Canada's very own national religion

Machjo

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Oct 19, 2004
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Israel has Judaism; Arabia, Islam, Iran, Zoroastrianism; China, Confucianism and Taoism; the US, Mormonism; India, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism; Japan, Shintoism; and France... Raelism! Poor France. :?

But what about Canada? Sure we have native spirituality, but that actually began before Canada existed and so is thus not technically Canadian. So is there any faith which was born in Canada after its founding?

Canada is referred to in the Baha'i writings, but agin, it still doesn't change the fact that it was founded by a Persian in Baghdad (unless we count the Qa'em as starting it in which case it's Persia), so that one's out too.

So does any one know of any truly "made in Canada" religion that I don't know of? :)

I'm not thinking of converting to the all-Canadian national religion or anything. I'm quite happy with the faith I have now, but just curious. :D
 

Machjo

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I just hope whatever we have (if there is such a religion in the first place) is a little less wacko than Raelism. :)
 

missile

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Dec 1, 2004
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Raelism is one that I have always associated with Quebec. Isn't the leader from there? yes, they are whackos :lol: How about the Duchabours in the Western provinces? Haven't heard much about them since the Diefenbaker years.
 

Machjo

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missile said:
Raelism is one that I have always associated with Quebec. Isn't the leader from there? yes, they are whackos :lol: How about the Duchabours in the Western provinces? Haven't heard much about them since the Diefenbaker years.

I thought it started in Quebec too, but turned out to be wrong; Rael is a Frenchman. But many followers in Quebec. I don't know, maybe he lives in Quebec? I'm assuming he's still alive, I don't know.

As for the Dukhabors, we can't consider their faith as "made in Canada" either; I thinkg they started in Russia if I'm not mistaken. Another import.

Hmmm.... So no one here seems to know if Canada has its very own national religion. Oh well, we've got enough imports to keep us busy for a lifetime anyway. And heck, I chose an import myself, and I likes it.
 

JonB2004

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Mar 10, 2006
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RE: Canada's very own nat

I don't want Canada to have a religion. Religion causes too many problems.
 

Naci_Sey

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Apr 30, 2006
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Finder said:
Seculerism has caused just as many problems too. Look at the French revolution,the Soviet Union, Peoples Republic of China, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

Er... secularism isn't a religion. It's the principle that church and state should be kept separate. I used secularism as my touch-in-cheek way of saying that my preferred national religion is no national religion at all.
 

Finder

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Naci_Sey, it is a belief. Even though I believe in a seculer nation myself I do not fool myself that seculerism does not trout on individuel rights as well, even in Canada.
 

Dexter Sinister

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Some of you might profitably dip into a dictionary. Secularism is just a concern with material things and the affairs of this world, as opposed to things of a religious or spiritual nature. It's not a belief, and you can't legitimately pin the troubles of the French Revolution, the USSR, China, etc., on it. A secular education, for instance, would be one that excludes religious instruction, except perhaps in historical or comparative terms as an academic subject. A secular government, similarly, would be one not concerned with the religious and spiritual activities of its citizens and not promoting or suppressing any particular religious view. That certainly implies the separation of civil and religious authority, but that's not what secularism means.
 

selfactivated

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Apr 11, 2006
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The most original religion of Canada comes from your "native" people. You have at least 4 Shamans that I personally follow.

If you read anything by Lynn V Andrews Theres 2 and the other escapes me I think I leant it to Kat and shes sending it back soon. Anyway Canada in my book does have the most beautiful religion in the world and it shares it with most nations. My two cents
 

Finder

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Dexter Sinister, Then you can not pin such things such as the inqustion on the catholic church with the same logic. The French Revolution, during the jabobin terror, removed catholic priests from their posistions, sometimes their heads from their bodies. Also dismentaled churches such Notre Dame and turned them into so called "Temples of Reason". It is easy to see the extremes of Deism and Seculerism during the french revolution even after the Jacobin terror into the early days of the Consulership.

The Marxist revolution of 1917 in modern day Russia had atheists according to the general beliefs of Marxism and scientific socialism in general, eliminating churches from Russia, which were not generally allowed back untill the 1940's under state control. Indeed in both Cuba and China today their states still are offically atheists and any religous institutions are controled or at least regulated by the state apparatus.

Your argument can be used for both seculerism and religion as one who believes in pretty much any religion could always state that religion only is supposed to have a individuels and not the states interest in mind and that the only power the church for instance should have is over the celestrial power and not that of the material/seculer.

I'm just trying to show a balance here, many have died, been prosicuted and enslaved in the name/belief of seculerism and religion.
 

Dexter Sinister

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Finder said:
Dexter Sinister, Then you can not pin such things such as the inqustion on the catholic church with the same logic.

And I didn't. My point was simply that secularism is not the word you want for what you're talking about, because it doesn't mean what you're claiming it does.
 

#juan

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Aug 30, 2005
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Secularism - A doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations, it is not a religious "ism", just a doctrine that rejects any and all religion.
 

Dexter Sinister

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Even defining it that way, my point still stands: that's not what was driving the revolutionaries in France, Russian, Cuba, China, etc.