Real classy

It's Michael Coren time again. Today, it's not about his religion, his bigotry or his hypocrisy. Today we add a new dimension to the complex character that is Mr. Coren.

Saturday's column was about, ultimately, the previous Saturday's column, which I've already commented on here.

Hundreds of e-mails arrived, of course. Most in my favour, but many against, which is all a healthy indication of democracy and free speech. One, however, was particularly interesting, in that it was sent by someone who is paid by our tax dollars to be objective and balanced.

"You were kidding, right? No matter. That material is about as funny as a good old-fashioned waterboarding joke. Disgraceful."
Richard Goddard
goddardr@cbc.ca.
o (+001) 416-205-5950
f (+001) 416-205-5731.
Q on CBC Radio ONE.
Canada Qs up: Afternoons 2 - 3:30, Evenings 10 - 11.
Shipping Address: Office 2H109-D,
Canadian Broadcasting Centre,
205 Wellington St. W., Toronto, Ont. M5V 3G7."

Way to call him out, Michael. Very classy.

Perhaps I don't quite understand the mandate of the CBC and its employees, but I assumed that public time, money and equipment were supposed to be used for the public interest and not for private opinion and political vendettas.

If the message were purely personal, at the very least it revealed an intense ideological position from a producer who makes decisions about what should be on the public airwaves. But if it were purely personal why did it list so many CBC contact details? Was this an official CBC statement and if so could the directors of the corporation please explain their stance in greater detail?

Allow me to help you out, Mr. Coren. It took me almost fifty seconds to find this information:

The CBC is fully committed to maintaining accuracy, integrity and fairness in its journalism.

Fairly straightforward. Goddard is a producer on an A&E show. Commenting on your column is not really within his professional purview, but he didn't do it on air, so that's irrelevant. Furthermore, using the word "disgraceful" hardly reveals an "intense ideological position". You essentially said the kid was spoiled, and that is disgraceful. It also listed so many personal details because it's his freaking email signature, you Luddite.

The best bit is that Coren spent time researching Goddard's resumé, but failed to find the mandate of the CBC.

I guess what really bugged me is this: it probably took two minutes to shoot off that email. You visit Coren's website, click on "E-Mail", and it opens your email program. Goddard may or may not have done it from his home computer. But it sent from his cbc.ca email address. Probably not cool, but hardly worthy of this public outing.

Coren, not only are you hateful, bigoted, and close-minded, you are over sensitive and classless. I should have known that a bully like you couldn't take it. I almost hope you don't find out about me.

A little bit about Omar Khadr

Everybody knows who this kid is. He was captured fighting US forces in Afghanistan, rushed to Gitmo, declared an enemy combatant, and tortured for six year while awaiting trial in a US military court. He was either 15 or 16 when captured. Reports I've read differ.

Michael Coren, as you would expect, is full of Christian compassion for the captured child soldier:

Actually the whole thing backfired, in that it was supposed to break our hearts and make us angry at the awful Americans who dared to keep a sort of Canadian in prison on suspicion of terrorism and of throwing a hand grenade that killed one of their medics.

Problem is, it showed a well-fed, well-nourished, obviously defiant and healthy young man blubbing and moaning and claiming, rather absurdly, that he has no feet or eyes.
"You do have feet" replied a tolerant Canadian agent, "they're on the end of your legs."

Translation: "That spoiled little wog."

I'll give you a little more, but wait a second.

Michael Coren has had the ridiculously good fortune to live in two of the best countries on the planet: Canada and the UK. Born late enough to avoid defending his country from invaders, he emigrated to a country that hasn't been invaded in nearly 200 years. Born into a faith that is not in a minority in either his homeland or his adopted nation, his faith in God is unshakeable, simply because he's right. Jesus is the way, the truth and the light, you know, and Coren knows it because his parents were Christians.

The fact that he hates Khadr says a great deal about Coren. The fact that doesn't even empathise with him says much more. I'm ashamed of my country for first allowing this hateful little man into the country, and for giving him a forum for his bile. He vomits onto the pages of the Sun once a week, and onto the airwaves daily (fortunately on a Christian network), and makes his money by hating homosexuals, liberals, atheists, Muslims and environmentalists.

And furthermore, a man who clearly has eyes and feet, and cries that he doesn't, isn't just trying to get sympathy, you vile fuck. He's damaged goods.

The only valid criticism of the United States is that this young man should have
faced a trial by now. If, however, he had been in prison just a few miles away from Guantanamo on Cuba he would have been beaten to death in one of Castro's death camps. If he had been captured by friends of his family in Afghanistan or Iraq he likely would have been raped, tortured and then slowly decapitated. Irony's a funny old thing.

A few things here. I would like to offer my criticism of the US for invading the country in the first place. I am also criticizing the US for capturing and torturing an "enemy combatant". The US made shit up so they could claim the rules didn't apply. I'm also questioning the legitimacy of trying a man (who once was a boy who may or may not have killed a soldier), for defending what he may have thought of as his home, but certainly though of as his faith

Further, Cuba, Afghanistan and Iraq are not engaged in colonial wars (well, the latter two are, but they didn't exactly start them), so the idea that he might have been captured by their forces is a red herring. It's been a long time since Cuba was involved in a military conflict on foreign soil. They tended to be the recipients of foreign force (much like Afghanistan), until they kicked the occupiers out (putting aside all arguments about whether "communism" was good for Cuba). And finally, being captured and tortured by US forces is not ironic. I'd expect a writer to understand irony.

If there has been any abuse over the years it is clearly at the hands of Khadr's own kin.

Which clearly excuses any subsequent abuse.

On Khadr's mother:

She has also, of course, loudly expressed her hatred for western culture and condemned Canada as a vile place where all children are drug addicts or homosexuals.

Coren gets a yellow card for hypocrisy, here, because he feels the same way.

Omar Khadr is a tenuous Canadian at best, unlike most newcomers to the country who love it with pride and passion. If we feel sorry for him and his family, consider the family of the young medic smashed beyond recognition that horrible day six years ago. Good Lord, most people don't even know his name. But they know the name of Omar Khadr.

I don't care about Khadr because he's a Canadian. I feel bad about every poor loser held in that kennel. An accident of geography means I know more about Khadr than any of the other prisoners. As for the medic, I do consider his family, and I feel bad for them, too. They lost their son in a pointless, illegal war for no good reason. Happens all the time. About 9000 other Americans have met similar fates in Afghanistan and Iraq. Fifty-eight thousand in Vietnam (wikipedia), and more than 36,000 in Korea. If the US would stop going to kill yellow and brown people, they might not have so many war memorials.

You know I'm not a fan of this war, and I'm not a fan of the War on Terror, or the War on Drugs, or any other war, really. Supporting this war is bad enough. Supporting the US as they publicly railroad this poor bastard to the gallows is deplorable.

Michael Coren is not only a bigot, he's stupid and hypocritical.

Ah, the boycotts.

You will all remember this, a boycott of McDonald's for "refusing to stay neutral in the culture wars":

It is about McDonald's, as a corporation, refusing to remain neutral in the culture wars. McDonald's has chosen not to remain neutral but to give the full weight of their corporation to promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage.

That's right. McDonald's doesn't hate gay people, so there's a boycott afoot. Again, I wonder aloud, what the hell is with these people and homosexuals?

McDonald's has signed on to a nationwide effort to promote "gay" and "lesbian" business ventures.

April 2, 2008

According to McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner, McDonald's will aggressively promote the homosexual agenda. In remarks on McDonald's Web site concerning the company becoming a member of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), Skinner wrote: "Being a socially responsible organization is a fundamental part of who we are. We have an obligation to use our size and resources to make a difference in the world … and we do."

The company gave an undisclosed amount of money to the NGLCC in return for being recognized as a major promoter of the homosexual agenda. In return, NGLCC placed Richard Ellis, vice president of communications of McDonald’s USA, on the NGLCC Board of Directors.

Ellis was quoted as saying: "I'm thrilled to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce team and ready to get to work. I share the NGLCC's passion for business growth and development within the LGBT community, and I look forward to playing a role in moving these important initiatives forward."

McDonald's refused to comment to World Net Daily on the placement of its executive on the board of the "gay" advocacy organization but did send an e-mail confirming the corporation's support for the agenda of the homosexual business lobby.

It's just horrible, what McDonald's is doing to society:

• high-calorie, high-fat foods
• encouraging car culture
• destroying local differences in cuisine
• dumbing down the job market
• pulling down the minimum wage, and actively agitating agains unions and fair work practices
• encouraging (to put it mildly) a factory farm system, which:
• threatens the food supply
• destroys the family farm, and consequently small towns
• is horribly cruel to animals
• and is incredibly wasteful and environmentally damaging

Oh, and they don't hate gay people.

WTF?

Well, here's a boycott I can get behind:

Donation to Same-Sex Marriage Foes Brings Boycott Calls

by REBECCA CATHCART

Published: July 17, 2008

LOS ANGELES — A hotel owner’s $125,000 donation to support a ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage in the state has become a flashpoint, with opponents calling for a boycott of two of his hotels and supporters highlighting the donation in a
fund-raising letter.

The hotelier, Doug Manchester, donated the money to support the collection of signatures to qualify the initiative, which would amend the state’s Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, for the November ballot.

See? Now we're actually getting somewhere. We're going to punish someone for being a hateful bastard, not because they're trying to reach out to marginalized communities.

It's not going to be hard for me to participate in this boycott. I have no plans to go to California soon. But if you're in the region, or will be, check it out, and avoid this homophobe's hotels. You might even want to call the hotel and teel them why you're not staying there. I'm kicking around the idea of calling or writing them myself.

You also might want to point out this charming bit of piosonous hypocrisy, which incidentally frames religious views as strictly political ones, in a subtle bit of obfuscation that actually snuck by me on the first reading:

Mr. Manchester said Wednesday: “This really is a free-speech, First Amendment issue. While I respect everyone’s choice of partner, my Catholic faith and longtime affiliation with the Catholic Church leads me to believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman.”

The hotel boycott has been framed by supporters of the ballot initiative as intimidation of those who express their political views.

On Tuesday, Brian S. Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage California, a group supporting Proposition 8, sent out an e-mail message warning of the boycott, calling it a “bullying” tactic.(Emphasis is mine.)

Excuse me, kettle? It's the pot on line one.

Traction

These days, apparently, it's all about the tracts. If I believed in this sort of thing, I'd call it serendipity.

Jack Chick, according to PZ Myers, has released a new one about evolution and Nazis. It's called "Moving On Up", and it's a good one. Not as good as "Big Daddy", with it's foaming at the mouth professor, or "This Was Your Life", which I understand was the horseshit that started it all, but it's still a good one.

It contains, as you'll read elsewhere, all the usual stuff you find in Chick tracts: unrepentant sinners, a "merciful" faceless god who chucks you into a lake of fire no matter how good you are, if you aren't a particular flavour of Christian.

I'm probably a bit twisted, but these things make me all nostalgic. I first discovered these things when I was about 10, and they scared the hell out of me. I was "saved" by the time I was twelve, in the back of a mini-van, on my way home from bowling with the church youth group. I could even tell you the date, because it's written inside my Bible.

It was a much simpler time then. Everything was evil. It made things easy to keep track of. I was evil. But I was trying to be good. My particular church was big on a couple of things. First is the idea of sin. It was always about sin. If it wasn't about sin, it was about obedience. My pastor was later charged with child abuse for spanking his two year old daughter.

Isn't that charming?

I sometimes think that I should be angrier. I was, once, but it's burnt out of me now. I've never been any good at holding a grudge. I can't even stay mad at the people who made me feel unclean, unworthy, and worthless. Part of the problem, I'm sure, is that the poeple who made me feel that way felt that way themselves, and I still love them very much.

If there are any theists out there, reading this, I have a favour to ask. I know that you may feel defensive. You may think that we godless are attacking you. You may feel that we want to take away your religious freedom. Or that we want to remove god from everything.

But the truth is that most of us have been where you are. Most of us used to be like you. And we changed. I feel like I grew. So when you are speaking to us about faith, about your faith, or about any faith, understand that we understand. We were theists once (most of us). We know where you're coming from. We thought we felt that love, or transcendance, or beauty, or gratitude. We tried to talk to god, or the saints, or other deities, and we thought those supernatural beings were listening.

But now we don't believe. We really did, but now we don't. Sometimes we miss it (I do, anyway), but for the most part we feel better. And we want that for you, too. When I believed in god, I was scared all the time. Now, I get a little lonely sometimes, but that's better than faith. Just as you honestly believe that your faith is the way to heaven, or to true happiness, or the path to fulfillment, and want to share that with others, we feel the same way.

And some of us get strident, or snarky, or hostile, I know. Largely, that is a response to hostility from "the faithful". But I think it's mostly because we want to force you to sit, and listen, and THINK, and we get frustrated.

I also want you to know that religion is forever poisoned for me. For me, religion is like the chicken pox. I had a pretty bad case when I was a kid, but now I'm immune. Nothing you can say can change that. I've seen what greatness can be achieved without faith. And what hatred can be supported by it.

I honestly am better off without god.

God Delusion

Just a quick one today, because I am, as the adage goes, deep behind enemy lines.

It's Easter weekend, and I am at my in-laws with my wife and daughter. I am reading, for the first time, The God Delusion, with some trepidation, considering my surroundings. However, the family is being indulgent and tolerant, and I haven't had to resort to my backup in deference to their superstitions.

Acutally, considering how respectful they are being, I should also be respectful, and refrain from calling it a superstition. I will not retract it, but I will offer a half-assed apology.

At any rate, I am now reading the chapter on the in-group, and how religion breeds intolerance. I find myself marginally guilty of the same crimes committed by the zealots, though obviously less strenuously so. I am trying very hard, but still can't seem to help feeling a little superior.

The intermarriage thing really gets me. Obviously it causes difficulties. I was raised Baptist, and my wife and her family are Catholic. I've since stopped playing, so I have no team affiliation. Mostly, I think, I'm happier, but sometimes I miss having a big brother to look after me (though I must admit that he always did a rather piss-poor job of it).

But I know there was some trepidation around our nuptials, and some members of my family skipped it. I thought they were being bigots. Turns out they were just being lazy. I haven't yet decided which is worse.

But still, there was no pressure to marry within the in-group for us. No external pressure, anyway. I expect Tasha had some misgivings. And probably still does. I don't blame her. I find some of her most cherished beliefs to be silly at best, and although I respect her, and try to understand, I cannot bring myself to respect the Church. Needless to say, that causes some friction. In fact, I got scolded by an aunt for skipping church. She knows my stance, but disapproves. Somehow she still likes me. Most of us can see past it, now. Thank god, I say, not because I do, but because it's a useful phrase.

I'll return to the idea of religious contests another day. I should get back to "passing".

Mea Culpa

I think I owe the world in general an apology. And particularly, perhaps, a Mississauga family.

Upon hearing the news that Muhammad Parvez had killed his daughter, I, along with the rest of the nation, it seems, and probably the rest of the world, assumed that he had done it for cultural, if not religious reasons.

That's not fair. All we know is that he killed his daughter (and we're not even 100% certain of that). Really, all we know is that he's been charged with second degree murder in the death of his daughter. Based on some comments by her friends, we all assumed the worst.

As did I. I should have known better.

It seems likely that Muhammad Parvez killed his daughter because she was disobedient. The most visible argument seems to have been about the hijab.

However, I'm sure that many men have been so furious with their daughters that they've beaten them or strangled them to death. That doesn't make it right (of course), but it does make it culturally unspecific. White trash men, black Christian men, Muslim men, Hindu men, and Native American men have all killed their daughters.

This story is about more than a dead girl and her Muslim father charged with her murder. It should be, anyway. It's now about how we all assumed that it was the man's religion, and by extension, culture that were responsible.

It should now be about how we're all bigots.

So I'm sorry. I regret my flippant comments. I will not delete them, instead, I will leave them as a testament to my ignorance. To remind me, and any readers I actually have, that we all make mistakes, and that we can learn from them.

I hope the Parvez family will find peace. I hope that Muhammad Parvez is punished severely if he's guilty. I hope we all grow a little because of this.