Canada's M-103

[JimC]

[pErvinalia]

Three days ago, actually.

Coito will love the result. Perfect excuse for yet another rant about the rise of "the left" and the destruction of freedom of speech. Maybe he'll even bless us with his attempt to be funny. Unfortunately he hasn't noticed that his brand of sarcasm has become a source of boredom rather than laughter a long time ago.

Well, rant or no rant, does it not signify a rise of the anti-free speech left that such a measure would pass? I mean, other than pandering to an interest group here, what sort of nonsense is this? "Quell the rise of hatred and fear?" How? By shutting people up? Protect against comments against religions, especially mentioning that loathesome cult, Islam?

I mean, this is rather concerning. We're atheists, folks. 10 years ago and even 5 years ago on the various atheist and skeptic message boards, the idea of protecting religions from offense would have been laughed off and ridiculed. I am amazed at how many on the left -- and most atheists tend to lean left and call themselves "progressive" or "liberal" -- are willing to entertain the absurdity that is "anti-Islamophobia" measures.

I guess I can surmise it's the influence of the 20 somethings, who are coming out of college full to the brim with identity politics, microaggression, and class-struggle lingo whereby even as atheists who believe religion is bullshit, they are willing to be gagged from saying so because some fuckhead thinks their dogma is "sacred."

M-103 is a pile of shit in so many ways...

It depends if it is a protection for religion, or a protection for individuals from discrimination for belonging to that religion. I.e. Islamophobia vs Muslimophobia.

[Forty Two]

Canada already has a discrimination laws where businesses and places of public accommodation may not discriminate against people based on religion, etc.

Discrimination is treating people differently because of a particular characteristic they have, right? So, being critical or contemptuous of a religion is not discrimination, nor is being critical or contemptuous of a person's religious beliefs. Moreover, the law refers to "Islamophobia" by name, and seeks to quell it. Really? What does that mean? Stopping people from saying Islam is a shitstorm of bad ideas?

Canada’s anti-Islamophobia motion M-103 is a follow-up to another motion, e-411, which was passed in parliament in October. E-411 “suggests that attributing terrorism to Islam is Islamophobia.” It stated: We, the undersigned, Citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to join us in recognizing that extremist individuals do not represent the religion of Islam, and in condemning all forms of Islamophobia.”

Oh, really? So, now there is going to be an orthodoxy with the force of law, if they get their way, that will tell us who extremist individuals do and do not represent? They condemn ALL FORMS of islamophobia? Come the fuck on, people! Have the skeptics lost the plot? 6-10 years ago, there would be someone - probably Christopher Hitchens before his death who would be up and fighting against this utter bollocks.

Now, you've got the left out there with the mealy-mouthed - well, hate speech is bad, Muslims are marginalized, so we really should protect them from the oppressive speech of the privileged classes....who ought not be able to say mean things about the stupid-ass religion.... I mean, this shit is fucking insane. Bat, shit, insane.

Liberal MP Raj Grewal revealed an ominous intention of the “anti-Islamophobia” motion during the M-103 parliamentary debate of February 15, 2017: “One of the most important things about the motion that Canadians should understand is that it encourages a committee to collect data and to present that data in a contextualized manner so we, as members of Parliament elected to this chamber, can study it and propose laws.” LOL, riiiiiigghhhtt.... propose laws.... to stop people from being meanies about islam...

"Religion should be treated with ridicule, hatred, and contempt. And I claim that right." -- Christopher Hitchens. I claim it too, Hitch. I miss you, buddy.

I wonder what would great C.Hitch today at his university appearances and the debates about the existence or nonexistence of gods, or whether one religion or another is a force for good or evil in the world. I bet he'd be followed around by a bunch of crazy no-platforming leftist scumbags looking to "shut him down! shut him down!" because of his "hate speech and his Islamophobia!" After all, his book, " God is Not Great: Religion Poisons Everything" is Islamophobic, playing on the Allahu-Akhbar (God is Great) slogan of Muslims. It's a purposful stick in the eye of Muslims, and to say Religion Poisons Everything is hate speech, a generalization that religion is to blame for poisoning literally everything. Such blanket statements have no place in our society. Dawkins' the God Delusion - well, that's hate speech, saying religious people are "deluded.' How insulting to them. Darrel Ray should be in jail for his book The God Virus, which likens religion to a disease. Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell should land him with a fine, because he's suggesting religious people are cursed or under some magical influence causing them to believe what they believe. Sam Harris' The End of Faith is a brutal excoriation of religion. How dare he!

Thomas Manning had it right when he no-platformed Bertrand Russell right out of his post at the College of the City of New York. Such hate speech had no place then on college campus, and it has no place now. It's nice that the intellectual left can join in the old-guard reactionary right and find common ground in silencing those who speak and write the wrong ideas. This climate of hate and fear must be quelled. He advocated atheism, a rejection of all religion, sex before marriage, and all sorts of things harmful to the youth - think of the children! This must be quelled!

Let's quell the fuck out of this shit.

[pErvinalia]

Canada already has a discrimination laws where businesses and places of public accommodation may not discriminate against people based on religion, etc.

Discrimination is treating people differently because of a particular characteristic they have, right? So, being critical or contemptuous of a religion is not discrimination, nor is being critical or contemptuous of a person's religious beliefs. Moreover, the law refers to "Islamophobia" by name, and seeks to quell it. Really? What does that mean? Stopping people from saying Islam is a shitstorm of bad ideas?

Canada’s anti-Islamophobia motion M-103 is a follow-up to another motion, e-411, which was passed in parliament in October. E-411 “suggests that attributing terrorism to Islam is Islamophobia.” It stated: We, the undersigned, Citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to join us in recognizing that extremist individuals do not represent the religion of Islam, and in condemning all forms of Islamophobia.”

Sounds like things are getting a bit strange in Canada. If there's one thing I can't stand it's the refrain that extremists aren't true [insert religion]. Bullshit. A religion is nothing more than what its followers say it is. Particularly so with Islam where there is no central authority.

Sounds like there might be something to the complaints from the whiney right this time. Although, it's likely coming from a place of hate, not from a place of wanting to rid society of the poisonous influence of organised religion. But still. A broken clock and all that...

[JimC]

rEv agrees with 42!



The end times are coming!

[Brian Peacock]

OMG. That must mean rEv is a secret right-winger or 42 is a secret Marxist!

I feel duped, and angry, and confused because I don't know which one to punch first.

[pErvinalia]

[Forty Two]

Some of it is, I'm sure, coming from a place of hate. A wonderful, long, beautiful, satisfying hate. A hate of ridiculous religion called Islam. Yes, hate. I hate it. Loathe it. Loathe it like Nazism, fascism and such. Nothing wrong with that.

[JimC]

OMG. That must mean rEv is a secret right-winger or 42 is a secret Marxist!

Or both!

[Svartalf]

I'd be surprised if rEv were a right wing agent provocateur...

[Brian Peacock]

That's just what right wing agent provocateurs want you to think. Trooth blud.

[Forty Two]

Did I mention that as far as religions go, Islam is a bigger load of bullshit than most, a poor moral guide, and a catalyst for violence and oppression? Have you heard the news that Mohammed was not nice, had a penchant for bacon, and was a pedophile, according to the Holey Whorean?

I avow an utter loathing of almost all things Islamic, and I wish for Islam to go away. I would like all Islamic folk to become apostates to their religion, deny their made-up deity, and stop paying attention to the desert-tribesman's nonsense....it's complete and utter hogwash.

Fuck M-103. Fuck hate speech laws that prohibit ridicule and contempt and hatred of religion. Those laws and motions are abominations, insults to human dignity and an affront to all that is good and right in the world.

[Woodbutcher]

M-103 is a motion. This is what it means:http://www.differencebetween.com/differ ... d-vs-bill/. If it should become a bill, it will be discussed and possibly amended:http://guides.library.queensu.ca/gov/ca ... omes-a-law. Even then, it might not become a law.
Some motions are crazy, so they become these:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKpVQm41f8Y.

[Forty Two]

There is only one reason to pass M103, and that is as a precursor to grease the wheels for legislation

[JimC]

Well, perhaps it would be sensible to wait and see whether it ever becomes law, rather than do the whole "the sky is falling" thing...