Toronto man sues City Hall over $100k donation to Quebec Bill 21 challenge, Andrew Lawton, True North, 2022-03-24. A Toronto man has filed a lawsuit against the City of Toronto to scrap its $100,000 payment to a legal fund fighting…
Atheist Freethinkers
Philosophical Materialism, Critical Thought, Secularism
Category: In the News
News articles
In the News:
France: Death Threats for a Report on Islamism
Reportage de “Zone Interdite” à Roubaix : menacé de mort, un militant associatif dénonce la montée de l’intégrisme islamiste dans la ville (Report by “Zone Interdite” in Roubaix: threatened with death, an association activist denounces the rise of Islamist fundamentalism in…
In the News:
Masih Alinejad Opposes Ilhan Omar’s Islamophobia Bill
Why I’m opposed to Ilhan Omar’s bill against Islamophobia, Masih Alinejad, Washington Post, 2022-01-25. The legislation does not provide a clear definition of Islamophobia,… Is criticism of the Taliban a form of Islamophobia? The bill H.R.5665 – Combating International Islamophobia…
In the News:
Medical Journal Censors Criticism of Veil
Timeline of Events: 2021-11-08: CMAJ shows on its cover an image of a young girl wearing a hijab, prompting protests on social media, including criticism from Yasmine Mohammed, author of “UNVEILED: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam”. 2021-12-20: CMAJ publishes…
In the News:
Quebec Creates a Directorate of State Secularism
Loi 21: création d’une Direction de la laïcité de l’État (Bill 21: Creation of a Directorate of State Secularism), Marc-André Gagnon, Journal de Québec, 2021-12-03. The government of Quebec has announced the creation of a Directorate of State Secularism whose…
In the News:
Legault Announces End of ERC Program
Legault relaunches session with promise to end state of emergency early in new year, Isaac Olson, CBC, 2021-10-19. One of the ways he will change education is by strengthening “national cohesion” by replacing the province’s ethics and religious culture curriculum…
In the News:
Honour the Memory of Samuel Paty
Honour slain French teacher Samuel Paty by defending rights, defying fundamentalism – UN experts, Karima Bennoune and Ahmed Shaheed, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2021-10-15. GENEVA (15 October 2021) – On the first anniversary of the…
In the News:
French High Court Validates Dissolution of Two Islamist Groups
Le Conseil d’Etat valide la dissolution du CCIF et de BarakaCity par le gouvernement (French Conseil d’Etat Validates Disbanding CCIF and Barakacity by Government), franceinfo avec AFP, 2021-09-24. The Conseil d’Etat, the highest administrative court in France, has validated the…
In the News:
The RPL Questions Federal Political Parties
The Rassemblement pour la laïcité (RPL or Alliance for Secularism) Questions the Parties Quels engagements en matière de laïcité ? (What Commitments Will You Make for Secularism?), Claude Kamal Codsi for the RPL, La Presse, 2021-08-24. In preparation for the upcoming…
In the News:
Ban on Religious Symbols in French Schools: Girls from Muslim Families Benefit
En France : L’interdiction du voile influence la scolarité des filles (In France, the Headscarf Ban Influences Success of Muslim Girls), Luc Cédelle, L’AUT’JOURNAL, 2021-09-01. A new book by economist and sociologist Eric Maurin, to be published in October, sheds new…
In the News:
Vaccination Passport: Quebec Grants Privilege to Religions
Places and activities requiring the COVID-19 Vaccination Passport , Government of Quebec, 2021-08-24. Vaccination passports will not be required for the following places and activities: […] Places of worship This amounts to an egregious privilege for religion. It is completely…
In the News:
Canadians of Muslim Culture Denounce the Provocative Recommendations of the NCCM
Opinion: Islamophobia or nourishing the breeding ground of political Islam?, Nadia El-Mabrouk, Tarek Fatah and Yasmine Mohammed, CTV News, 2021-07-26. Given the importance of this article, we reproduce it here in its entirety. MONTREAL — In preparation for the National…
In the News:
Court of Justice of E.U.: Banning the Veil in the Workplace is Not Discriminatory
EU companies can ban employees wearing headscarves, court rules, Jennifer Rankin, Guardian, 2021-07-15. Private employers in the EU can ban people from wearing religious symbols, including headscarves, in order to present an image of neutrality, the bloc’s highest court has…
In the News:
Tarek Fatah Denounces Islamist Infiltration in Canada
FATAH: Who will listen to the cries of ordinary Muslims?, Tarek Fatah, Toronto Sun, 2021-07-14. I recently had an informal meeting with 30 other Muslims to chat about their growing concerns over the growing infiltration of Islamist extremism in this…
In the News:
Austria Bans Muslim Brotherhood
Austria bans Muslim Brotherhood and sets new standard in the fight against Islamist extremism, EU-Policies, 2021-07-13. Last week, the Austrian National Assembly passed an act targeting the activities of ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood. Under the new law, released terror…
In the News:
Prix de la laïcité Guy-Rocher Awarded to MLQ
Le gouvernement du Québec remet le tout premier Prix de la laïcité Guy-Rocher (Quebec Government Awards Very First Guy-Rocher Secularism Prize), Press release from the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Quebec, Le Lézard, 2021-06-16. The government…
In the News: Poland:
Launch of Campaign Against Religious Homophobia
Poland: Stop Religiously Motivated Hate, Press Release, Kazimierz Łyszczyński Foundation, 2021-06-17. The Kazimierz Łyszczyński Foundation, together with partner organizations, has launched a billboard campaign “Stop religiously motivated hate.” The campaign will take place in 22 Polish cities and will have…
In the News:
Quebec MNAs Respond Unanimously to Judge Blanchard
In his decision of 20th April 2021 on Bill 21, Justice Blanchard of Quebec Superior Court exempted Quebec English-language schools from the ban on teachers wearing religious symbols and face-coverings. Similarly, he denied the Quebec National Assembly the right to…
In the News:
Switzerland Bans Face-Coverings
Switzerland to ban wearing of burqa and niqab in public places, Philip Oltermann, The Guardian, 2021-03-07. Switzerland will follow France, Belgium and Austria after narrowly voting in a referendum to ban women from wearing the burqa or niqab in public…
Tagged with: face-covering
In the News:
Launch of Prix de la laïcité Guy-Rocher
Le gouvernement du Québec lance le prix de la laïcité Guy-Rocher (The Quebec Government launches the Guy-Rocher Secularism Prize), Cabinet of the Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General, Gouvernement du Québec, 2021-03-06. Click to view full size Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette…
In the News:
Montreal: Death Threats to Impose the Veil
Menaces de mort pour le port du voile (“Death Threats to Impose Wearing the Veil”), Michael Nguyen, Journal de Montréal, 2021-03-03. A Montréal Muslim man told his four daughters that he would kill them if they stopped wearing the Islamic…
In the News:
Petition to End Discrimination Against Atheist Refugees
Petition e-3114 (Citizenship and immigration), Parliament of Canada, 2021-01-25. Several organizations—CFI Canada, Humanist Canada and Secular Connexion Séculière—have initiated a parliamentary petition asking that atheist refugees, not just religious, be eligible for refugee status under the “Less Complex Claims” policy.…
In the News:
Neoracist Propaganda at Radio-Canada
Radio-Canada: la rééducation, Sophie Durocher, Journal de Montréal, 2021-02-12. According to columnist Sophie Durocher, employees at Radio-Canada (the French-langage CBC) are now required to take special training to become more “inclusive,” to recognize their unconscious biases and “privileges” and to…
In the News:
Call to Repeal the Concordat in Alsace-Moselle
Loi séparatisme: il est temps d’abroger le concordat d’Alsace-Moselle (“Separatism Law: It is Time to Repeal the Concordat in Alsace-Moselle”), Alexis Corbière, Huffington Post France, 2021-02-10. The author of the above article argues that it is inconsistent to allow a…
In the News:
AAI Obtains Freedom for Umar Farouk in Nigeria
Story from an email of Atheist Alliance International (AAI), 2021-02-09. Click to view full size Umar Farouk leaving prison Last week our lawyers in Nigeria succeeded in quashing two convictions for blasphemy in the Shariah State of Kano. The first…
