Last night, I wondered whether it was worth writing about Ann Coulter. When I think of her at all — which isn’t too often, actually — I think of her as being a deeply vile but mostly irrelevant self-promoter. (It would be going too far to call her an ideologue, because that would imply ideas, […] More »

In the Twitter-verse, news spreads fast, is debunked faster, and is retweeted before you can think of something better to say. Gordon Lightfoot can attest to this, I’m sure. So when a long story is slowly told through the 140-character limit, it tends to make people pay attention. That’s what happened when Angie Jackson decided […] More »

Haiti suffers its worst natural disaster in hundreds of years. An estimated 200,000 people are dead or missing. Aid agencies from around the globe rush to stem deadly post-quake effects like malnutrition and cholera. And U.S. evangelical group Knobs for Jesus Faith Comes by Hearing® in the U.S. sends what? A wind-up, solar-powered talking bible. […] More »

Uganda may soon follow Nigeria in making homosexuality an offense punishable by death. The proposed legislation was apparently sparked by a visit from American members of the ex-gay movement, who believe homosexuality can be cured through therapy. Most of these groups though have since denounced the bill, which is perhaps a mark of how extreme […] More »

I love the idea of willing a new subculture into existence, and that’s the story of Taqwacore, a documentary that opens in Toronto and Montreal this weekend about the birth of “Punk Islam.” Kick-started by Michael Muhammad Knight’s book of the same name (actually, “The Taqwacores”), the new documentary chronicles the fledgling scene. It seems kind […] More »

The Dalai Lama – I am sooo sick of this guy. Commenting on the recent protests in Tibet, the Dalai Lama criticized the Chinese government for, among other things, the “politicization of religious issues.” Really?! This, coming from a man who is revered as a God-King, who once technically legally owned everything and every person […] More »

I am caged in this corner full of melancholy and sorrow … my wings are closed and I cannot fly … I am an Afghan woman and so must wail. – Nadia Anjuman, Afghan poet, murdered by her husband in 2005. One hundred and sixty-five. That’s how many Afghan women set themselves on fire in […] More »

Oscar nominations are out! In keeping with the spirit of the event, I would like to personally thank the Academy for its inclusion of the powerful and timely Persepolis, which has been nominated in the Best Animated Feature category. The hand-drawn cartoon, directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, is adapted from Satrapi’s graphic novel […] More »

Luring unsuspecting Mormons with exposed manflesh is typically the tactic of the unwashed secular masses. But Mormons exploiting puffed-up Mormon beefcake in a racy pin-up calendar for Mormon charity? This demands ridicule. It is so self-immolating in religious irony, so oiled with homoeroticism, it almost demands categorization as novelty kitsch. Or condemnation. Or church group […] More »

Should I be shocked by this? That a recent incident at Montreal’s Bordeaux correctional prison barred a recently hired prison guard from wearing her Hijab (a tradiitonal Muslim headscarf) on the job? There are a number interesting political angles here: Muslim religious attire, Quebec multicultural tolerance, employee safety interests. Is this really a Quebec specific […] More »

Over the past month, I got into the habit of reading Richard Dawkins‘ book The God Delusion on the bus and streetcar most mornings. I try to walk to work as much as I can but it’s been just too cold! It’s proven to be a very controversial book, and with its shiny cover with […] More »