AFT Bulletin, 2023-12-06

PRESS RELEASE, 2023-11-28

Atheist Freethinkers Supports Draft Legislation to Repeal the Religious Exception for Hate Propaganda

AFT enthusiastically supports Bill C-367, tabled today by the Bloc Québécois, which would repeal the religious exception in Canada’s hate propaganda law. This exception, paragraph 319(3)b) of the Criminal Code, is an anachronistic aberration that should never have been adopted. It states that “No person shall be convicted” of promoting hatred “if, in good faith, the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.” Consequently, an individual can convey hateful propaganda with impunity if his or her remarks are based on a religious text in which he or she claims to believe.

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The Gross Incompetence of the Canadian Human Rights Commission

On the website of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC), there is a page entitled “Discussion Paper on Religious Intolerance,” dated October 23, 2023 and indicating that it is “Anti-racism work.”

Given that its topic is religious intolerance, one would expect this publication to deal with the intolerance of religions towards non-believers, as well as towards adherents of other religions. Does it recommend the repeal of paragraph 319(3)b) of the Criminal Code of Canada, that notorious religious exception which grants impunity to religious believers in matters of hate propaganda? Does it denounce forced marriage, genital mutilation of children or religious persecution of apostates and atheists? No, not at all. The publication does not mention any of these points!

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International Solidarity with Religion-State Separation

Would your organization like to endorse this declaration? We are looking for associations, internationally, who would be interested in signing.

We, the undersigned, are secularists from various countries. The secularism which we advocate must include the basic principle of separation between religion and State. […]

In particular, we maintain that the secular State must be empowered to ban its employees—civil servants—from wearing religious symbols while on the job. The State must also apply a similar ban to public school teachers and other school personnel, including child-care centre personnel. State employees must adopt an attitude of restraint, refraining from expression of partisan religious beliefs, just as they must refrain from expressing any personal political or philosophical convictions, while acting as agents of the State or teachers of children, in order to protect the freedom of conscience of users of civil services, pupils in public schools and children in child-care centres. To behave otherwise is unprofessional. […]

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The Senate Report on Islamophobia is the Fruit of Ideological Intoxication

Nadia El-Mabrouk et François Dugré, RPL

Irresponsible? Catastrophic? Incendiary? We hesitate to find the right adjective to describe the report on Islamophobia just tabled by the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights.

While this report does suggest a few reasonable measures, it prefers to paint a hideous, simplistic picture of the situation of Canadian Muslims.[…]

The report also reiterates a highly caricatural understanding of the Loi sur laïcité de l’État (Bill 21).[…] The Senate Committee did not hear from a single one of the many Muslims who support Bill 21.[…]

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Gathering in the Pub

9^th December 2023, 4:30 pm

Pub Ste-Élisabeth, 1412 Ste-Élisabeth
Metro station Berri-UQAM or Saint-Laurent

We will meet indoors, of course.

PLEASE NOTE: Special start time 4:30 pm

Register for December 9^th event…

Monthly events in 2024

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“Wokism” as a Parareligion

[Video]

The post-left, a.k.a. “wokism,” has in reality betrayed the left. It rejects the Enlightenment values which are cornerstones of the political left. “Wokism” is antisecular, neoracist and pseudoscientific.

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AAI Hot Seat

Is cancel culture a threat to secularism?

Arif Hussain Theruvath Interviews David Rand

[Video]

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