Confessions of a Baptist

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" 

He said, "Nobody loves me." 

I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?" 

He said, "Yes." 

I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" 

He said, "A Christian." 

I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" 

He said, "Protestant." 

I said, "Me, too! What denomination?" 

He said, "Baptist." 

I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" 

He said, "Northern Baptist." 

I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?" 

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." 

I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" 

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." 

I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" 

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." 

I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him off the bridge.

From a comment by "Hog of Steel" on a Breitbart News story about the upcoming prayer meeting of two heretics (Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III) at the Vatican. According to Mr Steel, this was voted (he doesn't say by whom) the funniest religious joke of all time in 2005.

Even-greater Debate upcoming: Pope Francis vs Jesus

"Pope Challenges Jesus To Debate On Whether All Religions Lead To God"

C'mon, you know it's gotta be from the Babylon Bee, right? The Bee is "your trusted source for Christian satire". 

Excerpt: "I heard Jesus said something bigoted about 'no one coming to the Father except through me', and ugh - that's just so exclusionary! So, I've challenged God Incarnate to a debate so I can teach Him a thing or two about how people come to God."

Serious note from Ed.: Those who don't get this are invited to read the Gospel of St. John, 14:6 - "Jesus saith to him: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me." That's what Catholics believe.

Latest, wokest Presbyterian "hymn-prayer" re climate change

The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its relatively progressive stance on doctrine and ordains women and LGBT community as elders and ministers. 

I repost that entry from Wikipedia just in case you thought Presbyterians were hopelessly old-fashioned and stodgy. In fact they're just as woke as the Methodists and Unitarians, and nearly as woke as the Franciscans -- followers of Pope Bergoglio -- of the church once known as Catholic. Here's the proof. 

NEW HYMN FOR OUR PLANET IN CRISIS & GLOBAL MEETING 

This hymn-prayer was written to support efforts to counter climate change, including at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. #COP26

You couldn't make this stuff up! Michael O'Fallon of Sovereign Nations -- a Christian nationalist organisation that aims to "prepare warriors for the battleground of ideas" -- tweets: 

For those of you that can't sight-read sheet music, this is set to the tune of "Immortal Invisible, God Only Wise".

When worshipping, please keep Klaus Schwab, Boris Johnson, Joe Biden, Al Gore, in mind. You can also enter into Hyperdulia with Greta Thunberg. 

Footnote: I concluded my previous post today with the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel. Is it just a coincidence that so many people fighting the good fight for Christian civilzation are named "Michael"? Michael Matt, Michael Fallon... and many more. Think about it!

VIDEOS (2): How leftie political correctness ruined "Star Wars"

Dave Sussman and Bill Whittle discuss how Hollywood has rewritten crucial scenes in Star Wars to accommodate a new politically correct, inclusive, diverse, yada yada yada view of heroes and society, and how it enrages a large swath of millennials. Mr Whittle explains the "walk away" strategy, and how it can be used to weaken the Democratic Party and win the culture war.

Don't miss Bill's riff, around the 17 minute mark, on how Star Wars is (and was intended to be) a religion for a post-Christian world.



As someone who liked the first three Star Wars movies (Parts IV, V and VI), disliked the next three and was so put off by the trailers for those that followed that I didn't even see them, I give this two thumbs up.

Footnote (Footvideo?): Did Han Solo shoot first? Ed. found Bill Whittle's earlier (2012) video in which he discusses the issue. Here it is.



Now I understand -- thanks Bill! -- why there hasn't been a movie made in the last five years that I've found worth seeing. American movies stink! Hollywood stinks! Political correctness and leftist ideology stink! A pox on the lot of them!

Another footnote: If you enjoyed listening to Bill Whittle demolish Star Wars and American cinema, you'll surely get a chuckle out of "Story Time: Bill Reads a Hillary Clinton Children's Book!" Posted in February 2016, it wasn't the only reason why Hellery lost the election, but I'm sure it helped! LMAO!

Must free speech include the freedom to offend?

Walt has been silent for the last couple of days, pondering the ramifications of last week's atrocities in France and the implications for freedom of speech. My musings were concretized [Eh? Ed.] earlier today by an e-mail from one of our assiduous readers, who writes:

I initially felt that satirizing Mohammed was part of free speech. But then I thought how I was irritated years ago at some art exhibit that showed a crucifix sitting in urine or something like that. I felt it was tacky, unnecessary and insulting to Christianity, even to me an agnostic.

Now I am thinking, why are they going out of their way to insult Islam? What can be gained except alienating millions of fanatics who are just looking for an excuse to explode. Your thoughts please....

Walt had the same thoughts on seeing Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ". My initial reaction was that the "artist" should have been shot (or perhaps crucified), or at the very least prosecuted under anti-blasphemy laws. There are such things in several US states, in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, and also in the Criminal Code of Canada, but, needless to say [Why say it, then? Ed.], no-one ever gets prosecuted nowadays.

The prevailing orthodoxy is that any organized religion is fair game... unless of course it's Islam! I disagree. So, it seems, does our reader. And we are in good company. Today the Pope himself put aside his who-am-I-to-judge and we-must-be-tolerant lines. Freedom of speech, he said en route to the Philippines is all well and good, but religions must be treated with respect, so that people's faiths were not insulted or ridiculed.

Walt is reminded of the old saw about freedom of speech not extending to the right to yell "FIRE" in a crowded theatre -- words which have become a popular metaphor for the dangers of complete freedom of speech. Those words were written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in Schenk v. United States, 1919 U.S. LEXIS 2223.

What has been lost, over the years, is the understanding that the result in that case was the affirmation, by the Supreme Court of the United States, of the conviction of Charles Schenk under a statue which, the appellant argued, was in violation of the First Amendment.

Justice Holmes' view, which he never changed, was that expressions of honest opinion were entitled to near absolute protection, but that expressions made with the specific intent to cause a criminal harm, or that threatened a clear and present danger of such harm, could be punished.

I think a good case can be made that the publication of cartoons intended to be offensive to members of a religion not known for its tolerance of disrespect to its prophet gives rise to the near certainty of violent retribution. That's exactly what happened in Paris.

Should I then rethink my criticism of the lamestream press for not showing the cartoons that brought down the wrath of the Muslim fanatics? Their excuse was that they didn't wish to further offend the Muslims. I'd buy that, except for a nagging feeling that if it had been Christians or Jews who had been offended, the response would have been quite different.

Further reading: "MSNBC's Maddow Shows ‘Piss Christ’ But Not Latest ‘Charlie Hebdo’", by Eric Scheiner on cnsnews.com.

Bob Edwards' prayer to the one true god

A century ago -- before the Internet, before TV, before radio, before anyone told you what to think -- there was print. Newspapers, magazines, books and pamphlets gave writers the means to express their opinions.

Bob Edwards had opinions -- plenty of them -- which he printed in The Eye Opener, published from 1904 to 1922 in wherever in Alberta Bob happened to be when the effects of the drink wore off. (To be fair, he went on the wagon and came out for temperance in the elections of 1915.)

Mr. Edwards pioneered a new style of journalism, writing irreverently about anything and everything that pleased or displeased him. His columns were chuckled over in bars, brothels and (kinda secretly) respectable homes all over western Canada.

Here is a slightly edited version of Bob Edwards' prayer to the great god that people of all faiths worship.

O ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, without thee in the world we can do nothing, but with thee we can do all things. Be with us, we pray thee, in all thy decimal parts, for thou art the only one altogether lovely, and the chief among ten thousand.

There is no condition in life where thy potent and all-powerful charms are not felt. In thy absence how gloomy is the household, and how desolate the hearthstone; but, in thy presence, how gleefully the beefsteak sings on the gridiron, how genial is the warmth that anthracite coal or tamarack wood diffuses throughout the apartment, and how exuberant the joy swelling in every bosom.

Thou art the joy of our youth and the solace of our old age. Thou canst adorn the gentleman and feed the jackass. Thou art the favourite of the philosopher, and the ideal of the lunkheads when an election is to be carried.

Almighty dollar, thy shining face bespeaks thy wondrous power. In my pocket make thy resting place; I need thee every hour.

And now, almighty dollar, in closing this invocation, we realize and acknowledge that thou art the god our our grandfathers, the twofold god of their children, and the threefold god of their grandchildren. Permit us to possess thee in abundance, is our constant and unwavering prayer.

Amen.

The beauty of mathematics (something positive, for a change)

Walt will be the first to admit that a lot of my posts are on the negative side. I am sorely affected by weltschmerz [Are you sure this is right? Ed.] and a general feeling that the whole world is going to hell in a handcart. How often have I said that only Heaven can save us?

Others, however, have a more positive outlook on life. Combined with a strong love for God, that positive attitude will get you through! And here's the mathematical proof of it. Thanks and tip of the toque to Agent 71.

Québec premier denounces multicult, hijabs and too much "accommodation"

Pauline Marois, the first female premier of Québec, has spoken out strongly against bending over backwards to accommodate the beliefs and practices of immigrants who refuse to assimilate into the culture of their adopted countries. In an interview with Le Devoir, she called out multiculturalism for violence and "bomb-throwing" in the UK. That kind of thing, she said, is reason enough to push ahead with her government's planned "Charte des valeurs québécoises" ("Charter of Quebec Values").

Mme Marois told the Montréal newspaper that secularism measures contemplated by the Charter will be phased in over a few years. The measures include a ban on the wearing of religious costumes or symbols -- such as yarmulkes, hijabs or large crosses -- by staff working in any "public workplace". That would include government offices, schools and hospitals. The usual suspects are of course outraged by enforced secularism, which they call racist, discriminatory, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, yada yada yada.

The premier conceded that the French model of secularism "isn’t perfect", Le Devoir reported, but she said that "in England, they’re knocking each other over the head and throwing bombs because of multiculturalism and nobody knowing any more who they are in that society."

Poor Len Canayen says... Wow! Someone noticed!

Mme Marois also said that wearing a hijab can be seen as a "form of submission", and that she feared daycare workers, teachers, and others in positions of authority could (by wearing religious attire) incite impressionable children to practise religion.

Len thinks this would be offensive to Catholics if there were any religious teaching in "Catholic" schools, but that seems not to be the case any more. No, not even in Québec. There are (practically) no more religious sisters and brothers. The dire dearth of vocations is one of the poisoned fruits of Vatican II.

However, in the so-called "public" schools there are lots of religious... religious Muslims, that is. Perhaps it is the Muslims and Jews -- not Christians -- who are the real targets of the Charter. We shall have to study the wording very carefully when it is published later this month.

A draft version leaked in the media reportedly proposed a ban on religious clothing for public servants. Polls suggest the idea of restricting religious garb is quite popular in Quebec, and the second-place PQ has seen a bump in the latest polling.

Great White North not so white anymore, eh

Not so great either...

StatsCan (aka Statistics Canada) today released the first batch of results its 2011 "voluntary" National Household Survey, which replaced the mandatory long-form census cancelled by order of Prime Minister Steve "Stephen" Harper because [Ed., please call them -- 1-800-263-1136 -- and see if you can find out the reason.]

The findings should delight the apostles of multiculturalism, secular humanism, diversity and unrestricted immigration. Why? Because what the Survey reveals, in a nutshell, is that your average Canadian no longer looks like this.

Not-so-typical Canadians

Here, in no particular order, are some highlights, although if you're a native-born Canuck you may prefer the term "lowlights".

• Canada was home to an estimated 6,775,800 immigrants in 2011, comprising 20.6% of the population — more than ever before and the highest proportion of all G8 countries.
• About 1,162,900 foreign-born people immigrated to Canada between 2006 and 2011 -- that would be on Harper's watch -- making up 17.2% of the foreign-born population and 3.5% of Canada's total population. [Ed., don't call Statscan. I've figured it out now.]
• 1,400,685 people identified themselves as aboriginal (First Nations, Innu, Indians, Eskimos or all of the above) in 2011, representing 4.3% of the Canadian population.
• Aboriginal peoples accounted for 3.8% of the population in 2006, 3.3% in 2001 and 2.8% in 1996.
• The aboriginal population grew by 20.1% -- 232,385 people -- between 2006 and 2011, compared with 5.2% for non-aboriginal people.
• Aboriginal children aged 14 and under made up 28% of Canada's total aboriginal population, while their non-aboriginal counterparts represented 16.5% of all non-aboriginals.
• Almost half (48.1%) of all children aged 14 and under in foster care in Canada in 2011 were aboriginal children.
• More than 200 different ethnic origins were reported in the 2011 survey, with 13 of them representing more than a million people each.
• Nearly 6,264,800 people identified themselves as "visible minorities" (aka "vizmins"), representing 19.1% of the population. 65% of them were born outside Canada.
• South Asians (= Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans), Chinese and blacks accounted for 61.3% of the visible minority population, followed by Filipinos, Latin Americans, Arabs, Southeast Asians, West Asians, Koreans and Japanese.
• 7.8 million people, 23.9% of the population, reported having no religious affiliation.

Don't call, write or e-mail me to tell me I'm being racist. Those are the Canadian government's figures, and we all know the Dear Leader's regime is nothing if not politically correct.

The Canadian media are making a meal of these statistics, with major dailies running two or three or even four stories each, with opinion pieces yet to come. Here are some of the headlines Walt has seen.

Immigration dramatically changing makeup of Toronto and Canada (Hardly news to Torontonians, and certainly not to CBC Radio which for years now has been giving airtime to people with unintelligble accents in order to be "sounding the way Toronto looks".)

Canada's non-Christian population growing (It's not the immigrants who are identifying themselves as having no religion.)

Aboriginal population young and growing fast (Consider the implications next time you're driving through Caledonia ON.)

Young, suburban and mostly Asian: Canada's immigrant population surges past 20% (Higher in some localities. Hello Mississauga!)

Muslim population is fastest growing religion in Canada, census shows (Ignore the dreadful grammar. But do the math. How long before Canada has an Islamist government?)

Nearly half of Canada's children in foster care are Aboriginal, new census-replacement shows (Some problem with the People?)

One in five Canadians born elsewhere (Somewhere less to their liking, presumably)

Immigrant underclass in GTA fuels simmering frustrations (Begs the question: who's simmering and who's really hot? Amazing, though, that the Toronto Red Star would actually use the word "underclass")

Canadians losing their religion, survey shows (Should read "Native-born Canadians...")

Why the census may not be entirely accurate (Eh? You mean it could be worse?)

Canucks have few answers for this year's meltdown [I think that's actually a sports headline. Ed.]

Walt has no further comment except to say to the uninitiated that the typical Canadian hosers pictured above are Bob and Doug McKenzie, hosts of the "Great White North" segment on the cult classic SCTV sketch comedy series. The "brothers" developed that bit at the urging of the CBC, which felt the show should have more Canadian content. Of course that was 30 years ago.

Can Romney do it? Walt's state-by-state analysis and predictions

The pressure is building! Walt's acolytes, followers and casual readers are waiting for guidance on how to bet. The barbershop is closed today so it's a good time to sit quietly and do the numbers, state by state.


There are 538 votes to be cast in the Electoral College. The magic number is 270. From his vantage point near Fort Mudge, Walt can see nine states with a total of 110 electoral votes that are "in play" -- too close to call.

Not included in the remaining 41 states (and DC) is Utah. I'm giving that one to Romney because [They already know that! Ed.] ...and Idaho for the same reason. [Get on with it!! Ed.]

OK. Also not included are New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. There's been a lot of pissing and moaning in the lamestream media about federal aid not getting through to the victims of Sandy quickly enough. Obama's presidential photo ops amidst the devastation looked fine, they say, but a lot of voters will be disaffected by this demonstration that the Prez doesn't have all that much control over the federal administration, and will get revenge by voting for the Inevitable Mitt. Rubbish. Anyone who thinks there was ever any chance of NY, NJ and CT going Republican is seriously deluded.

Which brings us to Pennsylvania and Michigan, the bottom of the rust bucket. Gentle reader, please don't be misled by the lamestream media hype. Those states aren't in doubt. Obama will sweet Philthydelphia and the rest of PA doesn't matter. 20 electoral votes for Obama.

As for MI, the name "Romney" is remembered there, and not fondly. When they think "Romney" Michiganders [and Michigeese. Ed.] think cars. When they think cars they think American Motors, and, more recently, the younger Romney's statements about letting the US auto industry die, if that were the will of the free market. Obama's got him on that one. Another 16 votes for Hussein.

So, with nine states left to call, Walt's abacus shows totals of 237 for the incumbent and only 191 for the wannabe. Romney has to find 79 electoral votes somewhere to win, Obama only 33.

Look south, folks. And keep in mind that race is still a deciding factor. Frankly, Walt was surprised, in 2008, when American voters handed the keys to the car to a black (or half-black) man. Well, OK, the point was made and America is now a "post-racist" society, right?

Wrong! A study by researchers at Stanford University and the Universities of Chicago and Michigan, released last week by AP, shows that although "racist" views are quieter today, they're still echoing in the minds of voters.

"Anti-black sentiment seems to have increased slightly in America over the course of Mr. Obama's term," the report says, "and this sentiment may be shaping evaluations of (his) presidency as well as the likelihood that individuals will vote for him in 2012."

Leaving aside Dade County, Florida is still pretty much a southern state, in its attitudes, and North Carolina decidedly so. Walt predicts they'll both go Republican, although FL may be very close, once again. 44 electoral votes for Mitt.

I will now contradict myself by awarding Iowa (6 votes) and New Hampshire (4) to Obama. I'd have thought the Iowans, in particular, would know which end of the straw to stick in their mouths, but polls in one of the whitest of all states show the Prez with a pretty solid lead. NH seems to be affected by its proximity to Massachusetts, where Romney is oddly unloved in spite of a government-mandated health plan that looked not unlike Obamacare.

On to Wisconsin, with its substantial Catholic population. Can a native son carry his state for the Republicans? Walt thinks so, but not because Paul Ryan is as close as you can get to being a real practising Catholic. Rather, it's because Ryan and Romney are not Muslim.

A recent Pew poll found that less than half of voters surveyed believe that Obama is Christian, and 17% believe he's actually a Muslim. The poll also showed that the number of Republicans who believe Obama is Muslim has doubled to 30% since the last election. His bitterest foes keep calling him "Hussein", because that is his (middle) name.

The underlying meaning is that Obama is an outsider, a foreigner in his attitudes and outlook, if not by birth. He is seen in much of the USA as basically un-American, even anti-American. That's why his tepid, even grovelling response to the Benghazi terrorist attack won't go away. 10 more votes in the Republican column.

If you're keeping score, it's now 247 to 245, favour Obama, with just four states -- Colorado, Nevada, Virginia and Ohio -- left.

You'd think Nevada would be a lock for Romney, what with its substantial Mormon population and wild west, free enterprise character. But you'd be ignoring Las Vegas and its large number of Latino voters, who don't much like the Republican stance on immigration and related issues. Latest polls put NV in the Democrat column, and who am I to argue. 6 for Obama.

Giving Colorado (9 votes) also to Obama -- just because -- raises the Democrat total to 262. So it all comes down to Virginia (13 votes) and Ohio (18). Walt thinks VA is likely to go Republican, since it, too, is at heart a southern state. But Romney still has to win Ohio before he can start measuring the drapes in the Oval Office.

It has been pointed out dozens of times within the last 24 hours alone that no Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio. Which is not to say that no Republican has ever been elected president. Walt says... ... ... ... still too early to make the call.

Democrats appeal to God... but not much

As you know, Walt was away for a couple of days. My intention was to go to one of my favourite southern cities to watch the spectacle of southern and western Democrats holding their noses for the renomination of Hussein Obama.

I was told, however, that I would be recognized -- not as a speaker or delegate but as a reasonably able, straight, white male, and a Catholic to boot, thus Surplus to Requirements. In other words, my kind is not much wanted in the Grand Conclave of the Politically Correct.

Seems, though, that a few Christians snuck in the door, and exerted sufficient pressure to persuade the Dems to change their convention platform to add one (1) mention of God. Following criticism from the GOP, who got God into their platform twelve (12) times, the Democrats reinstated language from their 2008 platform that said "we need a government that stands up for the hopes, values and interests of working people and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential."

This very small and wet sop to religious Americans -- now shrinking to minority status, at least in Obama's party -- was not unopposed. Convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa called three (3) times for a vote on the motion to amend, before declaring it approved without a vote being taken. His ruling was met with a loud chorus of booze ["boos", surely! Ed.] and cheers ["jeers", surely! Ed.] and cries of "God is dead and we hope he hears us!"

Having pacified the Christians, the Democrats also decided to get the Jews onside. (Not that there was ever much chance of their backing a Mormon and a Catholic!) In a paradigm of pandering, the party declared that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

What's interesting about that move is that it's said to reflect Obama’s personal views on the city claimed as holy by Jews, Christians and Muslims. [In that order, too. Ed.] If that be the case, does it mean that Obama's America would go to war -- against Iran, let's say -- to preserve the status of Jerusalem as the capital of the Zionist entity? Just asking.

How the British dealt with barbaric religious practices

On October 21st Walt noted the beginning of a trial, in Canada, of a Muslim man, his second wife and son, on charges of killing his first wife and three of their daughters. The four women were inside a car which was allegedly pushed into the Rideau Canal by a second car driven by one of the accused.

Why? "Honour" of course. The three girls had been behaving badly -- wearing western clothes, interested in boys and suchlike -- and brought disgrace and dishonour on the family. As for the first wife, she was apparently barren and just kind of in the way.

Honour killing is part of Islam. It is sanctioned by the Qu'ran and practised all too often in Muslim communities around the world. To the Western, Christian way of thinking, it is a cruel and barbaric practice, a relic of the dark ages. Just like the Hindu practice of "suttee" -- burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands.

Why do I mention suttee? Because I was just reading (in America Alone by Mark Steyn -- worth reading twice!) a quote attributed to the impeccably multicultural General Sir Charles Napier, a governor of India in the days of the British Raj.

"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."

Agent 3 is keeping Walt updated on the honour killing trial. The strategy of the defence is not yet clear. If they argue for a finding of not guilty, or a reduced sentence at least, because respect must be given to Islam and the religious sensitivities of "new Canadians", Walt hopes the Crown will read Napier's dictum to the jury.

Will there be a hanging in the event of a finding of guilt? Not in Canada. Execution is OK for victims, but not for the killers.

Footnote: The accused father, Mohammed Safia, married the second wife without bothering to divorce the first. Bigamy and polygamy are supposedly illegal in Canada, but the government looks the other way in the case of Muslims. Wouldn't want to offend anyone's religious principles, dontcha know.

Further footnote: Let's not hear any of that fuzzy, we-are-the-world rhetoric that Muslims will assimilate, once they've lived in Western society for a while. The Safias have been in Canada for many years, and the father was a successful businessman, living in Montréal. But assimilate? Fuggedaboudit.

What you're reading

Hi. Ed here. We're approaching the end of August, almost 26 months since Walt began this blog. The idea was to get people talking about some of the issues which don't get discussed much in the politically correct North American lamestream media. For instance: race, immigration and religion, on which Walt holds views contrary to the prevailing orthodoxy.

We hoped that at least a few people would read Walt's thoughts, react (comments are welcome even if not all get published), and pass the URL on to others, the point being to give thinking folks something to talk about other than celebrity train wrecks and our national preoccupation, S-E-X.

It's my job to have a look at the stats every now and then, to see how many hits we're getting, what posts draw the most interest, and where our readership is coming from. Here are three of the top 10 articles.

Help Kids Canada - a scam or only half a scam? has drawn more comments than any other piece. It still gets read, even though the first article in the series appeared back in April 2010. I can only think that it's because this scam (or half a scam) is still being run on the good-hearted and charitable Canucks.

London 2012 Olympics - Schedule of Events appeared only 11 days ago and has drawn scores of hits. I guess people are actually interested in next year's games and want to check out dates and venues. Imagine their disappointment when they find out it's a satire on the recent riots.

And now... Ed reveals the title of the most-read post. The leader -- by a country mile -- is Where next? Swaziland next? Can there really be that many people who are interested in the dark continent and the fate of the world's last absolute monarchy? This really baffled me until I remembered the picture I chose to illustrate the article.

OK. Now I understand. People -- men, I assume -- are searching Google Images and they can't resist clicking on this one. But I wonder...really...what search parameters they are typing into the dialogue box. Surely not "Swaziland".

In the final analysis, who cares. Check out whatever headline or picture turns your crank. Keep reading. Keep the comments coming. And remember that you can always e-mail Walt. Thank you for your attention!

Update on Islamization of Toronto schools

In "Tolerant Toronto", Walt told you how the Toronto District School Board, champion of keeping religion out of Ontario's public schools, was providing facilities for Muslim prayers at its Valley Park Middle School. A protest is to be mounted by Canadian Hindu Advocacy.

Now comes news that two other powerful advocacy groups are joining the anti-Muslim chorus. [Don't you mean "speaking out for separation of church and state"? Ed.] The usual suspects now advocating freedom from religion now include the Canadian Secular Alliance and the Jewish Defence League.

No surprises there, then. Oh... wait... The Jewish Defence League??!! The Canadian Secular Alliance, Walt can understand. The name says it all. But is the JDL really saying that the TDSB is going too far in inviting a religious leader to lead services on school property? Suppose the services were being organized for the Jewish kids and led by a rabbi? What would the JDL say then?

Let me guess at the answer. The Jews might well say that they have their own schools in which little Jewish kids can learn Hebrew and practise their religion. Because that's the case. Toronto's Jews are an older, more established community than Toronto's Muslims. And, yes, richer. They don't need the "accommodation" of the TDSB.

But let us not accuse the JDL of inconsistency. Those of the Hebrew persuasion have always been in the forefront of the fight to get religion -- meaning Christianity -- out of the schools and other public institutions in Canada and the USA. Look at the names of those who have led and supported the JDL, the ACLU/CCLA, and other secular and humanist organizations. You won't find many O'Rourkes or Husseins.

What Toronto is seeing is another skirmish in the jihad, the "holy war" against Christianity and Christians. The camel's nose is now in door of the public schoolroom. How long will we have to wait to see the demand for "equal accommodation" in the Catholic schools? And will the private schools follow? What would the JDL say about that?

Tolerant Toronto

Toronto -- the one in Canada -- has to be the most multicultural city on earth. Well, in North America at least. OK, maybe in Canada. Or at least Ontario. But it really is like the United Nations there, a great, big lovey-dovey rainbow nation. The civic anthem is "Kumbaya" and everyone holds hands in a great big circle when they sing it, after which they all exchange big warm hugs.

Except maybe when it comes to religion. The province of Ontario has two separate, publicly-funded school systems. One is Catholic, albeit in name only as there are no priests or religious teachers, and no instruction in the Faith. Why not? That would offend all the non-Catholic students whom the Catholic schools are obliged to accept because they receive the government's dollar.

The other school system is resolutely secular. No religious observance of any kind is allowed. Period. Fifty years ago students were compelled to recite the Lord's Prayer (the Protestant version of the Our Father) before the start of classes. No more. And they don't sing "O Canada" any more so they don't have to cope with the phrase "God keep our land..."

Yep, secular humanism is the order of the day in Ontario's public schools.Except for Valley Park Middle School in Toronto. For three years now Valley Park's administration has been allowing a local imam to use the school's facilities to hold Friday prayers for the school's Muslim students. This is supposed to help with the safety of students, who don't have to leave school to go to the mosque. Obviously this was a problem since many of the little Muslims failed to return to class after Friday services.

School officials said the prayer sessions are working well and they haven’t been approached about making changes. Until last week. Even though school's out for the summer, the Canadian Hindu Advocacy is now planning to protest outside Valley Way until the prayer sessions are stopped.

“This is alarming and unacceptable,” said Advocacy director Ron Banerjee. “We respect the separation of church and state. There’s not supposed to be any religious classes taking place in public schools. Our organization has received many complaints from Hindu students and parents in the Valley Park Middle School region.”

Christian students and parents are, needless to say, too politically correct to complain...or to say anything at all.

Book review: The Masque of Africa

Walt spent several hours, this weekend, reading The Masque of Africa, by V.S. Naipaul. (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2010). Not much of Naipaul's work since he won the Nobel Prize for Literature has appealed to me, but this latest book is an exception.

For the moment, Naipaul has left off writing philosophical novels and returned to the travel genre, which he does so well. He also returns to Africa, where he lived decades ago, and which is the site of one of his best books, A Bend in the River.

Although The Masque of Africa could be described as a travelogue of Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Gabon and South Africa, the book has a much larger narrative and purpose: to discover and describe "the nature of African belief".

The author looks at the influence of Christianity and Islam -- mercifully, he avoids the phrase "the mosque of Africa" -- and judges those foreign religions a thin veneer over the cults of animism, superstition and witchcraft which are still at the core of "modern" African society and culture.

Naipaul writes: "An unspoken aspect of my inquiry was the possibility of the subversion of old Africa by the ways of the outside world.... The older world of magaic felt fragile, but at the same time had an enduring quality. You felt that it would survive any calamity.

"I had expected that over the great size of Africa, the practices of magic would significantly vary. But they didn't. The diviners everywhere wanted to 'throw the bones' to read the future, and the idea of 'energy' remained a constant, to be tapped into by the ritual sacrifice of body parts.

"In South Africa, body parts, mainly of animals, but also of men and women, made a mixture of 'battle medicine'. To witness this, to be given some idea of its power, was to be taken far back to the beginning of things. To reach that beginning was the purpose of my book."

Although Naipaul comes across as increasingly tired and tetchy in his old age -- not unlike Walt -- he does a truly masterly job of showing why Third World peoples who refuse to abandon their ancestral illusions for the civilised values of the West are condemned to backwardness.

Test your RIQ (Religious Intelligence Quotient)

Here's a suitable Sunday exercise for you, courtesy of Agent 17, who has been much in touch in the last couple of weeks.

In "Test Your Savvy on Religion", New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof passes on the results of the Pew Research Center's Religious Knowledge Survey.
It turns out that most religious people are surprisingly uninformed about their own religions, not to mention others.

Almost half of Catholics didn’t understand the idea of Communion. Most Protestants didn’t know that Martin Luther started the Reformation. Almost half of Jews didn’t realize Maimonides was Jewish. And atheists were among the best informed about religion. Walt supposes agnostics weren't sure about anything.

Mr. Kristof provides us with a little pop quiz -- 13 questions to test your knowledge of what he calls the more extreme aspects of Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Walt just barely passed. How about you?

"The West is at war with Islam"

Two people are saying that. One is Osama bin Laden. The other is Pastor Terry Jones, the spiritual leader of a small bunch of snake-handlers down in Gainesburgers FL. The "war" between Islam and (one supposes) Christianity is Pastor Jones's rationale for burning a few copies of the Qu'ran, the holy book of Islam.

I don't think he should do it. Not that I think he ever intended to. The whole thing reeks of a stunt to gain a little publicity for the good pastor. And it's worked too. He's being burned in effigy on the other side of the world, getting 1000s of Muslims all riled up, as if they needed it.

Now Mr. Jones is saying his efforts have wrung a concession out of the Muslims, a promise to not build a mosque (or community centre or faith centre or whatever) near Ground Zero. The imam behind the project says there's no such deal but if for any reason they don't do it, Mr. Jones is going to claim the credit.

Perhaps Mr. Jones, and those who oppose the building of the mosque, need to be reminded that two wrongs don't make a right. Sure, there would be reports of sub-zero weather in hell on the day that Christians were allowed to build a cathedral in Qum or Mecca. But freedom of religion -- including the freedom to build places of worship -- is a cornerstone of our Western democracy.

By denying this freedom to the Muslims, we descend to their level. We also become like the Chinese Communists (see recent posts), who allow people to build churches and temples only if the state approves. If the Muslims want to build a mosque next door to St. Patrick's Cathedral, Walt says let `em...so long as they don't complain if the Catholics install huge amplifiers for the church bells to drown out the cries of the muzzein!

If Moses had been a cartoonist

Spare me the philological argument. Just assume with me, if you will, that Moses actually wrote the first five books of the Bible. He may have been a divinely inspired writer, but, as anyone who's tried to read the Pentateuch knows, he could have used a good illustrator.

Poor William Blake, whose little paintings were, in his day, considered the work of a madman, didn't come along until some 5000 years later. We waited another three-quarters of a century for the advent of Gustav Doré, whose engravings grace many an old family Bible.

Now, some 150 years later, we have a remarkable illustrated version of the Book of Genesis, courtesy of R. Crumb.

That's right. Robert Crumb, comic book artist. Creator of such characters as Fritz the Cat, the Furry Freak Brothers, Flakey Foont and of course Mr. Natural. ("Is dis a system?")

Crumb is someone who almost defies description, let alone pigeon-holing. He is not just a simple cartoonist in the style of, say, Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons. Yet most critics would not have considered him a serious illustrator or artist...until now.

I picked up The Book of Genesis off the library shelf -- it almost jumped into my hands -- expecting it to be a satire or parody. It is not. Crumb "simply" draws a series of pictures, laid out as comic book panels, to illustrate the text assembled from the Robert Alter and King James versions of the Biblical version. There's a short written commentary at the end to précis the Biblical text, kind of like a listener's guide to an opera.

The power and savage beauty of Crumb's work is the drawings. Crumb is no mean draftsman. One 3 x 5 inch drawing of Noah's Ark must contain hundreds of brush-strokes. Perhaps it's a cliché, but Crumb's depiction of the faces makes the people come alive. Cain looks malevolent. Abel looks innocent. Adam looks like a naive superman. Eve looks voluptuous. Parental guidance is definitely advised!

The characters, even God, look not like the heroic classical figures of Doré, but as something within us believes they should look. They look real! Except for the serpent. We think of him as a snake but forget that the text says that as punishment, God took away his four legs. So Crumb draws him as he was, like a large lizard.

The dust jacket says: "Crumb's Book of Genesis, the culmination of five years of painstaking work, is a tapestry of masterly detail and storytelling that celebrates the astonishing diversity of one of our greatest artistic geniuses."

Walt says The Book of Genesis is a work of art. Even if you think the story is just the old Gilgamesh legend retold, you should have a look at it. I promise, you've never seen anything like it.

Footnote: Those interested in the "comix" are recommended to The Life and Times of R. Crumb, edited by Monte Beautchamp, with an introduction by Matt Groening. You can find copies on Amazon for a cent. There's also a DVD called Crumb: Special Edition.

No Christian teachers in our schools?

Commenting on yesterday's post ("Don't you dare pray for your sick pupil") Andrew Zimmerman Jones opined that the separation of church and state has historically been good for America. I disagree. But let's not open up that can of worms today.

Rather, let me point out that the reason for the firing of Olive Jones (no relation to Andrew, I presume) had nothing to do with religion being taught or observed in the British state-run school.

Miss Jones was dismissed or suspended or whatever for merely offering to do a very Christian thing, i.e. pray for the sick. And it's not as if this was going to be done in the school or during classes. It was to have been a Christian prayer said to God by a Christian teacher in her own way and on her own time.

Following the council's logic (?) to its ultimate conclusion, no-one who gave any visible sign of being a follower of Christ would be allowed to teach in its schools. That can't be right!