www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Canadian society too secular?

Dear Alex and any Forum member from the Dominion of Canada,

First let me start off this thread right by stating that in no way am I bringing up this topic to bash an entire nation. I have always enjoyed my numerous trips to our neighbor to the North [granted I have only visited the province of Ontario] and have found Canadians a friendly people. I only raise the question due to a confusing - maybe even disturbing - broadcast I saw on C-SPAN yesterday. The program was called "Continental Divide?" and was produced by CBC News. In the show, commentators made much of how Canada and the U.S. are on divergent paths. Well, fair enough. We do have different styles of government, etc. But the one thing that threw me for a loop was that the evidence cited as how foreign the U.S. is compared to the mentality of the average Canadian was the high occurance of the belief in heaven by Americans (U.S.) to Canadians. Something like 70% to 20% respectively. I couldn't help notice [now granted it may be my reaction to the tone of the report] that belief in spiritual realities was seen as somehow problematic by the reporters, whereas disbelief was viewed as being the more favorable position.

My question (and please it is only a question, not a veiled accusation - so please this is not a invitation to argue) to our Canadian brothers & sisters is - is Canadian society really that secularized? Or is this merely the news media's "spin" on the issue. Lord knows we have our own media pundits who were utterly dismayed after the re-election of George Bush and the emergence of "values voters" as they termed them. I recall one opinion piece that has made the rounds of the net lamenting that more Americans believe in the Virgin Birth than in the ideals of the 17th cent. Enlightenment - as if that were a horrific tragedy!

So, Alex and our other esteemed Canadian posters, what is the religious climate [or lack thereof] really like in your country. I sincerely wish to hear from you.



PAX

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Yes, it is secular. Yet, it is difficult to give an across the board answer for the entire country. It's an absolute oui for Quebec, in light of the Quiet Revolution. That province is on it's third "unchurched" generation.

I'm not familiar with the strength of belief in the Maritimes - both Anglo or Franco parts. The prairies are a bit different from metropolitan areas such as Vancouver and Toronto.

God bless,
Christopher

Yes, we're very secular - notice how we had an outdoor political rally for the victims of 9/11 when the U.S. and the U.K. held services in Cathedrals.

Half of us are Catholics.

Sadly, that doesn't make an impact . . .

Alex

We're still holdin' down that Old Time Religion in Dixie - - - unfortunately, the only catch is that the "Old Time Religion" is heretical and hates God's Church.

But I wouldn't trade the religious South for any secular society, heavy Catholic presence or not.

Logos Teen

Dear Teen Logo,

Yeah, man, praise be to the Lord, Alleluia!!

And, by the by, thet thar "akafist" to yer patron saint is moseying on down to ya!

It's been real!

Alex

Thank you, again, for the icon, Alex.

And, Alex, minny of us Southuhnuhs resent bein' pinned with the "redneck acceyunt," which is vereh much diff'runt frum the "Southuhn acceyunt." We ah naht hillbillehs!

Actually though, most everyone around here over the age of 45 or so have very dignified, almost ante-bellum Southern accents pretty much identical to what you'd hear in Gone With The Wind. My peers and I have a somewhat watered down version of the "Old Southern" accent and the "country" accent.

My favorite sentence to explain my accent to a non-Southerner is:

Ah can't get Dohl to give me that aluminum fohl and sawgum surrup. (I can't get Doyle to give me that aluminum foil and sorghum syrup).

Logos Teen

Dear Teen Logo,

Well, I love the Southern culture!

When in New Orleans, we passed by the old French bank that had "Dix" on it.

And this, the guide informed us, was the birthplace of the song, "I wish I was in Dixie" for "Dixieland."

Apparently, Gen. R.E. Lee was quite surprised when he heard the song sung for the first time - he never heard of "Dixie" before or what it really meant!

Alex

Ah groo up in Tehxus. And Ah kin rikawl one fine wohman from Alabayama jest gushin' about the whales in mah fahn state.

It took me quite a while to realize she was talking about the oil whales!

Garrett,

Then, y'all get ta 'splain what that thay'uh sawgum surrup is, rawt?

Y'all cume back now, y'heah (what, that's not a invocation in favor of reincarnation? )

Many yeaws,

Neil

Garrett, the interesting thing is that there are many individuals whose families have lived in Knoxville for 200 years, yet speak with no noticeable accent. However, let someone move here from Minnesota, and he will sound like Gomer Pyle within six months.!

Y'all are making me homesick...which is pretty amazing since I was born and raised in NYC, moved to NC when I was twenty five and have been waiting for twenty years to move back north. Now I am up north and I want to go back south.

Vie, who is missing real grits and ham biscuits.

Amen...
When our kids were in elementary school I used to be surprised by the things they came home with during the Christmas Season. The teachers would read them stories, including the Nativity, teach them traditional Christmas carols, have them make Christmas decorations. Of course, the official school pageant would be based on a winter theme and no mention made of the religious aspects of the season. I used to be surprised because while my kids teachers would be doing all this in the classroom I would be hearing and reading about schools and teachers being taken to court over the same kind of activities. I finally asked one teacher and she laughed and said "we're in the south Mrs. Carter...any atheist who objects would be too afraid to stand up here and let his neighbors know who he is"...of course, that was in the county around Fort Bragg where things are a bit more rural...you get up to Raleigh and the surrounding areas and things are very different and more politically correct. Go to Chapel Hill and you have entered the Berkley of the East.

Vie, who growing up in the North thought she knew what the Civil War was about, but after twenty years of living in the South, thinks Dixie puts something in the water...

Vie,

Yes, there is something in the water down here!

I forgot that Yankees wouldn't even know what sorghum syrup is. Sorghum is, as I understand it, a plant similar to corn out of which this syrup is extracted. It's very good...oh so much better than that nasty syrup y'all have up in Vermont on those trees- - -that's the nastiest thing I've ever tasted! Anyway, I think sorghum syrup is mostly an Appalachian thing, and unless you live in the most extreme NE portion of Georgia, you are not an Appalachian. Nevertheless, I live closer to the Gulf of Mexico than I do the Appalachians, but I've had sorghum syrup many times.

And, Neil, my dad swears up and down that when his family moved down here from upstate NY in 1964, when my grandfather stopped to fill up at a gas station and said goodbye to the owner, the owner (of course, like any self-respecting Southerner would do) said, "Y'all come back, y'heah?"...and so my grandfather went back, replied "I'm sorry is there something wrong?" - - - completely confused. Just a total clash of cultures!

Logos Teen