservative powers that be because as always, ideological concerns always trump science and empirical evidence.
“the new entity — which will cost $5 million, employ five and, Lavoie said, launch in early 2012 — has rankled a number of Canadian religious organizations, human rights groups and academics, who remain unsure of what it hopes to achieve and whose interests it will serve”
Well, with no tangible goals, its impossible to get a bad evaluation. Win!!
““It could be argued that a secular government is well-positioned to (promote religious freedom abroad) because it doesn’t have a vested interested in any particular community,” said Tamas, who attended the October consultation. Baha’is face persecution in a number of Muslim countries, including Iran.”
Just out of the goodness of our hearts. Wowzers! It certainly couldn’t be a sweetheart nod to the deluded Conservative base here in Canada, nope nope nope no irrelevant agency adding mindless persiflage to our foreign policy. The ORF will make a difference.
“MacDonald points to Harper’s trip to China next month. While Harper has criticized China’s commitment to human rights in the past, the country remains one of Canada’s largest trading partners, with $13.2 billion in exports and $44.5 billion in imports in 2010.
MacDonald said it is “absolutely inconceivable” that the Tories will speak out against China’s well-documented persecution of Christians and the Falun Gong. In October, Baird voiced support for China’s Christians and Falun Gong, as well as its oppressed Tibetans and Uyghurs”.
Err…
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
Your opinions…