Canadians, based on research published as recently as March, 2021, disaffirm or reject non-scientific ideas or mythologies posed as literal truths vis-à-vis biology. Most Canadians – 57% – affirm “human beings evolved from less advanced forms of life over millions of years.”

This statement exemplifies a scientifically educated and empirically healthy country. The education system has worked, especially when compared to most other countries in the world – even if simply moving across the Southern border.

However, or “but,” the social and political fight will continue with the fervently religious – mostly, except for David Berlinski – wanting to introduce creationism into the formal curriculum of the young.

Duly note, for those without a basic knowledge of scientific principles or modern scientific processes, none of this has gone through rigorous peer-review at highly educated and qualified levels. Even if so, not in a standard sense, it’s problematic.

Apparently, the spread of misinformed views has continued more into the general public, not on the scientific facts ground, more on the teaching grounds. Over the past two or so years, Canadians have incrementally moved towards wanting creationism taught in school. So, they don’t believe in it, mostly, but want it taught in the schools, generally.

The original idea behind Intelligent Design and creationism was precisely this wish – to innervate the school systems without scientific evidence, but with religious ideology. There were a large number of court cases in the United States defending scientific education in the biology classes.

It is theology masquerading as science. This has always been the case, including the most glaring case with the “Wedge Strategy” made public, which was a political and social action plan of the Discovery Institute. One is reminded of the failed International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID) and defunctProgress in Complexity, Information, and Design.

If the world denies the reality of their reality, then they simply move to create a blanket of make-believe. This is theocratic activity and intent. No doubt about it. Canadians must remain vigilant against it.

According to the reliable national survey, 44% of Canadians consider divine creation of live and the universe worth teaching in the school curriculum. This makes sense if a comparative religions course, and divine creation of the universe has no place in an astronomy or a biology class. The 44% is up six points from November 2019 with a similar survey.

However, 34% of Canadians would not allow teachers to discuss creationism, while 23% are unsure. The support for the inclusion of creationism is unsurprisingly high in Alberta at 53%, surprisingly in Quebec at 50%, unsurprisingly among those without much historical context in general with those aged 18 to 34 at 51%, and among men at 46%. So, women, the old, and every other province get the idea.

Mario Canseco, President of Research Co., said, “A majority of Canadians who identify as Christians (55%) are in favour of the teaching of creationism in Canada’s schools… The proportion drops dramatically among those who have no religion (22%), agnostics (15%) and atheists (12%).”

Creationism has its highest belief in Alberta at 36%, Atlantic Canada at 33%. Then it begins to normalize to national levels in Manitoba at 26%, Quebec at 25%, Ontario at 24%, and British Columbia at 22%.

The fight against theocratic incursions and ignorance continues in Canada, too.

With files from ResearchCo

Photo by Guillaume Jaillet on Unsplash

From the belief in prayers as an efficacious form of solving infection of a virus or other physical ailments to the active social and political efforts to ram creationism down the public’s throat — primarily done through the churches and creation science organizations in the country, not all religions, honestly, mostly some of the more hardcore Christian religion in Canadian society retains a highly negative impact on all of us.

It becomes particularly pronounced in the midst of pandemic circumstances when ignorant and faith-based lack of caution create havoc for the rest of the population. If death or injurious health by the coronavirus is the personal wish, then this can a respected freedom; however, the harm to others by engagement in public activities becomes another matter entirely. Something of concern to all Canadians, including other Christians who regard scientific knowledge with a modicum of respect.

Read the headlines, examine the articles, look at the criminal cases having to be launched against communities and religious leaders, these are almost always Christian in this country. It’s shameful immorality and proud ignorance on the march to kill and harm themselves and others.

The virus doesn’t care about how many times, “Hail Mary,” is said with sincere faith. It doesn’t care about the prayers, about church service, about the Bible, even about Jesus. Your fellow Canadians care. Because you’re harming yourselves, dutifully without care, and others, unfortunately. Words are cheap in pandemics.

“Sorry,” doesn’t cut it. “Sorry,” doesn’t bring back the dead or return an individual to relative lifelong optimal health. You’re at fault and should be legally and financially liable, for one, and are being lambasted and shamed publicly, for two (rightfully).

A case in point within the most recent news, a church in Courtenay had a retreat, Consumed Youth Conference. It happened between November 19 and 21 at Northgate Church. 350 kids from Grades 6 to 12. One mother Jessica Livingstone, from Campbell River, spoke out about it. Same with Stephani Hyde who has been “indirectly impacted” by the event based on 15 exposures at her daughter’s school with some linked to the event.

Livingstone said, after having seen a video of event, “There are no masks. There are no hand-washing stations. There was no social distancing. You know it was just a bunch of youth and adults basically in a Petri dish.”

“I’ve had to keep my children home from school for the last two weeks and home school them,” Hyde said.

Hyde believes the church owes the community an apology.

It doesn’t seem to cut it, honestly. Religions are given undue privileges in this country, especially the Christian religion. This can be seen with religious exemptions, which become a sort of loop hole for public image managers of the churches.

For example, Northgate Church’s communications manager, Matt Morrison, said, “At the time, the public health order was that this would fall into the religious exemption order, which meant no vaccine mandates were required and there were no capacity limits.”

This is the problem. The churches and said church communities, in general, play, by a first-order set of rules excluding them from restrictions and requirements in a pandemic required of others at different times and places in the country. Why? Then there’s the crocodile tears apology, always.

The church posted a statement on the website, saying, in part, “There is a lot of disappointment across the valley and so for any part that Northgate might have played in that we want you to know we’re truly sorry.”

Your young, and others, were unduly affected by your irresponsibility. It carries the same insincerity in its predictability of image management as, ‘Super sorry ‘bout that, bro.’

“Sorry,” doesn’t cut it. Canadians should re-examine the role of religions in Canadian society when coming into conflict with obvious knowns about science and public health.

It has been continually like this within pandemic contexts, but it has a long history.

With files from ChekNews

Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash

So, you want to be an independent journalist. First lesson: Take a different point of view.

As an independent journalist living in North America, the social and political contexts, and the historical life, of an environment affect you. The narratives can come forward at seemingly random times and different opinions about events become apparent, as opinions are like cells; everyone has them.

As frequent readers of materials in a wide range of content on most continents, excluding Antarctica, by me will gather, I live in a small town called Fort Langley in the Township of Langley known for a fundamentalist Christian community.

When doing field work, I can take different points of view into account. While doing so, these can come into casual conversations. These can be formal dialogues. These can exist as informal, off-the-record discussions over food with members of community.

Trinity Western University is the most prominent university in Canada for private universities, for Christian universities, for Evangelicals. A university with a student population larger than the local community. In this context, it becomes important to analyze.

Examine the fundaments, the basics of the theological community. A community of religious individuals devout, worshipful, Evangelical, and divinely inspired by their theity, Christ Almighty as declared in the Bible. Those in whom “pretty childish” myths — to quote Albert Einstein — are taken as literal truths upon which to live one’s life. Thusly, a community of pretty childish moral stories and, therefore, morality.

At one point, a community covenant was mandatory for all faculty, staff, administration… and students.

In 2018, unfortunate — for them, they lost 7–2 in a nationally infamous court case at the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court of Canada. Upon failing to achieve law school status, they removed mandatory status of the Community Covenant. However, this was only for students, not staff, faculty, or administration.

In this sense, they didn’t remove the authority structure upon which the Community Covenant could be enforced; the students are awash in a theology against homosexual unions with only an affirmation of heterosexual unions, which was the — ahem — crux of the issue for them.

Now, the moral of the story is the morals; they aren’t truly there. In fact, as with the longest-standing president of any Canadian university, of any type, in Canadian history, there was a controversial case. It was former TWU president Neil Snider acting as president for over 30 years and then receiving — well before MeToo — a sexual harassment claim.

In the 2000s, a former employee made a formal sexual harassment complaint against Snider. The former employee did this through the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal. The student newspaper, at the time, claimed the charge was not only against Snider, but also against the university, as a whole, for failing to respond “adequately” to the filing.

Now, bear in mind, Snider lead the university from a few hundred to several thousand students. The complaint was dropped with some promises of changes to the internal systems. Now, the moral of the story isn’t the morals here. Although, the hypocrisy is glaring because this starts with the presumably highest moral exemplar within the university at the time.

In some field work, I have come across some different views on this case. Some students, probably a lot, have zero idea about this case. One current member on the pay roll stated anonymously, ‘Snider was a sexual predator.’ Another former member who knew him noted how his wife or partner had died. They went into a long harangue about the difficulties of it — no doubt. Also, no doubt excuse-making about to ensue. They claimed, “He was lonely.”

A lonely man, therefore, unimpeachable; this gives a sense of the contexts in which authority and theology combine to create a veil of excusing the inexcusable at a postsecondary institution proclaiming itself living in the image of Christ. I don’t recall that parable.

In journalism, the different points of view can give light into the statistical perspectival imagination of a community or present glaring hypocrisies in the midst of obvious truisms. If you wish to pursue a life in independent journalism, you will have more freedom of expression and more consequences; however, often, this will make your path an alone one, assiduous, and finding challenge in challenging centers of unjustifiable power.

Photo by Microsoft 365 on Unsplash