I agree with you: Canada is quite secular. Well, much more than the U.S.A, for sure. But France is really tough on secularism that’s why the role of religion here surprised me a lot.

Are you studying at the U of O? I’m taking political science courses there.

In my Poli Sci class, we also discussed religion and looked at states such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands and one more (I’m blanking on which one) regarding laws on religious freedom. The anti-headscarf laws were such a surprise to many Canadians.

And the annoying religious telemarketers bother everyone. When my dad first came to Canada, he didn’t know what they were doing, so he made tea and talked to them for two hours. Heh. P:

Mardés last great read…LATE BREAKING NEWS!

The question to me is not why North Americans are so religious but why Europeans are not. Actually living here in Quebec I feel like part of a fringe group for actually going to church on Sundays.

Just to add a few of my comments. I am LDS and I am practicing though for a time I wasn’t. It was during that time that I had to figure out if I was doing it for me or for my parents. I grew up in Utah and unfortunately there are many people there who live a culture which may be based on the religion but isn’t true to the religion. I detested the hypocrisy. Then I made friends with a Baptist and found out that he had experienced almost the exact same thing that I had in the rural predominantly Baptist community he grew up in.

After that I realized that many people don’t really live their religion (referring to the teachings of the religion usually contain in the form of sacred writings or scriptures). They live what is culturally acceptable in their community. So, in the community where I grew up it was culturally acceptable to shun anyone who didn’t belong to the LDS church even if that person was a member of your family (this is just an example from my own experience). So much for Jesus’ teaching “Love one another”.

I’m not entirely sure that North America is truly religious. I think a lot of it is cultural and culture has a long life. So, yes our culture is still strongly influenced by the Puritans who originally came here seeking religious freedom. Honestly, I am immediately distrustful of anyone who has to “proclaim” their religiousness. I do think there are a lot of sincere people who should have every right to express their beliefs. I hope that I am one of those people (sincere I mean). Unfortunately, there are people who are not sincere and give religion in general a bad reputation (some people may disagree with me but I feel our president is giving religion a bad reputation).

I personally love reading the bible because it has some really wonderful ideas. The important thing here is that you take the book as a whole. Any single idea can be misinterpreted particularly when taken out of context. I think this is what many religious fanatics have done.

I also enjoy reading the writings on Gandhi and Buddha (I plan to read the Quran but right now it’s third or fourth on my list of books to read). I believe that there are certain principles which are true and if you allow those principles to guide your life you will have a better life. These true principles are things like “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Imagine what a wonderful world we would live in if everyone actually did as that one statement suggests. This particular statement comes from the bible but there are similar ideas in every one of the major religions.

Angela May’s last blog post..Back from Blogging Hiatus

My all time favorite novels are of the Maigret series by Simenon. For the most part the setting is Paris 50-70 years ago. I can’t get enough of these and have, I think, read all the ones that have been translated into English. In spite of being murder stories, there is a joyous quality to them, and they are laced with gentle humor. Very strange, because family-wise Maigret seems the mirror opposite of the author, and one almost gets the sense that writing the stories was a sort of “therapy.”

But my question: do the novels accurately reflect French society? They give the impression that French men do nothing but drink and keep mistresses. Now, I note that Simenon himself was….ah…um….that is to say….well, he’d known (Biblical usage) more than one woman in his day. 10,000, if his own estimate is to be believed. So….did his…um…excessive nature color his view of French society? Or is it really that way?

Okay…enough titilation! Now we’ll grind our nose into something more pedantic!

You said: Just curious : how do you feel about the fact the Jehovah Witnesses are labelled as a sect in France (and maybe elsewhere ? Not sure…)

The words sect and cult actually have meaning, but as used today, they usually just reflect how much the user dislikes a religion.

In Bible times, the whole of Chistianity was labeled by Jewish mainstream society as a “sect.”

When the apostle Paul (a Christian, but former Jew) landed in Rome, he entered a synagogue and wondered if anyone had heard of him and what he represented….

They said to him: “Neither have we received letters concerning you from Judea, nor has anyone of the brothers that has arrived reported or spoken anything wicked about you. But we think it proper to hear from you what your thoughts are, for truly as regards this sect it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against.” Acts 28:21,22

And Roman officials were inclined to call Christianity a “cult.”

In relation to France’s treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses…

It is very unjustified and actually motivated in most part by a few politicians who are acting our personal vendettas, mainly because they are Catholics or atheists.

The higher courts of France and the European Union continue to uphold the rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses even though they are trampled on by these same people continuously.

For example, Catherine Picard, a Socialist politician in France, has just been ordered to pay damages to Jehovah’s Witnesses due to defamation by her “anti-cult” organisation. The French court ruled that Catherine Picard had “in excessive fashion and by a tendentious presentation thrown discredit upon the Jehovah’s Witnesses and . . . given her excessive statements utterly devoid of good faith had gone beyond the limits of acceptable free opinion.”

A Jehovah’s Witness, who was a lawyer, was disbarred and subjected to a tax audit by the French government and had a lawsuit brought against him by Picard’s anti-cult organisation. He has just been vindicated by the European Court of Human Rights that recognised that France has violated freedom of expression rules, and the country has been ordered to pay damages to him. ALso, the lawsuit against him has been thrown out.

You can get more information on human rights abuses by France and other countries against Jehovah’s Witnesses and other persons at http://www.hrwf.net or http://www.forum18.org.

I had always grown up fond of France, thinking it was one place in the world were people who were different or had unorthodox ideas would be tolerated. By to my suprise, it actually seems that even the United States is more open-minded and tolerant than France. Which makes me sad because I am otherwise a fan of French food, art and culture.

This is a world of ideas. Ever more so as societies become more complex. The trick is to do what you have done. Learn to be gracious and curious, but know how and when to draw a line. At least Jehovah’s Witnesses mean a person no harm, which is more than can be said for many strangers who may approach you.

As for France, that situation you likely know better than I. Opposition to our work is common in some third world and totalitarian countries (for example, Eritrea: http://www.jw-media.org/newsroom/index.htm?content=/region/africa_middle_east/eritrea/english/human_rights/eri_e070801_list.htm ) but it is not usually so in the developed world. I understand France has imposed a 60% tax on all activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, (and them alone, I think) which has never been paid and is subject of endless appeal and which, if I’m not mistaken, is being presented by JWs to the European Court. But I don’t know the details.